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27th
September 2006
STOP STALLING!
Willie the pig and friends call for a ban on sow stalls
Willie the movie-star
pig will join with AACT members tomorrow to present Minister for Primary
Industries, David Llewellyn, with over 1100 postcards calling for a ban
on sow stalls.
The postcards, which have been
signed by concerned members of the public, will be accepted by the Minister
at Parliament Lawns at 1.00pm. Willie, a sow who starred in the soon to
be released Hollywood production of Charlotte’s web, will carry
some of the postcards in saddle bags, with the Minister requested to accept
these from Willie.
The presentation of postcards
is timed to pre-empt the Ministerial meetings in the next couple of months
where the review of the Code of Practice for pig farming will be a major
topic of discussion.
According to AACT Pig Campaign
Spokesperson, Emma Haswell:
“The draft of the code
that has come out of the review includes virtually no real improvements
in animal welfare terms. It allows for sows to be incarcerated in sow
stalls and farrowing crates for their entire breeding lives until 2017,
despite the fact that such practices have been banned in the UK on animal
welfare grounds. Even after the 10-year ‘phase out’ sows
can still be confined this way for up to six weeks at a time.”
AACT will also have mock sow
stall in the dimensions of those used by the industry, to demonstrate
the terrible restriction these stalls place on the sows.
“Research has shown
that pigs are as intelligent, if not more so, than dogs. Yet we would
never allow dogs to be confined to bare steel and concrete pens that
are so small that all they can do is stand up and lie down. We are hoping
that by meeting Willie personally, and then considering what her life
would be like as a breeding sow confined to one of these sow stalls,
the Minister will be able to appreciate how much these animals suffer
in the name of cheap meat. We are appealing to the Minister’s
sense of ethics and compassion in the hope that he will fight at the
upcoming meeting for the draft code to include a ban on the use of sows
stalls.” concluded Ms Haswell
WHAT: Presentation
of 1160 postcards call for a ban on sow stalls to Minister Llewellyn
WHEN: AACT members and Wille the sow will gather from
12.30pm for a 1.00pm handover of the postcards, tomorrow, Thursday September
28th
WHERE: Parliament Lawns, Hobart
For more information: Emma, Pig Campaign Coordinator, tel:
0408 970 359
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