Thank you for contacting me about farrowing crates and the fair treatment of pigs in the UK.
The issue of animal welfare is very important to me. I take my role as a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation very seriously and support Government actions to improve animal welfare and maintain our high rank on the animal protection index. I am also proud to build on the work that Sir David Amess did for animal welfare.
Working with the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, I have backed the ‘Crate Escape’ campaign. This campaign was launched in November of 2022, and is a push to eradicate the use of farrowing crates on British farms. The campaign is also a tribute to Sir David, who was a patron of the CAWF, and introduced the Pig Husbandry (Farrowing) Bill to Parliament to ban the crates.
In March of last year, I spoke at the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation’s reception in Parliament, promoting the campaign known as The Crate Escape, to end pig farrowing once and for all. At this event, I called for new legislation to ban this practice. We also called for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to launch a consultation on ending the use of farrowing crates.
We must stop the mistreatment of mother pigs, and stop the use of these crates that deny the pigs interactions with their piglets and stop even their ability to move. It is unacceptable that so many sows in the UK are still subjected to this practice.
Though steps have been taken to lower the percentage of mother pigs subjected to this cruel practice has thankfully been reduced, I will continue to support the calls to end the use of farrowing crates.