Providing pigs with adequate enrichment materials is a legal requirement across the EU and UK, yet compliance and material quality vary enormously, with significant welfare consequences.
Enrichment materials for pigs are not a luxury but a biological necessity for animals with intensely motivated rooting and foraging drives. Pigs denied appropriate enrichment redirect these behaviours toward pen mates - causing tail biting, ear biting and aggression. The welfare difference between a rubber mat and fresh straw or rooting substrate is enormous: pigs given organic, manipulable materials show vastly more species-typical behaviour and dramatically lower aggression rates. Legal requirements exist but enforcement is weak, and the widespread provision of legally compliant but behaviourally inadequate materials represents a significant ongoing welfare failure.