Help Improve Laws for Pigs!

On June 30th 2009 in the Scottsdale Court in Tasmania, Gary Oliver, a commercial piggery operator and a major pork supplier of Woolworths, will be asked to enter a plea to serious breaches of the Tasmanian Animal Welfare Act, included aggravated cruelty, after police were called to the piggery on March 3rd 2009. (Update: Mr Oliver was convicted on 11th August and was fined $2000, with his company being fined a further $10,000.)

The individual neglect of sick and injured animals found in this factory farm was appalling. One of the counts of aggravated cruelty relates to a dying pig whose large shoulder wound was infested with hundreds of maggots. Other charges relate to pregnant pigs in individual stalls with leg wounds so severe that they were unable to move or feed and as a result had been left to starve.

The situation at this piggery fully reveals the failure of current laws to protect pigs from abuse. It also reveals the failure of inspection bodies to check on the welfare of animals in commercial premises.

The Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries, David Llewellyn, is currently considering whether Tasmania should have higher standards of care for pigs than is required by the revised National Code of Practice — which the document that exempts industry operators from cruelty prosecutions and (still) allows pregnant pigs to be individually confined and barely able to move for their 4 month pregnancy.

Please congratulate Minister Llewellyn for his willingness to take an ethical lead and ask him to ban the use of cruel sow stalls in Tasmania.

Take Action!

Subject: (please enter a subject line) Dear Minister Llewellyn, (please edit the letter below, or send as-is) I applaud you for acknowledging that the revised National Code of Practice governing the conditions in which pigs can be kept has once again failed to adequately address the welfare needs of pigs. Allowing pregnant pigs to be confined barely able to move in sow stalls for their entire 16 week pregnancy (or even a single day) cannot be legally or ethically justified, when the same treatment of a dog would constitute a cruelty offence. I urge your government to take an ethical lead by banning the use of sow stalls in Tasmania showing the rest of Australia that Tasmania will not abide cruelty to animals. I also ask that you ensure that commercial animal facilities are routinely and randomly inspected to ensure that such instances of appalling cruelty as recently detected at Longerong piggery are either prevented or identified and prosecuted. Such a stand would be applauded by the many Australians who care deeply about the welfare of animals. Sincerely, Your Name

We will send this letter to:

• David Llewellyn, TAS Minister for Primary Industries

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