Hundreds of pigs dragged from their smallholder pens and dumped live and fully conscious into a huge dumper truck. Fighting to breathe, the animals writhe on top of each other.
From a distance, the scene almost looks like a tin of maggots. Come closer, and the true horror is clear.
The animals are then driven to mass graves where they are covered in caustic chemicals before being buried. Media reports tell of the pigs screaming at the pain of the chemicals for half hour or more before they are dead. This is the intended fate of all of Egypt’s 300,000 pigs.
Egypt’s mass pig kill is quite simply the worst atrocity to farm animals that I have ever seen.What is so appalling is that it is as unnecessary as it is almost unimaginably cruel.
The apparent reason for the killing is in response to swine flu. However, the leading intergovernmental authority on animal health and welfare, the World Organisation for Animal Health (who’s acronym is the ‘OIE’), has made it clear that a mass ‘cull’ would not help either public or animal health.
And the OIE should know. It is made up of the chief veterinarians from over 170 countries, Egypt being one of them. It recently adopted welfare standards on the emergency killing of animals for disease control purposes. Both these and the advice not to cull have so far been ignored. And all this from a country, Egypt, that hosted the OIE’s second global conference on animal welfare in Cairo as recently as autumn last year.
The true reason for the killing it seems is Egypt’s internal politics. And the incident provides a real test for the OIE of its ability to truly have practical influence over animal welfare. The question is, can and will the OIE act decisively?
There is a real disconnect between the growing international recognition of animals as sentient beings and the almost unwatchable scenes in Egypt. However, the atrocity has galvanised an international movement in outrage. Compassion in World Farming is working with our friends in Egypt and across the world to make sure that this incident is stopped in a way that ensures that its like will never be seen again. Your support in this is as vital as it is appreciated.
