May 9, 2008

German animal welfare group to petition on pig castration

German animal welfare organisation Deutscher Tierschutzbund is petitioning against pig castration without the use of anesthetics.
 

The organisation has called on agricultural minister Horst Seehofer to start initiatives that will eventually lead to the ban of the practise.

They want to have alternatives, such as castrating after anaesthetising using gas.

However, the German agricultural federation (DBV) said that the method is not yet ready for use and that a ban can only be implemented when useful results have been proven in researches.

DBV suggested that the animal welfare organisations should turn their attention to retail so as to influence consumer behaviour, which could accelerate changes. The same issue in the Netherlands last year was solved through consumer behaviour.

Germany castrates about 20 million piglets per year without using anesthetics.