EDINBURGH―Demonstrating local support for a ban on farrowing crates, public reactions filmed in Scotland by leading animal protection organisation Humane World for Animals UK (formerly Humane Society International) found people “sad” and “shocked” to learn how mother pigs can be tightly confined in cages for weeks at a time on Scottish farms. The charity welcomes the Scottish Government’s leading the charge towards adopting more humane, free-farrowing systems.
Today, Minister for Agriculture Jim Fairlie MSP hosted a roundtable, which Humane World for Animals UK attended, in the Scottish Parliament. The event brought together animal welfare organisations and representatives of the Scottish pig industry to “discuss ways of moving away from current traditional farrowing systems and to find workable alternatives which improve sow welfare”. The two hour meeting found agreement on the need to end the use of conventional farrowing crates, and discussed various options to yield better welfare outcomes for both sows and piglets.
Last month, Humane World for Animals UK’s ‘Crate Britain’ tour visited towns and cities—including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth—around the UK, taking an animatronic life-sized pig named Penny in a replica farrowing crate to raise awareness of the suffering the small metal cage causes. Reactions from the public included people who were “shocked” by this animal cruelty, thought farrowing crates “should be illegal”, and one individual who suggested that members of Parliament should consider “how they would like to be locked in a cage”. The charity was joined by John Grady MP, Christine Jardin MP and John Mason MSP who each attended a stop on the tour to show their support for banning farrowing crates.
Polling carried out earlier this year showed 84% of the Scottish public reject the use of farrowing crates for mother pigs. Over half of respondents (54%) stated they would be willing to pay more for crate-free pork.¹
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK, said: “Pigs in farrowing crates, including on Scottish farms, endure the most restrictive confinement of any farmed animals in the UK, and they suffer physically and mentally as a result. So many people we spoke to on our Crate Britain tour were truly shocked that these cruel crates are legal on Scottish farms.
“We are grateful to the Scottish Government for leading the charge and beginning discussions about alternative farrowing systems, while Westminster remains silent on this important animal welfare issue. There is huge public support for a ban on farrowing crates, so we urge both the Scottish and UK Governments to act swiftly to help farmers transition away from these inhumane cages and get mother pigs out from behind bars.”
Over 200,000 mother pigs on UK farms are forced to spend nearly a quarter of their adult lives confined in farrowing crates. Caged for weeks at a time when they give birth to piglets, sows are so severely restricted they can’t even turn around which causes them to suffer both physically and mentally. Thousands of people have signed Humane World for Animals’ petition to end the use of farrowing crates on UK farms.
In 2021, the Scottish Government committed to consult on a phase-out of farrowing crates, which is yet to happen. As of 2024, Scotland is home to almost 30,000 sows², many of whom are kept in indoor pig farms that keep sows in these crates.
To download images and vox pop footage from the Scotland stops of the Crate Britain tour, please get in touch with the media contact listed below.
ENDS
Notes
¹ The survey was designed by The Diffley Partnership and invitations were issued online using the ScotPulse panel. Results based on a survey of 1,229 respondents (nationally representative), with fieldwork taking place between January 14 and January 17, 2025. Results are weighted by gender and age to adult population estimates from 2021.
² Source available here (Table 5).