Conditions on an AMA pig farm in Lower Austria are appalling. As reported, photos published Thursday showed not only injured and sick animals, but also carcasses, some of which were already in poor condition. The Association of Austrian Pig Farmers, VÖS for short, was appalled at the abuses: “These circumstances are shocking.” The company has since been blocked and the AMA quality mark has been revoked.
The VGT had made the obvious grievances in the operation public on Thursday and also published footage from inside the facility. They revealed devastating conditions in the company and great animal suffering. Many of the pigs were injured or sick, and footage also showed dead animals, some of which were already in very bad shape, indicating they had been neglected for a long time.
The catastrophic abuses visible on the recordings are clearly the result of poor animal care and indicate clear violations of the Animal Welfare Act,” VÖS explains via broadcast on Friday. Animal owners have a “duty to care for their animals in the best possible way,” it said. Daily checks are therefore necessary, and occur in case of emergency.
“Days or even weeks of neglect”
Apparently that didn’t happen in the company. The VÖS assumes days or even weeks of neglect. If animals are not properly cared for, it is serious misbehavior regardless of the husbandry system.
AMA: ‘Maximum financial sanctions’
The company has the AMA quality mark, the AMA had the company closed on Thursday. Financial sanctions would follow, the AMA said via broadcast Friday. “The company was immediately blocked for the AMA seal of approval. The damage to the AMA seal of approval and to the entire pig industry is significant and will be subject to the highest financial penalties according to the AMA sanctions catalog,” the AMA said after the inspection carried out on the farm Friday morning.
Tighter control system
A tightening of the control system was also announced. Pig farms are checked annually. If there are no complaints about a company, the term can be extended to two or three years. So far, these have been announced the night before, but going forward they want to rely on completely unannounced checks.
A lance was broken for the vast majority of companies. These would work well and neatly. “You deserve our trust. Photos, as we recently had to learn about them, describe exceptional situations. Yet to a lesser extent they cause a huge loss of trust,” the appeal reads.
Operator wants to “completely clarify” allegations
According to ORF Lower Austria, the operator has responded with a written statement. No dead animals have been found, he denied. Together with the attending veterinarian and the responsible authorities, he wants to “completely clarify” the allegations. Measures prescribed by the official veterinarian – as reported, there was already a check on Thursday – could be implemented immediately.
However, the AMA will welcome a summit with retailers Friday that will discuss possible attitude labeling. There has been a long-standing commitment to objective labeling of livestock farming and animal welfare. We are very pleased with the signals from the food trade that they want to have constructive talks with the agricultural sector on an equal footing. Many pig farmers are open to further development,” said Michael Blass, AMA Marketing Director. However, the summit has been heavily criticized by insiders and described as a “pure political show for self-portrait”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
