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  4. RSPCA Australia welcomes crate-free…

RSPCA Australia commends SunPork’s announcement today that they are moving away from the traditional farrowing crate and introducing their innovative ‘maternity ring’ — giving sows more freedom of movement.

This Australian, industry-led approach represents a big leap forward to address the extreme confinement of sows in farrowing crates that are barely bigger than the sow herself, which are commonly used across pig breeding farms in Australia.

The maternity ring enables the sow to move around, express highly-motivated nesting behaviours, and interact with her piglets and other sows.

Melina Tensen, Senior Scientific Officer (Farm Animals) at RSPCA Australia said that the RSPCA has seen these maternity rings in practice and reviewed the available research to date and believes that it will result in meaningful benefits for the welfare of the sow and her piglets.

“Traditional farrowing crates confine the sow from just before giving birth to when her piglets are weaned, denying her any ability to carry out innate nesting and maternal behaviours,” she said.

“Sows confined to crates also risk injuries due to extended lying on hard surfaces and by the difficulty in changing positions within the crate.

“They have trouble resting properly and regulating their body temperature due to movement restriction.

“We commend SunPork’s work over many years that has now resulted in a viable alternative to the farrowing crate.

“For pig producers, now is the time for an industry-wide transition to abandon all forms of extreme confinement of pigs — no more stalls and no more crates.”

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