Lucknow, Aug 30 After an appeal by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), India, to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of gestation and farrowing crates in pig farming, the Uttar Pradesh Animal Husbandry Department has issued directions, instructing the chief veterinary officers to ensure that no pig farms are using such illegal crates and to take strict action against violators.
The circular specifically states that any violations must be brought to the attention of the District Magistrate and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after quarterly surveys of the pig farms for potential legal actions.
Uttar Pradesh is the second-largest pig-producing state in the country.
According to official sources, the circular cites The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which prohibits the confinement of any animal in a receptacle that fails to offer a reasonable opportunity for movement, such as gestation and farrowing crates.
Confining animals in this way is illegal, a position confirmed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's National Research Centre on Pig.
Circulars requiring the enforcement of this law or prohibiting the use of the crates have also been issued by the governments of Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand following PETA India's appeal.
A similar circular was previously issued by the Manipur and Punjab governments.
"PETA India commends Uttar Pradesh for standing up for countless pigs and sparing them the severe cruelty of such crates," said PETA India Advocacy Associate Farhat Ul Ain.
"In natural surroundings, pigs are social, playful, protective animals who bond with their babies, so being held captive in these restrictive crates causes them immense suffering. Pigs are also transported in extremely crowded vehicles to slaughterhouses, where they are killed by being stabbed in the chest, often after first being struck on the head with a hammer. PETA India reminds everyone that they can help prevent the suffering of pigs and other animals simply by not eating them, as the use of these crates is just one heinous practice of the meat industry," he added.
Gestation crates, or sow stalls, are metal cages, essentially the size of a pig, with concrete or slatted floors.
In them, animals are unable to turn around or even stand up without difficulty. These devices are used to confine pregnant pigs, who are typically transferred to farrowing crates to give birth and are kept in them until their piglets are taken away.
Farrowing crates are fundamentally the same as gestation crates, except that they contain small side compartments for piglets.
The crates also force pigs to live amid their own faeces and urine.
The extreme stress and frustration caused by this severe confinement results in abnormal behaviour, such as continually biting at the enclosure bars or "chewing" the air.
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