Some of our customers may have seen an anonymously placed advertisement in a weekly newspaper on Friday 04 July on the subject of sow crates. The advertisement was grossly offensive and wholly inaccurate, and did not in any way reflect our position on pig farming. The newspaper concerned apologised immediately for having published it. To single Pick n Pay out on the challenge of phasing out sow crates was wrong. We do not believe any major retailer in this country is moving faster on this issue than we are. Indeed, we have ourselves initiated a dialogue with the industry and animal welfare organisations to explore the scope for faster change. The incorrect accusation that Pick n Pay is opposed to ending the use of sow crates originated from claims made by animal welfare organisations that we had changed our position on this issue. One of the leading organisations, Beauty Without Cruelty, has since admitted that this accusation was wrong, and has retracted it. There have been occasions in the past few days where a very small number of people – again anonymously – have posted videos, comments and photographs which bear no relation to Pick n Pay, or to suppliers of ours. Where these have been offensive or deliberately misleading, they have been removed. We understand the desire to see rapid change on sow crates. Improvements in animal welfare are best achieved when rules are applied across the sector, so that higher standards imposed by some organisations are not undermined by others who choose not to adopt those standards. The industry argues that changes to animal housing require significant investment by their members, and have set out a 2020 deadline for phasing out crates. In addition, any new pig building erected since 2013 has to make provision for group housing or individual pens for the last eight weeks of gestation. We understand from the South African Pig Producers Association that 50% of South African pig farmers already comply with these new standards, and this proportion is increasing all the time. However, we share the desire to see more rapid progress. We are therefore talking to the NSPCA and Beauty Without Cruelty, and have been working for some time with the South African Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO) to examine all options for accelerating change. We know that some customers don’t want to wait. For this reason, Pick n Pay is also supporting initiatives to expand our free range pork. Under the free range protocol, pigs are free to roam freely, and are only moved to concrete-based accommodation during the farrowing phase, where they are placed in a farrowing pen to prevent injury to their newly born piglets. Free range pork is available in our stores in the Western Cape, and we are seeking to extend it throughout the country.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:32:56 +0000