The Rural Voice, 1996-12, Page 27i
which go against the natural parts of
animal behavior, Rollin stated in the
written presentation accompanying
his speech. Controlled research, for
instance, found that confinement -
born and reared pigs will head
directly for a mudhole and wallow if
put into an environment that allows
it. Researchers testing domesticated
pigs released into a setting replicating
conditions under which wild swine
live, found they behaved in much the
same way as the European wild boar:
building communal nests in a co-
operative way far from the feeding
area, defecating in an area that was at
least seven metres away from
sleeping areas and forming complex
social bonds between certain animals
so that new animals introduced in the
area took a long time to be
assimilated. Pregnant sows would
choose a nest site a significant
distance from the communal nest,
several hours before giving birth.
"The key welfare issue in
confinement swine production is
clearly the sow stall or gestation
crate," Rollin wrote. While the two -
foot -wide by seven -foot -long stalls
may make efficient use of space, and
feed, and allow sows to be tended by
unskilled or minimally -skilled
labour, it provides the pigs with a
stressfully unnatural situation for the
majority of their productive lives.
They are not free to get exercise and
they have little to occupy their
attention. "If a system does not allow
such an animal even the room to turn
around, it is reasonable to view it as
thwarting some very fundamental
needs or tendencies, needs that have
both a physical and a cognitive
component, thus leading to negative
welfare. Animals that like to move
and are built to move are surely
affected negatively if they cannot do
so."
et the industry continues to
deny the criticism of crates,
Rollin says. "The argument
goes like this: The fact is that
sows do adjust to confinement.
Stereotypical behaviour, in tact,
bespeaks their adjustment — it is
how they cope. If they did not adapt,
we could not make a living! Thus
there is nothing wrong with stalls."
That's like saying humans can
cope living on the street by eating out
of garbage cans and sleeping in
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DECEMBER 1996 23