Humane World for Animals United Kingdom works with organizations to end the cruelest farming practices and promote a compassionate plant-based food system. Last summer, we rehomed two mother pigs when a farmer chose to give them to us rather than send them to slaughter. The pigs had been kept for weeks at a time in farrowing crates—cages so small that they couldn’t turn around. We found them a safe haven at our partner organization, Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Essex, England. Our celebrity animal champion Leona Lewis and our supporters helped choose names for the pigs, who had been known only by numbers before: They are now Hope and Blossom.
Sally Ivens/Humane World for Animals
We allocated a grant to Hopefield to provide funds for care and a custom-built home for Hope and Blossom, where they’re now free to carry out their natural behaviors—including rooting in the mud and roaming in the grass—that were previously denied to them. The rescue reflects our wider campaign to end the use of farrowing crates.
The farmer who gave up the pigs wished to remain anonymous but hoped this story would help persuade the UK to ban the cruel practice of caging pigs in these crates. The farmer told us, “It’s hard watching them so upset. When an animal’s telling you ‘I do not want to be in here, I’m going to do my best to escape,’ and then you’re like, ‘I’m going to have to tie you in,’ that feels cruel. It bothers me every day.”
