Piglet castration to prevent boar taint in pork is a common practice causing significant acute pain. Immunocastration, surgical castration under anaesthesia, and retention of intact males represent the welfare improvement continuum being pursued across Europe and beyond.
Piglets castrated without anaesthesia show immediate and prolonged pain indicators — vocalisation, escape attempts, reduced suckling, and elevated cortisol persisting for hours after the procedure. This acute pain is entirely preventable. Immunocastration eliminates the surgical pain entirely while being shown acceptable to consumers in blind taste tests in multiple European markets. Where surgical castration continues, anaesthesia combined with post-operative NSAID analgesia represents the minimum welfare standard. The trend toward intact male production in some markets and immunocastration in others is gradually reducing the total welfare burden of this practice.