Pig Farming

Pig Dental Welfare and Teeth Clipping

The practice of clipping or grinding needle teeth in newborn piglets is performed to prevent injury but causes pain and raises welfare questions.

Key Facts

Piglets are born with eight sharp deciduous canine teeth called needle teeth
These teeth can cause facial wounds to litter-mates during suckling competition
EU law permits teeth clipping or grinding only when injury has occurred, not routinely
Grinding produces less thermal damage to pulp than clipping
The intervention itself causes acute pain and stress to neonatal piglets

Welfare Considerations

Routine teeth clipping is performed on neonatal piglets without anaesthesia, causing acute pain. The intervention is intended to prevent greater harm - facial wounds to litter-mates - but should only be performed when risk is established. Adequate management of litter size and sow milk production reduces suckling competition and may eliminate the need for teeth clipping in well-managed herds.

What You Can Do

Support pig welfare standards limiting teeth clipping to cases of demonstrated injury risk
Advocate for pain management during teeth clipping where intervention is unavoidable
Choose pork from farms with documented low routine teeth clipping rates