Meanwhile, before Byrne's proposed rules on hog production come into effect, they need to be approved by the European Commission, the EU's 15 agriculture ministers and the European Parliament. The commission gave no indication of how long this would take. That directive set out space requirements, prohibited construction of facilities where hogs or sows are tethered, set rules for castration, forbade routine tail docking and tooth clipping and set a minimum age of three weeks before piglets could be weaned. The Eurogroup for Animal Welfare welcomed the proposed toughening in this directive. It is time that the commission fulfills the pledges given by commissioner Byrne in recent months.
Reform is well overdue.
The association also called for a ban on the use of farrowing crates once piglets are five days old, an end to slotted floors and an EU-wide prohibition on sow crates.