Animals Australia bid to ban gas stunning of pigs: risks pork price surge

Animals Australia wants the Supreme Court to rule against gas stunning of pigs, which growers warn would push up pork prices.

Animals Australia legal counsel Shatha Hamade and its director of strategy Lyn White have filed a writ with the Supreme Court that could set a precedent that ends gas stunning of pigs in Australia.

Animals Australia’s Supreme Court bid to stop a Victorian abattoir gas stunning pigs risks setting a precedent that could lead to a national ban on the practice, that industry says would slow pork processing and raise pork prices.

Court documents show Animals Australia is arguing Benalla’s CA Sinclair abattoir’s use of carbon dioxide gassing system “causes pigs unnecessary injury, pain and suffering and is accordingly unlawful”, as it breaches the Australian standard for handling pigs.

The Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption demands “animals are slaughtered (including stunned) in a way that prevents unnecessary injury, pain and suffering to them and causes them the least practicable disturbance”.

AA is advocating electrical stunning of pigs as a more humane alternative to gassing, despite the RSPCA opposing its use on the basis that pigs must be handled individually and restrained, increasing “the risk of pigs experiencing pain and distress before slaughter”.

RSPCA policy documents state that while gas is “aversive” to pigs, it does allow them to be handled and stunned in groups, which “can improve pig welfare prior to stunning compared to systems that require individual handling and restraint”.

Producer-owned Australian Pork Limited says CO2 stunning of pigs is considered best practice across the European Union, North America, Asia and Canada.

An APL spokesman said peer-reviewed research, it had supported, had shown “when applied effectively, CO2 gas stunning ensures the animal is treated humanely”, given pigs can be kept in groups, with less handling and stress.

Victorian Farmers Federation pig group president David Wright said abandoning group gas stunning of pigs and going back to individual electrical stunning would have “huge ramifications across the supply chain”.

Not only would it cause more stress for restrained pigs, Mr Wright said workers would also be at greater risk of stick injuries, processing would be slowed and consumers would face higher prices for pork.

AA lead counsel Shatha Hamade said carbon dioxide gassing did not comply with the Australian standard, due “to the egregious suffering it causes”.

Ms Hamade’s writ lists PrimeSafe as a second defendant in the case, following a meeting at which the meat industry regulator told her it was not considering conducting any regulatory activity in respect of CA Sinclair’s use of a carbon dioxide gassing system.

The writ calls on the court to impose an injunction restraining CA Sinclair from using the system on the basis that it contravenes the standard, which is in breach of its licence.