With the holiday season almost upon on us, many Australians are planning their seasonal celebrations and for some, ham and pork form part of the menu. Did you know that higher-welfare pork is readily available and, if ham or pork is on your menu, by purchasing these products you’re supporting better welfare for farmed pigs?
Pigs are social and intelligent animals with distinct personalities. They love to forage and explore, wallow, socialise, and thrive in an enriched environment.
But unfortunately, in Australia, the majority of farmed pigs are reared in conventional systems – meaning they can legally be housed in barren environments that restrict their movement and do not allow for expression of their natural behaviours. Piglets in these conventional systems undergo routine painful husbandry procedures such as ear notching, teeth clipping and tail docking. All of this can lead to several serious welfare concerns including stress, pain, boredom, frustration and aggression.
We know many Australians are concerned about pig welfare. One of the ways the RSPCA works to improve the quality of life for farmed animals is through the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme – an independent certification underpinned by animal specific standards that go beyond what is legally required in Australia. Producers with RSPCA Approved certification rear their animals to a higher-welfare standard, and supply products from these animals to retailers, in turn making higher-welfare food more accessible. Consumers help to increase demand of higher-welfare farming by regularly purchasing these products. This means more animals are farmed to a higher-welfare standard that exceeds legal requirements.
Pigs have many requirements for their physical and behavioural needs to be met. For example, it’s essential they are provided with an enriched environment with plenty of room to explore and forage, straw bedding in comfortable areas to rest and spots for sows to nest with their piglets. Importantly, breeding pigs should be provided wallows to regulate their body temperature and facilitate comfort behaviours.
The RSPCA believes pigs should be reared in an environment that allows freedom of movement, the ability to express natural behaviours and meets their physical and behavioural needs. The RSPCA Approved Standard for Pigs does not permit confinement in sow stalls, farrowing crates, boar stalls, and mating stalls, or painful husbandry procedures for piglets. To achieve and maintain certification, producers must house pigs in enriched systems with space to move, forage, socialise and explore. There are, however, a number of issues the Standard does not cover, which is why RSPCA Approved is just one of the ways the RSPCA works to improve pig welfare – alongside working directly with government and industry and publicly advocating for change.
If you’re purchasing ham or pork as part of your seasonal celebrations, by choosing RSPCA Approved you can support a better quality of life for pigs, and the Producers committed to doing better by their animals. Coles is currently the only supermarket to have RSPCA Approved pork and ham for Christmas. Just look for the RSPCA Approved logo on pack which indicates the product has come from a farm where animal welfare has been prioritised. Producers with RSPCA Approved certification rear their pigs to over 300 strict requirements that cover their needs for their entire lifecycle, including death when the time comes.
Always remember that your food purchases are an important part of the big picture and illustrate demand, showing decision makers what’s important to Australians. In the case of pork and ham, purchasing RSPCA Approved pork at Coles shows producers and food businesses there is demand for higher welfare food which can influence decisions. So, when planning your holiday menu, be sure to support those who do what’s right for animals simply by looking for the RSPCA Approved logo.
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