View all photos for this campaign in the photo gallery
Sow stalls are small cages in which mother pigs are individually confined prior to giving birth. In these cages, they are unable to turn around; they can only stand up, lie down, or take one or two steps forwards or backwards.
In 2010, following exposure by activists and mounting public pressure, the Australian pork industry committed to phasing out sow stalls by 2017. Understandably, most consumers would assume that this means sow stalls – or any small cages for sows – were eliminated five years ago (a 2021 Roy Morgan Research poll found that 71.6% of people believe products labelled as 'sow stall free' should not come from pigs who spent any time in any form of individual confinement). The lesser-known caveat, however, is that cages are still permitted to be used for up to five days after sows are impregnated. Australian Pork Limited's website currently states:
"The Australian pork industry has taken a world-leading position by voluntarily committing to phasing out sow stalls. This means sows will not be confined in stalls from five days after they are last mated until one week before farrowing when they are then moved into farrowing accommodation.
The Australian pork industry committed to voluntarily phasing out sow stalls by 2017. This came after many years of research into alternative housing methods. Today, we aim to ensure sows are kept in loose housing from five days after mating, until one week before they are ready to give birth."
This five day limit is not monitored or enforced, meaning there’s nothing to stop pig farmers keeping pigs in cages for longer periods of time.
Farm Transparency Project investigators visited six Victorian piggeries in early 2022, all with sow cages in active use, five years after the phase-out was to come into effect. Hidden cameras were installed at two of the locations (Midland Bacon at Carag Carag, and Markanda Piggery at Wyuna), which revealed that sows were confined to the cages for weeks at a time – 27 days at Midland, and at least 26 days at Markanda at which point the cameras were removed.
The hidden cameras at Midland also reveal workers kicking and jabbing sows with a metal pole to get them to move.
One of these piggeries, Gowanbrae at Pine Lodge (near Shepparton), is owned by Sunpork. Sunpork is Australia’s largest pork producer, and supplies to Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Costco, and international supermarkets including Countdown. Sunpork’s website states:
“As one of the first pig producers in the country to eliminate sow stalls, we understand that ethically reared produce is critical to success.”
The footage shows sows packed so tightly together that their legs are underneath the sow in the cage next to them. One sow is seen urinating on the legs of another as there’s no room to avoid it. Other sows show obvious signs of distress – repeatedly biting at the bars of the cage, bobbing and weaving their head, or pushing their head through the bars.
It is presumed that there are many more piggeries across Victoria and the rest of the country that are still confining mother pigs to cages for long periods at a time, despite Australian Pork Limited assuring the public that they were phased out five years ago. Farm Transparency Project is calling on the Andrews government to step in and implement a legislative ban on the cruel practice, in order to force the industry into compliance.
It's important to note, however, that the vast majority of pig farms in Australia still confine pigs to small cages in 'farrowing crates', for an average of six weeks at at time. Regardless of how they are raised, most pigs are killed in horrific gas chambers. As a consumer, the only way to avoid paying for cruelty in the pig farming industry is to stop eating pigs altogether.
View all 35 videos for this campaign in the video gallery
It's clear the pork industry can't be trusted. Most of us see ourselves as animal lovers; yet our actions may be contributing to the abuse and violent slaughter of individuals who live, breathe and feel just as much as our dogs and cats.
The only way to be sure you’re not supporting the abuse of farmed animals, is to stop eating them. Take the pledge today to leave animals off your plate and live vegan.
Media release by Andy Meddick MP (Animal Justice Party Victoria) - 21 September 2022
Media release: Tuesday 12 Aug 2025
The founding director of animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP), Chris Delforce, has been raided by Victoria Police at his Melbourne home this morning, in relation to footage of animal cruelty captured earlier this year at twenty piggeries in the state's north. Delforce's electronic devices including phones and laptops have been seized. The footage, captured by a large number of anonymous activists and provided to FTP, revealed widespread suffering, neglect, and potential breaches of animal welfare legislation, including: Pigs living in extreme confinement in their own waste, including in "sow stalls" claimed by the industry to...
Media release: Thursday 7 Aug 2025
Farm Transparency Project has released a guided video tour of a major Victorian piggery using footage they captured while trespassing in the facility in late 2023. The tour was originally published last year as part of an interactive virtual-reality tour and led to charges being laid against two investigators from the organisation. Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project, Chris Delforce, speaks to camera during the tour, while showing the audience around sheds at Sunpork's Gowanbrae Piggery in Central Victoria. Chris Delforce in a farrowing shed at Gowanbrae Piggery in Central Victoria. Animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project has...
Media release: Tuesday 4 Feb 2025
Footage from five more Victorian piggeries has been released by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project. The footage was taken by unknown investigators who filmed inside 20 piggeries across the weekend of the 18th & 19th January, before anonymously providing video and photos to Farm Transparency Project. The latest footage to be released shows pigs in filthy conditions, covered in their own waste; high numbers of dead and dying piglets; pigs living in rat infested sheds; and sow stalls, which the Australian pork industry promised to phase out almost 10 years ago. Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency has published footage from...
Media release: Tuesday 28 Jan 2025
Footage from five Victorian piggeries has been released by animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project, who say that a further 15 will be exposed in the coming weeks. Video taken inside the piggery shows dead and dying piglets, dirty conditions, pigs living in their own waste and sows with large pressure sores, cuts and scratches, evidence of fighting between pigs. The footage was gathered by anonymous, civilian investigators over two nights earlier this month. The investigators then provided the footage, and evidence of the date and location of its capture to Farm Transparency Project to review and publish. Footage from the...
Media release: Tuesday 21 Jan 2025
Animal rights campaigners have laid dozens of dead piglets at the offices of Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, in a protest against the government's refusal to address "urgent" animal welfare issues. Advocacy group Farm Transparency Project (FTP) organised the protest after receiving footage showing shocking, filthy and cruel conditions at twenty Victorian piggeries, filmed covertly by dozens of activists over the weekend. Further footage and the names of all twenty facilities will be released by FTP in the coming weeks. Animal rights campaigners have gathered outside the ministerial office of Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, in a protest against the government's continued...
Monday 18 Aug 2025 by
Charges have been dismissed against an animal rights activist accused of installing a secret camera that allegedly caught a man committing bestiality.
Monday 18 Aug 2025 by
Illegal surveillance charges have been dropped against an animal-rights activist who allegedly exposed the rape of a pig by an employee of a Campaspe piggery.
Tuesday 8 Nov 2022 by
A group of animal activists who stormed a Coles supermarket in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon to protest the manner pigs are farmed in the country has sparked a debate over their use of graphic imagery to get their message across.
Monday 7 Nov 2022 by
Animal Justice Party candidate Chris Delforce joined vegan activists protesting the sale of pig products at the Coles supermarket on Spencer street on Saturday. The protestors went to the meat aisle, wearing TVs on their chest, and showed vision of a pig farm which they say supply the supermarket giant....
Sunday 6 Nov 2022 by
Angry vegans storm the meat aisle of Coles blocking off customers from buying pork and declaring that all animal product should be ILLEGAL.
Saturday 16 Aug 2025 by
Investigator diary of a sow in group housing giving birth to piglets, many of whom were dead or dying. The investigator describes how and where they found them, and the feeling they had observing and filming this discovery.
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