With the campaign and the newly launched video capturing this horrific practice, WELFARM will continue collecting citizens’ signatures that will be re-submitted to the French Ministry for Agriculture demanding a national ban of live piglet castration.

Piglet castration is a routine measure inflicted on piglets in European pig rearing. The main reason for neutering male piglets has been the unpleasant odor and taste (so called “boar taint”) some people reported when consuming meat from uncastrated male pigs. Sex hormones produced by male pigs and boars release a substance distributed through blood into the animal’s body, including muscles. When exposed to heat, the pig meat can produce an unpleasant odour and change the taste. However, only about 5% of piglets develop boar taint, which is why this practice remains completely unnecessary, especially as more humane alternatives exist; for example, pigs can be vaccinated against boar taint.

As a part of the EndPigPain campaign carried out jointly with Eurogroup for Animals, WELFARM has been raising awareness about effective alternatives to the cruel practice of castration without anesthesia. After national bans in Sweden, Switzerland and Norway, a ban delayed but underway in Germany and minimization of castration without pain relief in Spain, the UK and the Netherlands, WELFARM calls on the French government to follow suit, and encourages French MPs to put pressure on the government at the assembly. 

Sign the petition here.