Horace and Doris were the first rescue pigs to arrive at The Black Sheep, turning up in November 2011 as charming and mischievous piglets.
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Although they have since grown into enormous pigs, they are still friendly and playful – Horace in particular has a wicked sense of humour, and it’s wise not to turn your back on him!
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Pig factory farming Horace, Dorris, and their pig friends are lucky indeed. 618,000 pigs were killed in New Zealand in 2015. While pigs are farmed both outdoors and indoors, much of the pork industry relies on intensive, indoor factory farms. Standard industry practices such as the use of farrowing crates and boar stalls stop pigs expressing their natural instincts and lead to psychological and health problems. Unsurprisingly, pigs on intensive pig farms are usually terrified of humans, and suffer from chronic stress. This is certainly not the case with the pigs at the sanctuary. They love a good tummy rub! |
Farrowing crates While sow stalls were banned recently, sows are still caged in farrowing crates after they have given birth. These are cramped stalls without nesting materials or any stimulation for the mother and babies. At just three days of age, the baby piglets have their eye-teeth cut and their tails are docked. Although in nature piglets suckle from their mothers for twelve weeks, on factory farms the tiny pigs are weaned and separated from their mothers at only 3-5 weeks of age and confined in cramped pens with concrete floors. Here they are fattened in groups of a hundred to two hundred pigs before slaughter at around five months of age. Read more about farrowing crates here. |
Join the campaign to stop intensive pig farming, by distributing leaflets or organizing stalls and protests!
For more information, contact organisations such SAFE, Farmwatch, or Wellington Animal Rights Network. Boycott Pork and Bacon!
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