Assam bans use of gestation, farrowing crates in pig farming

Assam, home to the highest population of pigs in the country, is the latest of 20 States and Union Territories to issue directions against the housing of pigs in these contraptions

GUWAHATI

The Assam government has prohibited the manufacture, sale, and use of gestation and farrowing crates in pig farming, following an appeal from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), India.

A circular mandating compliance to the group’s request was issued by the State’s Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department to the joint directors and veterinary officers of all districts within their jurisdictions.

The circular cites Section 11(1)(e) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which prohibits the confinement of any animal to a receptacle that fails to offer a reasonable opportunity for movement, such as gestation and farrowing crates. It also underlines the problematic restriction of mother pigs and their piglets within these metal crates, which leaves the mother unable to turn around or even stand up without difficulty.

According to the circular, the crates force the pigs to live amid their own faeces and urine, resulting in sores and infections.

Confining animals in this way is illegal, a position confirmed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s National Research Centre on Pig.

Assam, home to the highest population of pigs in the country, is the latest of 20 States and Union Territories to issue directions against the housing of pigs in these contraptions. The other governments that have issued such circulars are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.