Today’s news / Alarming conditions in Danish pig farms
Food inspections in Danish pig stables show major issues with animal welfare. The image here is from 2019 and has no connection with the reports from the Food Administration. (Archive photo). Photo: Asger Ladefoged/Ritzau Scanpix

Alarming conditions in Danish pig farms

Insights from food inspections, accessed by the newspaper Dagbladet Information, reveal distressing conditions in Danish pig farms, including pigs with hoof ulcers, shoulder sores, arthritis, and other ailments. Lene Juul Pedersen, a swine researcher at Aarhus University, attributes many of these welfare problems to the way the pigs are kept. Out of 240 inspections conducted by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, 90 reports found pigs with difficulty standing, unable to rise, or limping severely; 20 reports detected sows with shoulder sores, comparable to bedsores in humans, typically due to hard resting surfaces; and about 100 reports identified pigs with hernias. The Veterinary and Food Administration has not disclosed details on the 44 most severe cases due to ongoing police investigations. Despite these findings, Christian Fink from the industry association Agriculture & Food Council acknowledges the issue and notes a slight decrease in regulatory non-compliances.