Schouten in conversation about docking piglet tails

At the beginning of 2019, Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) will discuss an end date for docking piglet tails with the pig sector. Schouten said in a letter to the House of Representatives.

Schouten expects that in 2019 more and more companies will be able to take the step to keep piglets with curly tails successful. She bases this on experiences in 2018 and the use of a risk assessment and enrichment material, writes Schouten.

However, this requires that the risk factors for tail biting are minimized, so that outbreaks can be prevented as much as possible. This means that animal caretakers must be able to quickly identify an outbreak, that an effective safety net is available (to stop the biting behaviour) and that there is adequate emergency shelter.

Research agenda Pig farming
Agreements have recently been made between the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Pig Farming Producers Organization (POV) about the multi-year financing of the Pig Farming Research Agenda. This agenda offers a firm place to stop docking piglet tails.

The Dutch pig chain already signed the Dalfsen Declaration in June 2013, with the aim of stopping the docking of piglet tails in a responsible manner.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.