Today Eyes on Animals met with representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, sausage company Brandt & Levie, Varkens in Nood (Pigs in Peril) and organic pig farmer Kees Scheepens to discuss how we can help the organic pig sector find a path towards a future where castration is phased out. Kees Scheepens and one other Dutch organic pig farmer, Gideon Boerrigter, are the only 2 organic pig farmers in the Netherlands that do not castrate. Other organic pig farmers still castrate their male piglets due to pressure from the market (market does not want to pay the loss should a boar have boar taint) or because they have management concerns about mounting behaviour and are not yet sure how else to solve this. We made concrete plans on how to make this topic transparent and how to move forward in a positive and effective way towards an even more humane organic system that respects the pigs’ full integrity.
