A sow looks out through the bars of her gestation crate while lying on its bare concrete floor at an industrial pig farm in Quebec, Canada. She and countless other sows live here confined within individual enclosures large enough only for them to sit, sta
In many countries, gestation crates are the cages that impregnated adult female pigs, also referred to as sows, are kept in for all but the last five to ten days of their pregnancies. For the nearly four months of their gestation, they live inside a cage that is just larger than the size of their bodies, roughly two by seven feet. They can lie down, sit, and stand but cannot turn around, walk, avoid the aggression from sows in neighbouring stalls, or respond to changes in the environmental temperature. Millions of pigs live in these extremely constricted spaces every day, despite many countries banning the practice on the grounds of animal welfare. Gestation crates are also known as sow stalls.
Proponents of the crates claim that they are necessary to prevent fighting among the pigs, while those in opposition say that the crates constitute animal abuse. We do know that living in these conditions, often in darkness, does not allow for the animals' natural behaviours, and research shows that the animals in crates exhibit expressions of stress, fear, boredom, and despondency. The crates do not have bedding, and the pigs lie on slatted plastic, metal, or concrete floors, to allow for the flow of waste to be easily collected in pits beneath them. Nevertheless, pigs living in gestation crates, as seen in these photographs, are often living in their waste, and their bodies are filthy.
A sow looks out through the bars of her gestation crate while lying on its bare concrete floor at an industrial pig farm in Quebec, Canada. She and countless other sows live here confined within individual enclosures large enough only for them to sit, sta
In many countries, gestation crates are the cages that impregnated adult female pigs, also referred to as sows, are kept in for all but the last five to ten days of their pregnancies. For the nearly four months of their gestation, they live inside a cage that is just larger than the size of their bodies, roughly two by seven feet. They can lie down, sit, and stand but cannot turn around, walk, avoid the aggression from sows in neighbouring stalls, or respond to changes in the environmental temperature. Millions of pigs live in these extremely constricted spaces every day, despite many countries banning the practice on the grounds of animal welfare. Gestation crates are also known as sow stalls.
Proponents of the crates claim that they are necessary to prevent fighting among the pigs, while those in opposition say that the crates constitute animal abuse. We do know that living in these conditions, often in darkness, does not allow for the animals' natural behaviours, and research shows that the animals in crates exhibit expressions of stress, fear, boredom, and despondency. The crates do not have bedding, and the pigs lie on slatted plastic, metal, or concrete floors, to allow for the flow of waste to be easily collected in pits beneath them. Nevertheless, pigs living in gestation crates, as seen in these photographs, are often living in their waste, and their bodies are filthy.