Around half of New Zealand’s pig farms confine mother pigs in farrowing crates – tiny metal cages so restrictive they can’t even turn around. These intelligent, social animals are repeatedly impregnated and forced to give birth in filthy, cramped cages, only to have their piglets taken away to be killed for meat. Denied the ability to move freely, build nests, or care for their young, these mothers endure lives of constant deprivation, unable to comfort her babies or express even the most basic natural behaviours. 

The use of farrowing crates isn’t just cruel and outdated – it also breaches New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act. 

In 2020, the New Zealand Animal Law Association and SAFE took legal action against the Attorney-General, Minister for Agriculture, and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) over the use of farrowing crates and mating stalls. 

The case argued that the minimum standards outlined in the Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations 2018 and the Code of Welfare: Pigs 2018 were inconsistent with the fundamental requirements of the Animal Welfare Act 1999. On 13 November 2020, the High Court ruled in favour of the challenge, declaring the regulations and minimum standards for farrowing crates unlawful. 

In simple terms: the Court found that confining mother pigs in farrowing crates breaches the Animal Welfare Act – and ordered that they be phased out of use by the end of 2025. 

The meat industry subjects pigs to a range of cruel and painful procedures, many carried out without any pain relief. 

Intensive farming creates severe stress, boredom, and frustration in pigs, often leading to harmful behaviours like tail biting, a serious welfare issue indicating extreme distress. Rather than addressing these root causes or removing pigs from such unnatural conditions, the industry chooses to cut off their tails to prevent the behaviour from occurring. 

Castration is also commonly performed without anaesthetic to avoid “boar taint,” an unpleasant odour or flavour in the meat of mature males. 

Additional painful practices, including teeth clipping, ear tagging, nose ringing, and tusk trimming, can cause significant distress and long-term discomfort. Although the industry justifies these procedures as necessary for “animal welfare” or product quality, they are intended to make pigs easier to manage within cruel intensive farming systems, not to benefit the animals themselves. 

It could be argued that pigs are one of the most misunderstood animals on earth, largely due to how they’ve been portrayed by the farming industry and in popular culture. They are often unfairly labelled as dirty, messy, or unintelligent. Over time, these ideas have seeped into everyday language. 

In reality, pigs are highly intelligent, capable of complex thought, emotional expression, and social connection. Studies have shown pigs to be smarter than dogs and on par with chimpanzees, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. They can experience a wide range of emotions, including stress, joy, loneliness, and playfulness. They also understand the concept of friendship and express their feelings through a rich variety of vocalisations and body language -– even wagging their tails when they’re happy. 

Far from being dirty, pigs are naturally clean animals. In the wild, they never toilet near where they eat or sleep. They use mud not because they’re unclean, but to cool down in hot weather and protect their skin from the sun, a natural and intelligent form of self-care.  

Regardless of these misconceptions, pigs are sentient beings; capable of thought, emotion, and connection. They deserve kindness, dignity, and the freedom to live without the suffering and exploitation that go hand in hand with pig farming systems.