UK GOVERNMENT: Enforce the Ban on Piglet 'Thumping'

Piglets are being slammed against concrete floors in illegal acts of killing. This is an abhorrent, unlawful practice, yet farmers are seemingly practicing it with no consequences. Add your name today to demand the government enforce the piglet 'thumping' ban.

The government's Animal Welfare Committee pushed this violent act to be banned, yet it is not being enforced. Piglets at Cranswick’s Northmoor Farm in Lincolnshire were slammed onto concrete floors or against walls in an attempt to kill them in full view of their mothers and siblings, and many were left gasping for breath several minutes later. After years of carrying out undercover investigations, we know that this farm is not an exception to the rule. Please help us get justice for piglets by adding your name today

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The Rt Hon

Steve

Reed

UK Government

Dear The Rt Hon Steve Reed MP,

The UK Government must take urgent action and enforce the law. The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 explicitly prohibit the use of manual blunt force trauma – commonly referred to as piglet 'thumping' – as a method of euthanasia for piglets on farms. This has been the case since 2022, when the amendment took place. Despite this, evidence clearly shows that illegal killing is still taking place, and legislation is blatantly being breached. Action must be taken.

Over the past decade, undercover investigations by Animal Justice Project – and other advocacy groups – have exposed routine law-breaking and widespread animal suffering on British pig farms – including those certified by Red Tractor. These findings are not isolated. They are symptomatic of an industry that puts profits before animals: one that breaches public trust and operates unlawfully.

We, the undersigned, call on the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to:

ENFORCE the law: Immediately uphold the legal ban on piglet ‘thumping’

An independent inquiry into the pig industry must be an urgent top priority for DEFRA, alongside the prosecution of Cranswick for its breaches of the law. The industry is rogue and is not being held accountable.

Pig farming is not only barbaric and untrustworthy – it is also environmentally destructive. These farms emit harmful greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide, contaminate water sources through slurry runoff, cause land degradation, and result in biodiversity loss.

Animal Justice Project is calling for a legally binding timeline to phase out pig farming entirely and transition toward a food system that no longer relies on the exploitation of animals.

Enough is enough. It is time to end an industry that breaks the law, causes extreme animal suffering, and deceives the public. The future of food must be ethical, sustainable, and animal-free.

Yours sincerely,

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