Sample letter on the farrowing crate

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Letters to the Editor

I have recently become aware of a shocking example of the cruelty of factory farming: the pig farrowing crate.

The farrowing crate is a metal cage in which sows are confined a week before giving birth and remain imprisoned until their piglets are 3-4 weeks old. The crate is so small that the sows cannot even turn around, and fits them so closely that it rubs against their skin. After their piglets are born, their mothers are unable either to reach them if they choose, or escape their attentions if they need to. For more than thirty days the sows remain in this cage, able to do nothing but stand up, lie down and eat: most face a blank wall. Naturally, mother pigs are restless and active, making nests of twigs for their young: the farrowing crate imprisons them for the crime of being mothers. Then, a month after the piglets are born, they are abruptly removed - months before weaning would take place naturally. Their mother is normally reimpregnated just days later.

Animals should never be kept in cages just inches larger than their own bodies. The total frustration of any creature's mothering instincts can never be right. Sadly, this treatment is typical of factory farming which puts profit ahead of animal welfare every time. I urge people to stop eating the meat produced in this barbaric way. For information on factory farming and vegetarianism contact Viva! at 8 York Court, Wilder St, Bristol, BS2 8QH; tel 0117 944 1000; www.viva.org.uk.

Yours sincerely