My livelihood depends on caring for my pigs. As a farmer, I have no tolerance for animal cruelty. There is merit in modernizing and strengthening laws dealing with intentional cruelty and neglect. The current wording of the legislation does not differentiate between 'willful acts of cruelty' or 'unnecessary pain' versus normal accepted husbandry practices. Specific definition is needed to prevent subjective interpretation of the legislation that could be used against legitimate farm practices.
Some people interpret any killing as 'brutal', either at a processing plant or on the farm.
A number of individuals and organizations with animal rights objectives are ethically opposed to raising animals for food purposes, no matter how humanely it is done. They have the budgets and expertise to put farmers like myself out of business and look at loopholes in legislation like this as a means to further their cause.