Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 12/4/14


Seaboard Foods said the use of gestation stalls in its pork production facilities is supported by science as the safest way to raise pigs and posted a video to explain its practices.

The company is responding to a Mercy for Animals video using footage at Seaboard’s Yuma, Colo., production facility in an ongoing campaign trying to pressure Walmart and its pork suppliers to do away with gestation stalls that the animal activist group contends are cruel to pigs because they restrict their movement.

“We recognize that sometimes even the best practices as determined by veterinarians and animal care experts can seem uncomfortable to those who don’t spend their days with these animals, but at Seaboard Foods, we are committed to doing what is best for the pigs and the safety of our food,” Seaboard said in a statement.

The Center For Food Integrity’s Animal Care Review Panel eleased a report today on the Mercy for Animal video that Seaboard will review, spokesman David Eaheart told Meatingplace. 

“It is difficult to draw conclusions in many areas of this video given its brevity and that it contains many shots from different times and locations,” said Dr. Candace Croney, Purdue University. “There were quite a few clips that were troubling, and it would have been helpful to have had more extensive footage to get a better sense of what occurred, when it occurred, and how the issues were being addressed.” 

In addition to Croney, CFI's expert panel also included Dr. Lisa Tokach, a practicing swine veterinarian in Kansas; and Dr. Glen Almond, North Carolina State University. 

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