THE pig farmers may try to have us believe that they meet high welfare standards but this is far from the truth.
I'm a supporter of Viva! the vegetarian and animal charity, and over the past year we have filmed inside British pig farms. Everywhere we pointed the camera we saw diseased, dead and dying animals.
In almost every enclosure were the products of brutal neglect and indifference - broken legs, abscesses, ruptured stomachs, animals coughing from pneumonia, others panting from meningitis, cuts and lacerations from the perforated metal on which they have to lie.
Ninety per cent of Britain's pig producers claim to follow a code of practice on animal welfare - yet more than 90 per cent of pigs killed for meat are factory-farmed.
They're kept in overcrowded, often filthy conditions with nothing to alleviate their frustration and boredom.
For a free pack on stopping cruelty and going vegetarian contact: Viva! 12 Queen Square, Brighton BN1 3FD. Tel 01273 777688.
MARY PARKER,
On behalf of Viva!
Brighton.
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