Pig Gelding Will Stop At Once

After much public outcry, pig castrations without anaesthetic will end today.

RÚV reports that Iceland’s pig farmers have issued a statement saying that due to extensive coverage in the media on the matter, from this day forward, they will no longer perform castrations on pigs without anaesthetic. Instead, local or general anaesthetic will be used. Ultimately, the end-goal will be to stop gelding pigs altogether.

Hörður Harðarson, head of the Pig Farmers’ Society of Iceland, told reporters that from now on pig farmers will be in touch with veterinarians to administer the anaesthetic. “But I strongly assume that the pig farmers will stop [anaesthetic-free castrations] today,” he said.

As reported, Chief Veterinary Officer Sigurborg Daðadóttir told RÚV that gelding animals without anaesthetic causes great pain, and is in fact already illegal in Iceland. Although many pig farmers have sought to receive an official exemption, “there are no options where this is concerned. They must stop gelding without anaesthetics.”

Factory farming is a fact in Iceland, and applies to pigs, chickens (both for meat and eggs), beef and even lamb. The EU has its own set of regulations with regards to the treatment of livestock and, as Iceland is a part of a trade agreement with the EU, must abide these regulations.