New investigation exposes filthy conditions and animal suffering on several pig farms in Brazil

New footage recorded by NGO Sinergia Animal shows pregnant sows kept in cages, dirty environments and controversial procedures on piglets

October 3rd, 2024 — On the eve of World Animal Day, a new investigation conducted by international NGO Sinergia Animal reveals controversial practices and failures to comply with regulations that cause suffering to millions of pigs raised in Brazil. For the first time in years, investigators have been able to document what goes on behind the scenes in some of the country’s pork production facilities, exposing the unsanitary conditions in which animals are kept and the impacts on their well-being.

Published this Thursday (October 3rd, 2024), the images were recorded on several farms in the South of the country, where 70% of national production is concentrated. The footage shows pregnant sows kept in individual gestation crates, where they cannot walk or even turn around. These females are repeatedly inseminated throughout their lives—to produce piglets slaughtered by the meat industry—and are subjected to prolonged suffering due to the extreme confinement. In several images, animals are seen compulsively biting the iron bars in an attempt to relieve their frustration.

“Gestation crates cause intense physical and psychological suffering to animals, which has led to the practice being banned in the UK and several other countries. In Brazil, unfortunately, the images show that thousands of pigs still live in these terrible conditions—these crates are still widely used by the pork industry. after being confined in them for months during pregnancy, they are then confined in lactation crates once they have given birth. It’s a cycle of extreme confinement,” says Cristina Diniz, director of Sinergia Animal in Brazil.

The organization’s investigators also filmed numerous pigs with infections and serious health complications, such as mastitis and prolapses. In an audio recording, an employee of one of the investigated farms talks about one of the sows and confirms that this is a common situation. “She pushed her rectum out. When she was giving birth, she strained so hard that she ended up pushing it out. Many sows even push their uterus out and then die right away,” the employee revealed. According to the same employee, the animals that die are cut into pieces and thrown into a compost bin on site.

The unsanitary conditions are also alarming. Sows and their piglets are forced to lay in their own waste, without any possibility of cleaning themselves. “Contrary to what many people think, pigs are very clean and intelligent animals. Their natural behavior is to rest as far away as possible from the areas where they urinate and defecate, which makes this type of confinement extremely stressful for them—as well as being a health risk,” explains Dr. Patricia Tatemoto, the NGO’s Animal Welfare and Research Manager. In one of the videos released by Sinergia Animal, an employee reports that a sow with a visible lump in one of her udders has developed mastitis, a painful inflammation that is aggravated by the filthy environment and lack of adequate veterinary care on industrial farms.

The disregard for animal welfare affects not only adult sows but also their babies. Piglets are subjected to controversial practices shortly after birth, when they are castrated and have their tails, teeth, and ears mutilated without the use of anesthetics or pain control. The investigation revealed that piglets have their teeth clipped with pliers on one of the farms, even though this practice is prohibited by IN 113/2020 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Brazil. “There are pliers—you open his little mouth and just cut his little teeth,” describes an employee.

“Teeth clipping is a practice adopted by the industry in response to problems caused or aggravated by the stressful conditions in which these animals live. Overcrowded sheds and the lack of positive environmental stimuli can lead confined piglets to bite each other. Litter sizes have been manipulated to increase by the industry, which generates more competition between piglets during lactation. And, instead of improving the conditions in which these animals are kept, the industry chooses to ‘resolve’ the situation it caused with a painful mutilation,” laments Tatemoto.

Animal welfare ranking

According to Sinergia Animal, the investigation highlights how much the Brazilian pork industry still needs to advance in terms of animal welfare. Every year, the organization ranks the country’s largest pork producers in its Pigs in Focus report, which documents the sector’s progress in ending practices that cause animal suffering. In 2023, 66% of the evaluated companies reported new animal welfare policies.

“Despite observing significant progress, no company has scored enough to qualify for Category A. Even more worrying is seeing large-scale producer Aurora Alimentos, which slaughters more than 7.3 million pigs per year and is the third largest in Brazil, as the lowest ranked in animal welfare policies. It’s unacceptable that a company of this size still allows so much suffering,” says Diniz.

Sinergia Animal is asking consumers to pressure Aurora Alimentos to adopt a more robust welfare policy, eliminating the use of gestation crates in its operations completely and ending ear cropping—a practice already banned by 7 of the 9 largest pork companies in the country.

To see all the results of the investigation, visit our Media Center.

Media Center