Pigs are among the most cognitively sophisticated domestic animals, yet most are kept in conditions that bear no relationship to their behavioural and social needs.
The welfare gap between pig cognitive complexity and their standard commercial living conditions is perhaps the largest of any farmed species. Pigs have sophisticated emotional lives, strong social bonds, individual personalities, and active problem-solving minds — all of which are systematically denied in standard intensive systems. The sow stall, farrowing crate, bare concrete floor, and absence of rooting material represent a catalogue of welfare failures. Deeply bedded systems, outdoor access, and appropriate group housing allow pigs to express the behaviours that make their lives worth living. The commercial viability of these systems is demonstrated by producers in Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK who already operate them at scale.