Have your say on the welfare of pigs in Victoria

Public submissions have opened for the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into pig welfare and we need your help to send a message to the government that we want a kinder world for pigs!

The inquiry was initiated earlier this year after our groundbreaking exposé, aired on ABC’s 7.30, showed pigs screaming, thrashing and gasping for air inside carbon dioxide gas chambers, which are used to suffocate over 90% of Australian pigs before their throats are slit. Chaired by Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, the inquiry will investigate commercial pig confinement, including the continued use of sow stalls and farrowing crates, and slaughter in Victoria, and prepare a report suggesting improvements to the government.

This is our opportunity to speak up for pigs and demand an immediate ban on cruel, outdated cages for mother pigs, and an end to pig gassing.

Submissions closed on January 12, 2024.

PDF Download our submissions guide

We Animals Media

Watch Farm Transparency Project's founder, Chris Delforce, discuss the inquiry from inside a major Victorian piggery.

Watch the footage

The following footage was captured recently in Victorian farms and slaughterhouses.
Sow stalls in Victorian piggeries
Our investigation in late 2022 uncovered the widespread use of 'sow stall' cages for pregnant pigs in Victorian piggeries, 5 years after the industry claimed to have phased them out.
Farrowing crates in Victorian piggeries
Across Victoria, mother pigs (sows) are confined to small 'farrowing crate' cages for around 6 weeks at a time to nurse their young. In these cages, they are unable to turn around.
Gas chambers in Victorian slaughterhouses
We covertly entered Victoria's three largest pig slaughterhouses, to capture footage inside the highly secretive, 'humane' gas chambers. Pigs are seen screaming and thrashing as they suffocate.

Making a submission

You can choose to either write your own submission, or fill out the survey. You don't have to be an expert for either option! We've created a submissions guide to help you, and here are some further suggestions of what you can include:

  • Your reaction and response to seeing footage of standard Victorian pig confinement and slaughter methods, such as the above showing sow stalls, farrowing crates and gas chambers
  • Information you have about the intelligence and capacity for thought and feeling of pigs
  • Concerns about the investment of public funds into the Australian pork industry, and opinions on how you would prefer your tax money to be spent
  • Information about alternatives to animal agriculture and the benefits of investing in plant-based and cultured meat options
  • The community impacts of commercial piggeries and pig slaughterhouses, e.g. smell, noise, waste and pollution
  • Your opinion on whether the Australian pork industry has been misleading consumers by describing the use of gas chambers as painless and humane