Media Release

30th May 2002 DEFRA accused of Hypocrisy by Viva! Pig Farmer Bobby Waugh was found guilty of purposely failing to identify foot & mouth and of animal abuse yesterday. Ironically, the same government that is now charging Waugh, gave his farm a clean bill of health just one month before the foot & mouth outbreak. When visiting Waugh’s farm at the time of the outbreak, a DEFRA vet said it was the perfect breeding ground for foot and mouth, “Rotting pig carcasses had been left with live pigs. Pieces of raw meat had been left lying bout the farm. The sows gave birth among other pigs and grown pigs were eating piglets”. Viva!’s investigation of pig farming shows similar obscenities in many other pig units across Britain. Dirty, junk-strewn yards and filthy sheds that have not been cleaned in years are commonplace and dead pigs are left lying amongst the living on farm after farm. Rats, maggots, blood and faeces are often discovered to be part of the furniture. Says Viva! Campaigner, Kat Macmillan, “It just doesn’t add up that ministry vets can visit an obviously squalid and run down farm one month and find nothing wrong; and then just weeks later, discover horror after horror. It’s time DEFRA stopped turning a blind eye to the conditions on Britain’s factory farms. Bobby Waugh is one of many farmers who neglect and abuse their animals”. Intensive pig farms are notorious for spreading f & m disease. High concentrations of the virus, are exacerbated by the large numbers of pigs crowded together in dung-covered cells. Sunlight destroys the virus so darkened conditions in indoor farms actively help it thrive. Ms Macmillan concludes, “Bobby Waugh fed school and restaurant waste to swill-feed his pigs and said that he had not fed them: “...anything that had not been served up on children’s plates”. Little comfort there as school dinners contain burgers, sausages, mince and other cheap processed products sometimes made from MRM, a slurry composed of chicken and pig bones, testicles, rectum, feet and tails. Treated or untreated, does the government really expect animals to remain disease free if they are treated like this? It’s time to end factory farming before it ends us”. For further information and Viva!’s 60 page report on Pig Farming, Pig in Hell, contact Kat Macmillan, Juliet Gellatley or Tony Wardle at Viva! on 0117 944 1000.