How to use this website

On the front page, you can watch two videos, just click play. In the first video, two activists share their experiences during the investigation. The second film is a trailer video of the investigation. If you want to see footage from individual pig farms, click "Kuvat". On the following page, the farms are listed on the left hand side by town. Choose the one you want to see and click play.

We are happy to answer all questions at info@oikeuttaelaimille.net

The campaign: Is this what we want to do to animals?

In 2007, Oikeutta Eläimille organisation revealed the reality of Finnish animal industry by releasing shocking footage from 101 factory farms. The footage gained much media attention and the animals' conditons were condemned widely by the public.

Two years later, nothing has changed. In the autumn of 2009, activists visited 30 pig farms, some of which had been filmed earlier. The new footage shows that pigs are still kept in appalling conditions to produce meat. All piggeries had the same basic problems. Pigs were kept in close quarters and in dirty conditions with no possibilities for exercise or other natural behaviour. Individual care was not given to the animals. In addition, animal welfare laws were being broken blatantly by many farmers: there were numerous sick animals that had not been taken care of. Open wounds, abscesses and broken limbs were some of the typical injuries.

There are over 2000 pig farms in Finland. Each year 2,5 million pigs are killed for food. Our campaign aims at revealing the truth behind advertisements by showing the public how pigs really are kept on factory farms. We want to raise debate about the position of animals in our society and to encourage people to treat animals with the respect that they deserve.

Nothing changes as long as animals are seen as products. We have the possibility to choose and the responsibility for our choices.

Open your eyes and watch the campaign footage.

For more information, contact: info@oikeuttaelaimille.net

Results in More Detail

Animals' Environment

On most farms, pigs raised for meat were kept in batch pens with a concrete, wooden or grated floor with little or no straw for bedding. Neither did most farms have any material in which the pigs could play, explore and root. Sows were confined in gestation grates, which do not allow them to turn around.

On all farms, individual animals had very little space. Due to lack of space, the pigs could not avoid each other when necessary which causes fights between the animals. Sick or weak animals laying in the pens got trampled on as there was no room for the other pigs to avoid them.

Behavioural Problems

The unnatural conditions in which pigs are kept cause them behavioural problems. The activists witnessed continuous fights between the animals, many of which had numerous bloody wounds on their bodies. On many farms, there were animals whose tails had been bitten off or they had ragged ears. Almost all farms had pigs that were apathetic. They only laid still and did not react to their environment.

Injuries and Illnesses

Many pigs had marks that spoke of fights with other animals. Tail biting was a common sight, and many pigs had bloody, even bitten off, tails. Many sows had nasty bed-sores. On one farm, there was a sow with a huge bed-sore, which the piglets kept biting. As the sow was kept in a gestation crate, she could not protect herself.

One third of the farms had pigs with nasty untreated wounds and abscesses. Some pigs also had untreated broken limbs. On one farm, there was a pig that was paralysed in the lower part of the body. On another farm, there were pigs that seemed too weak to move and only laid, as if paralysed. Many animals had eye infections.

Injured animals were kept in the same pens as with healthier animals, which means the weaker animals got trampled on.

On many farms, there were very sick pigs that had not been taken care of. Some of them could not move any more, they only laid down and could barely breathe. They had clearly been in that condition for a long while and around them different body fluids were mixed with faeces.

Dead Pigs

On all sow farms, there were dead pigles among the living ones in the stalls as well as piled up on gangways. Some piglets had been stillborn, some had died of hunger, thirst or coldness. On four farms, there were dead pigs among the living ones in the pens. Carcasses that had started to decay were found on two farms. On one farm, there were two pig heads in a pen.

Hygiene

The animals’ living quarters were very dirty on most farms. Often the pen floors were covered with a thick layer of faeces. Many piggeries had incredible amounts of flies, while three farms had a large amount of mice running around. Dead mice were also found among the pigs and on gangways. Piled up dead animals outside the piggeries was a common sight.