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In Spain, one of the largest pork producers in Europe, there are revelations that pigs are raised in harsh environments. The image shows a pig from a farmhouse in Castilla La Mancha that cannot sit up due to a tumor on its neck. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

Rats are infested in the pig house and the carcasses of pigs are scattered everywhere. Pigs with soccer ball-sized tumors are unable to sit up and walk, and several pigs whose eyes have turned red due to inflammation are also noted. Pig carcasses were scattered over the droppings and cats were also caught eating the carcasses. The terrible farming environment that you can’t even see with your eyes open was exposed in Spain, which became a leader in animal welfare and livestock. Spain is one of the largest producers of pork in Europe and is a country of the ‘Iberian Black Pig’, famous for its ethical pig farming.

Pregnant pigs trapped in narrow compartments that cannot be turned. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

The pigs suffered from serious diseases such as eye diseases, tumors, dislocations and hernias caused by inflammation. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

On November 16 (local time), the Spanish animal rights organization Tras los Muros published a report that infiltrated 30 cattle farms in Spain from last year to this year. ‘Factory: industrially exploited pig’The texts, photos and videos published under the title of contained shocking conditions of pig farming. Tras Los Muros, which means ‘behind the wall’, is an animal liberation project team led by Spanish photographer Aitor Garmendia. The revelation is that Tras Los Muros surveyed 30 farms throughout Spain, from Aragon in the northeast to Castilla y León in the north-central region and Castilla La Mancha in the south-central region, and 17% of the 86,000 farms in breeding in Spain are here. “Some of the pigs appeared to be seriously injured and had serious conditions such as hernias, abscesses, dislocations, arthritis or necrotic tissue,” they said.
※ Caution: Corpses and cruel figures of animals are included.

In the video they released, the pigs suffered from birth to death. The video presented the breeding space of the pigs by dividing them into pregnancy history, calving history and breeding / search history. The mother sows of the pregnant death were exhausted and lying in a stable (confinement frame) that could not be turned over. However, this space was cleaner than other pig houses. In the farrowing room, several bodies of dead piglets are captured. Newborn piglets lie on the droppings or several dead in the trench. The most disastrous were the breeders and primers, with large numbers of pigs with hernias or skin necrosis, bleeding pus, and hanging tumors. It also contained the appearance of being left to turn into a white bone or be damaged by other animals.

Dead baby bodies were found in several birthing houses. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

The number of pigs raised in Spain is about 50 million, the highest in all of Europe. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

The pig industry in Spain is growing to exceed 15,000 million euros in sales last year. Germany is expected to be Europe’s largest pork exporter, with a ban on meat exports due to the outbreak of African swine fever. Spain has the largest number of pig farmers in Europe and the third highest in the world. According to official statistics, some 31 million pigs were raised in Spain at the beginning of 2020, which was obtained by counting the number of live pigs at a given time, not the number of pigs slaughtered.▷ Related article: Spain, more pigs than people) 95% of the pork that is consumed in Spain comes from these industrial farms. After Los Muros he went to the same place twice to see if the bad farming environment was a problem for some farms. They said: “I saw numerous pig carcasses on a farm, and I visited three months later to double check, but the carcasses were in the same place. Nobody took the bodies. ”

The pigs in the villages they infiltrated had undergone a simple surgery prohibited by the EU. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

Meanwhile, the animal protection group ‘Eurogroup for Animals’ reported that the exposed farms appear to have violated EU livestock laws. Interview with The GuardianSaid in The group’s Farm Animal Advisory Veterinarian said: “The farmers in the video are violating the breeding environment and pain standards stipulated by EU law. It appears that the majority of domesticated pigs have undergone unilateral surgery prohibited in the EU. “In pig farms, the tails are docked to prevent pigs living in confined spaces from biting each other due to stress (surgery spinning), which causes great pain and trauma to pigs and is banned in the EU. After Ross Muros pointed out that the situation of these poor farmers is obscured by government campaigns and lobbying. They said: “The reality of Farms and slaughterhouses is exposed through infiltration investigations, hidden cameras, etc., but the advertising displays of the meat industry are very different from the public. Thanks to expensive propaganda, the history of farm animals is under control. ”

The artificial insemination instruments are scattered on the floor of the entrance to the pregnant woman. Courtesy of Tros los Muros

The Spanish pig industry has received millions of euros in advertising from the EU in recent years. The European Commission also approved 5 million euros (about 6.5 billion won) of aid last year to resolve the “controversy over the sustainability of the welfare of pork and copper.” ‘Interfork’, a trade organization representing Spanish white pig farms, immediately issued a rebuttal statement saying: “The video posted this time is an illegal attack on Spanish farms. No, ”he explained.
Reporter Kim Ji-sook [email protected], photo and video courtesy of Tros los Muros