The Australian pork industry's peak representative body has come out in defence of its practices amid recently-released footage by an animal activist group of pigs going to slaughter.
On Monday, ABC's 7:30 program aired footage obtained by Farm Transparency Project (formerly Aussie Farms) executive director Chris Delforce, who trespassed onto three Victorian abattoirs and filmed hours of footage of pigs being stunned by carbon dioxide ahead of their slaughter.
Aussie Farms was the group that in 2019 published a map of farm addresses across the country.
They encouraged the general public to visit these farms and upload photos and information about livestock production to the website.
Carbon dioxide stunning is legal in Australia, is used globally, and is RSPCA-approved.
An Australian Pork Limited spokesperson said pig farmers "strive for world-leading best practices when it comes to animal welfare".
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"Commercial pig farming in Australia is a highly-focused industry, guided by both federal and state legislation," the spokesperson said.
"The industry is further underpinned by continual investment into research and development that supports and promotes pig welfare."
The peak body said the methods used were backed by peer-reviewed, scientific research into animal welfare.
On the ABC's Victorian Country Hour on Tuesday, APL chief executive Margo Andrae said the body needed to fully understand the circumstances of the footage that was aired.
"We don't represent [the] processing sector, but as part of the pork supply chain we did ask to see the footage in full so we could actually understand when it was taken, where it was taken [and] if it was common practice," she said.
"The reality is though the industry does do [carbon dioxide] stunning, it is science backed [and] we've spent millions in making sure that we do the best for animals for [their] end of life."
In a statement, the Australian Meat Industry Council said the nature of any footage captured this way was "inherently biased" and "not based on context as it relates to the complexity of livestock processing and only is ever released to the media to push an agenda".
"The trespass and covert filming of any livestock facility is inherently dangerous and poses significant biosecurity, animal and human safety risks that AMIC cannot condone for any reason," an AMIC spokesperson said.
In Victoria, fines of $1000 for an individual or over $8000 for an organisation can be issued after legislation was passed about a year ago to stop trespassing on farming properties.
AMIC said they worked with government, industry and animal welfare groups to create best practices.
"AMIC remains steadfast in its policy that if crimes or breaches in animal welfare standards have been observed, the matter should be directly reported to police or the RSPCA as a matter of urgency so that any animal welfare offences can be investigated," the spokesperson said.
In Queensland parliament, LNP Member for Callide said the actions of the Farm Transparency Group ignore biosecurity practices.
"Through publicising this footage, criminal behaviour and the terrorisation of our food and fibre producers across this nation is actively being encouraged."
"We in the bush remember the distress, pain and anxiety caused by the sensationalised footage released by the ABC in 2011 which was the trigger for the atrocious live export ban," he said.
He also said Australia was a world leader for animal welfare standards.
But Australian Alliance for Animals strategy director Bidda Jones, who was featured in the ABC story, said while the practice of carbon dioxide stunning was widespread, the local pig industry had no plans to develop alternative methods to tackle the problem.
"The science was pretty clear, that in these last moments of pigs' lives, the carbon dioxide is aversive, it causes pain, it causes fear, it causes breathlessness and pigs are clearly very distressed and in pain," she said.
"The issue with the system is if you go into a pig abattoir, you will see pigs go into the gondola and you'll see unconscious pigs leave the gondola, but you don't see what happens in between, and that's the crux of this problem.
"It's out of sight, out of mind and the work is not being done to try and address that problem."
Dr Bidda said while the industry had been working to improve the welfare of pigs on farm, carbon dioxide stunning was "a complex problem to solve" and new replacement abattoir set ups would be expensive to install.
The Farm Transparency Project has called on the state government to launch an inquiry into the use of carbon stunning in pig slaughterhouses, and is pushing for a ban of the practice.
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