Gestation crates confine pregnant sows in spaces so small they cannot turn around, causing severe welfare suffering that has led to bans in the EU and UK but their continued legal use in major pork-producing nations.
Gestation crates represent one of the clearest cases of systemic, institutionalised animal cruelty in agriculture. Complete physical restriction for months prevents all natural behaviours including turning, exploration, and social interaction. Stereotypic behaviours in confined sows are universally recognised as indicators of chronic psychological suffering. The welfare costs persist even in group housing systems if inadequate space or resources lead to aggression and injury. The global extent of gestation crate use, involving hundreds of millions of sow pregnancies annually, makes this one of the largest scale welfare issues in existence.