EU regulations require pigs to have permanent access to manipulable materials, but compliance is often poor. Understanding what constitutes meaningful enrichment is key to effective welfare improvement.
The legal requirement for pig enrichment in the EU represents an important welfare policy that is widely undermined by inadequate enforcement and industry use of minimally effective materials. A chain hanging from the ceiling does not meaningfully meet a pig's strong motivation to root in substrates, explore, and manipulate organic materials. Straw, hay, compost, and similar organic materials engage pig behavioral needs in ways that hard objects cannot. The gap between the legal standard and its implementation reflects both enforcement failures and deliberate industry gaming of minimal compliance. Stronger standards specifying material types rather than just requiring some enrichment would be more effective.