Denmark: agreement to ensure improved welfare of pigs

Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dan Jørgensen, and organisations with an interest in pig production in Denmark have reached a new agreement for improving pig welfare standards.

Representatives of Denmark’s veterinary profession, retailers and consumer groups were also signatories to a formal declaration.

The agreement will set specific targets, with immediate actions identified, in the following areas:

• Improve survival rates among piglets
• Encourage uptake of free-farrowing systems for sows – at least 10% of sows by 2020
• Find alternatives to castration of male piglets without anaesthetic by 2018 latest
• Reduce numbers of tail-docked piglets
• Lower incidence of stomach ulcers in both sows and finishing pigs

In addition, a major project for new housing design will focus on welfare considerations. The Danish meat industry and retail trade will also provide consumers with more information and greater choice of higher welfare products.