The space available to pigs in commercial housing systems significantly affects welfare. Understanding the evidence on space allowance helps consumers evaluate welfare standards.
Space allowance for pigs directly determines their ability to avoid aggression, rest comfortably, access food and water without competition, and express natural behaviours. At the legal EU minimum, pigs have limited ability to retreat from dominant pen-mates or find clean resting areas. Research shows welfare indicators improve progressively as space increases above the minimum. The minimum is exactly what it says - a minimum below which welfare is clearly unacceptable, not a standard that delivers good welfare. Consumers who choose pork from systems with genuinely high space standards - outdoor, free-range, RSPCA Assured - pay more but receive demonstrably better welfare outcomes.