Farm Animals

Farmed Pig Pain Management Standards

Pain management for routine procedures and disease treatment in commercial pig production is inadequate in the majority of systems globally, causing preventable suffering at enormous scale.

Key Facts

Surgical castration of piglets without anaesthetic remains legal and common in many countries
Tail docking, ear notching and teeth clipping are performed without anaesthesia in most systems
NSAID pain relief for all mutilations is required under some higher-welfare schemes
Pig pain facial grimace scales enable objective assessment of pain levels post-procedure

Welfare Considerations

Pigs experience acute pain during surgical mutilations performed without anaesthesia; the evidence from behaviour, physiology and facial expression is unambiguous. Post-operative pain may last days. Routine painful procedures normalised by industry practice represent preventable suffering at the scale of hundreds of millions of animals annually. Regulatory requirements for pain relief during and after procedures are the most impactful single intervention available.

What You Can Do

Choose pork from higher-welfare producers requiring anaesthesia for all procedures
Support mandatory pain relief legislation for pig mutilations in the UK and EU
Advocate for pain recognition training requirements in pig stockmanship qualifications
Back research into non-painful alternatives to tail docking and castration