IFA regional Chair for Ulster and North Leinster, Frank Brady, has hit back at an animal rights group who are calling for a complete ban on pig farming. Becky Jenkins of "Animal Rebellion" told the Joe Finnegan Show yesterday that her group had a secretly-filmed video which showed inhumane pig-rearing practices in two Irish facilities.
Among the cruelty shown on the disturbing video is tail docking and the castration of male pigs without anaesthetic. Frank Brady is a pig farmer from Cootehill. He was was incensed by Animal Rebellion's claims and said it is not clear when the videos were filmed. Pigs have not been castrated in Ireland for the past 40 years he pointed out.
Rubbishing the animal rights campaigners' claims Mr Brady argued that if pigs were treated in a similar way to the ones of the offending video, pig farmers like him would not receive their Bord Bía approval, so would therefore be unable to sell their animals to market: "Things are 99 per cent perfect in most pig factory units because we are regulated over-the-top, more than any country in Europe," Mr Brady said, "If we don't get it right for Bord Bía we don't get our Bord Bía accreditation, we can't sell our animals, we can't get them processed. Number two: the Department come out regularly to check our animals are in the state [they should be]. Yesterday, she spoke that nobody euthanises their animals. Every pig farmer under Bord Bía has to have a tool for euthanising their animals if they're sick or in trouble," he added.
