“I am wholly in favour of any measures to try to improve animal welfare. The counter argument to retain farrowing crates was delivered by Sir Edward (main picture), who said he wanted ‘the voice of farmers’ to be heard. This Bill is a significant step in delivering on that promise.” Quoting Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comment in the Commons that ‘here are measures we will be able to implement as a result of Brexit-such as banning sow farrowing crates’, he added: “We must not waste the monumental opportunity provided by Brexit to position Britain as a global leader on animal welfare. “This is a great opportunity to improve the welfare of British sows, enhance our country’s reputation for advancing animal welfare and support the ingenuity of British developers,” Sir David told MPs. However, stillbirths tend to be under-reported on outdoor units, so the comparison is questionable. He said AHDB data show that piglet mortality has actually ‘been lower in outdoor systems than in indoor systems in 19 of the last 20 years’, a claim based on calculations by CIWF that combine data on stillbirths and pre-weaning mortality.
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He said scientific research shows that in well designed and well managed free farrowing pens piglet mortality ‘can be as low or even lower than in conventional farrowing crates’ and have also been shown to ‘improve productivity and provide many benefits for sow welfare’.
He said a range of free farrowing pens which provide more space for sows has been developed, by innovative British engineers, scientists and farmers. Sir David ( below) said the aim of his Bill was to ‘prohibit the cruel and unnatural use of farrowing crates’.
While Ten Minute Rule Bills rarely become law and take up very little parliamentary time, they are used to raise awareness of certain issues, and the Bill did generate some publicity from groups pushing for a ban, including Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) and the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.
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