Animal welfare groups have urged the government to launch its promised consultation into pig slaughter methods.
RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming have said the move could improve the welfare of millions of pigs and end a 20-year-old “welfare crisis”.
The charities have urged the government to phase out high-concentration carbon dioxide gas for stunning and killing pigs in slaughterhouses, saying it causes “pain, fear and distress, with pigs seen gasping and convulsing before losing consciousness”.
They have said that a more humane method is urgently required to reduce the suffering of millions of pigs.
It comes after the RSPCA handed in a petition of more than 22,000 signatures to Downing Street in July last year.
“No one wants to think about animals being slaughtered, but we cannot ignore how the food on our plates is produced, or we have no hope of progressing farmed animal welfare,” said RSPCA director of advocacy and prevention Thomas Schultz-Jagow. “CO2 gassing of pigs is the reality that every single one of us who chooses to consume pork products must confront.”
The government committed to address welfare issues that arise from the use of carbon dioxide to stun pigs in its Animal Welfare Strategy for England published at the end of 2025.
It follows recommendations made more than 20 years ago by the UK government’s own welfare advisory body, to phase out carbon dioxide stunning.
“It is imperative that the UK government urgently bans the use of this inhumane slaughter method used to kill nine million pigs every year, when other methods are available that cause significantly less suffering,” said Anthony Field, head of UK at Compassion in World Farming.
The government said in a statement that it would be consulting on a set of reforms including pig stunning methods as laid out in its Animal Welfare Strategy.
“The government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter,” the spokesperson added.
No comments yet