The Manitoba Co-operator reports that Interlake Weanlings will no longer house pregnant pigs in gestation crates by the year 2017. Interlake Weanlings was the site of a Mercy For Animals Canada investigation that documented pregnant pigs crammed in cages so tight they couldn’t turn around or lie down comfortably, and piglets being slammed against the floor and having their testicles cut out and their tails cut off without the use of any painkillers.
This footage was aired across the country on CTV’s W5 investigative program and was featured prominently in local, national and international newspapers.
Maple Leaf Foods, the new owners of Puratone and Interlake Weanlings (described in the Co-operator article as the “now infamous Interlake hog barn”), have officially announced that they will be phasing out gestation crates at this facility, as well as all facilities formerly belonging to the Puratone group, by the year 2017.
A spokesperson for the new owners goes on record stating: “We’re starting to phase (open housing) in, in 2013, with a plan to have all our barns converted by 2017.”
Maple Leaf Foods committed publicly in 2007 to eliminate gestation crates in all company-owned pig breeding facilities; in addition, over 40 companies across North America, including Costco, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons, have made commitments to phase out gestation crates from their pork supply chain.
Mercy For Animals Canada calls on ALL pork producers across Canada to eliminate gestation crates and to prohibit such cruel and inhumane practices such as castrating piglets without painkillers or killing them by slamming their heads against concrete.
The good news is that you can prevent all this needless cruelty to pigs by simply transitioning to a compassionate plant-based diet. Visit ChooseVeg.ca for simple tips and healthy and delicious vegan recipes.
