Page 2 of articles about castration in Swine news

The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) carried out in November 2015 a survey on pig castration in order to see the progress made in respect to the European declaration on pig castration.

The situation of surgical castration of pigs is diverse in the different Member States.

Now nearly 75% of all boars in the Netherlands are not castrated.

Castration or tail docking of piglets over 7 days old shall only be performed by veterinarians.

The study is aimed at providing EU policymakers with an improved understanding of which of the options is most adequate for pig meat production when weighing the costs against the benefits.

The Federal Agriculture Ministry lays down a time schedule for phasing out the practice of castrating piglets without anaesthesia: accordingly, this method is to be banned throughout Germany as of 1 January 2017.

Tönnies, Vion and Westfleisch have undertaken a joint statement to buy whole finishing pigs without any deduction in the price.

The fund, established in 2009 in Switzerland to promote the rapid and widespread painless castration of piglets, was closed in late 2011.

The discovery of how chicory affects boar taint can, in the long run, open the door to a more targeted and efficient way of preventing boar taint via the feed.

The National Federation of Belgian meat (FEBEV), has decided to abandon the practice of surgical castration of pigs without anesthesia starting in 2012.

Preparatory work for the future development of animal based measures for assessing the welfare of sow, boar and piglet including aspects related to pig castration.

Due to technical adaptations and the fact that a change in the Dutch pig population is foreseen as castrated males are expected to be absent in the near future, the Netherlands has requested the Commission to authorise three methods for grading pig carcasses on its territory...

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) today launched its Opinion on mutilations and environmental enrichment in piglets and growing pigs. The Opinion advises Government about the impact on young pigs’ welfare of the various mutilations that they may be subject to during their lives. The procedures include tail docking, tooth clipping, identification and castration.

The European Commission welcomes the announcement made earlier this week that several main actors in the pig meat chain have agreed on a plan to voluntarily end the surgical castration of pigs in Europe by 1 January 2018.

An abandonment of piglet castration is approaching. Specialists believe that rearing the entire population of young boars is the best way to permanently abandon the practice of castrating male piglets without anaesthesia right across the board. That is the main conclusion reached by the expert workshop "Abandonment of piglet castration – status and perspectives" held by the Fed-eral Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection together with QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH on 11 November, 2010 in Berlin.

The American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) Executive Board recently approved proposals to replace the AVMA policy on swine castration, tail docking, and teeth clipping with two new policies.