Animal Rights Community Online

[aplrt]

 Pigs castrated without anaesthesia !

[Geoff]

This probably happens worldwide. It certainly does in Australia.
It is also perfectly legal here for anyone (ie - not a vet) to spay a cow:

From Animal Liberation:
"In northern Australia in particular, where fences are poor and there may be feral bulls, graziers remove the ovaries of female cattle to stop them becoming pregnant. The cows that are spayed are ones due to be sold off for slaughter, and graziers believe that spayed cows will gain more weight and be fatter.

In the case of cats and dogs, only a qualified vet may carry out the spaying operation, and it will be done under anaesthetic. In the case of cattle, it may be done without anaesthetic, and by a person who is not a vet. An exception is in NSW, where spaying must be done by a vet using anaesthetic.

Most commonly a cut is made in the flank of the cow, and the operator inserts his hand through the cut to remove the ovaries. The pain of this abdominal surgery without any pain relief is hard to imagine. Some cows die. " ... mortality can exceed 5% even with good operators. The trauma experienced by the animal also results in a physical setback and 2-3 months growth can be lost "

[Horsefriend]

A professor who taught animal science at college claimed that castration doesn't hurt at all. I don't think any of us men believed him. Actually I don't think any of the women believed him either.

[aplrt]

Unfortunately castration without anaesthesia does occur in some countries, simply due to economical factors. But considering the high price these animals are paying, this is a cost that should, at the very minimum, be mandatory. There is obviously no way of changing the laws of all these countries in one step, but I hope that we can start with Sweden, and I hope that those of you who read this post do sign the petition, as it will be passed on to the right person in charge.

That a professor, on the other hand, claims that castration is not painful... I would like to know what he has based this assumption on, and I wonder if he would say the same if it was performed on him. He should perhaps read this article in sciencedirect, entitled "Assessment of pain induced by castration in piglets: behavioral and physiological responses over the subsequent 5 days". There is strong evidence that castration is (obviously) extremely painful and that this pain or discomfort can last for many days ! Giving local anaesthesia before the castration reduces the pain, although there will still be some discomfort from the injection itself.

[panthera]

[Geoff]

[Markia001]

Piglets in Sweden are castrated without anaesthesia ! 4000 piglets are castrated per day and suffer this enormous pain, simply because the agriculture minister of Sweden, Eskil Erlandsson, wants to keep the price of meat down. They do not give the pigs painkillers because it would cost 2 euros per piglet ! It's not enough that they are raising the pigs to be slaughtered, they can't even, at the very minimum, try to provide them with a painfree life.

[teddy bear]

[aplrt]

[teddy bear]

[aplrt]

I fully understand your point, but they will import cheap meat either way. The aim is not that Sweden (!) stops castrating piglets without anaesthesia, the aim is that ALL countries stop it - once this petition is over, I intend to start a new one directed to the EU (they've been involved with this for some time now, e.g. with their PIGCAS project, but their solution so far has been to ban castration without anaesthesia on piglets older than 7 days). Obviously I'm a vegan and I promote veganism in any way I can (as, for example, through the petition description), but how much difference would it make if I start a campaign for shutting down all factory farming, that's to say, how likely is it to succeed ? The problem with our "modern" society is that using animals for profit is too deeply rooted, that people don't see or want to understand that it's wrong. It's nothing that we will be able to change over night or with one campaign.