Tail biting is a serious welfare problem in intensive pig farming caused by failure to meet pigs' behavioral needs, with effective prevention strategies available but insufficiently implemented.
Tail biting causes serious welfare harm at multiple levels. Victims experience acute pain from injuries, which can be severe - tail biting often escalates once blood is visible, with multiple pigs joining in. Infected wounds cause chronic pain and sometimes septicemia and death. The perpetrators of tail biting are themselves suffering from environmental deficiencies that drive the behavior. The use of tail docking to prevent biting treats the symptom rather than the cause and itself causes pain. Addressing the root causes through enrichment, appropriate stocking density, and adequate feed provision would prevent the problem without creating additional welfare harms.