The pork industry has hit back at criticisms of its slaughtering process after footage was aired of pigs apparently suffocating in Australian abattoirs.
Warning: This article includes an image of animals some may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.
Last night, ABC TV's 7.30 current affairs program showed illegally obtained footage by animal activist Chris Delforce from the Farm Transparency Project.
Mr Delforce broke into multiple Australian abattoirs and filmed pigs squealing loudly in distress during a process called stunning.
Eighty-five per cent of Australian pigs are stunned before slaughter by being slowly lowered into a carbon dioxide (CO2) gas solution to put the pigs to sleep before they are killed and butchered.
Australian Pork Limited chief executive Margo Andrae said the practice was legal and considered best practice by Australia's pork industry and countries such as the United States.
"The industry does use CO2 stunning, it is science-backed, and we've spent millions in making sure that we do the best for our animals," she said.
"Everything we do is about minimising the stress on those animals, so they have a good life, and the CO2 stunning is one of those ways of minimising harm.
"In terms of the product … ensuring that we minimise the stress is actually better for the products that we are privileged to serve to Australians."
Distressing footage
Ms Andrae said although the method of stunning pigs was industry best practice, the footage aired on Monday night may have been distressing to some viewers.
"We are a highly regulated industry at both state and federal level, but in terms of what consumers saw last night, there is a moment that some viewers might find distressing," she said.
"But we take the utmost care of those animals at the end of their life."
The Australian Meat Industry Council is the representative body for abattoirs, and chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said more attention should be paid to the behaviour of Mr Delforce, who trespassed onto a manufacturing site to obtain the footage.
"We are always looking for better and more effective and efficient ways to undertake stunning of any livestock that is under our care," he said.
"I didn't see any mistreatment of any animals during that process, and so we're always happy to be as open and transparent as we can.
"What we saw was an individual who put his own life in danger in a manufacturing setting … had he been injured, who would've been responsible and accountable for him recovering from those injuries?"
Mr Hutchinson alleged Mr Delforce's action were also a potential breach of biosecurity protocols, which were in place to avoid disease outbreaks such as African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease.
"But we know he doesn't care about that — his role is to rid society of animal industries, period," Mr Hutchinson said.
"Pigs are an animal that vocalises extensively, whether in a paddock, a shed, when people are touching them, in the saleyard or transportation — that's how the animal is," he said.
"In certain circumstances, we're seeing pigs react in very different ways, just as we see other livestock, people react in different ways to different scenarios."
The footage aired of the pigs squealing in distress was not representative of the usual process of stunning the animal, according to Mr Hutchinson, who suggested a small amount of footage was "taken out of context" of the broader process.
"They have found specific pigs that reacted in a specific way as opposed to showing us the total process over the day," he said.
"There are many varied opportunities for those who take legal or illegal footage to then take that to the RSPCA, police or other authorities, and none of that has occurred."
Disappointing response
Dr Bidda Jones is an animal welfare scientist with the Alliance for Animals who was not involved in obtaining the footage, but was interviewed as part of the 7.30 expose.
"I'm very disappointed that [the industry's] response is to essentially shoot the messenger," she said.
"The problem here is not about how the footage was obtained. The problem is the lack of action to deal with the pain and suffering that pigs are subjected to through this process."
Dr Jones said that although improving stunning practices for pigs was a difficult problem, the industry wasn't trying hard enough and, since 2014, had not invested enough money into fixing the problem.
"The industry receives over $10 million a year to conduct research and development, and in its current innovation plan, the only mention of processing is reducing the costs," she said.
"There is no plan to look at alternatives to CO2 stunning. There's no current funding to look at that.
"This is a method of slaughter [where] the industry has been completely aware of the problem, but unfortunately, it's out of sight, out of mind."
Meat processing regulator Primesafe is reviewing the program footage and making inquiries.
"Primesafe has not received any complaints, and all the footage has not been provided to them at this time," a spokesperson said in a statement.
