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Images of a piglet rearing in Germany, taken in June 2020. The images were given to SPIEGEL by the animal rights organization Animal Rights Watch. What looks bad is everyday life in German pigsties. Because when it comes to keeping animals, there are numerous special statutory regulations that allow everything possible - including keeping sows in so-called crate stalls.
Sandra Franz, Animal Rights Watch
"The conditions in this pig breeding are actually typical of the industry. Sick, injured and dead animals can be found in every pig breeding. The sows are also penned in metal cages everywhere, in which they can just lie down and get up again . More freedom of movement is not possible. And that's where they live half of their lives. The animals have to vegetate in narrow, sealed concrete pens. There they cannot live out their most basic needs, for movement, for social behavior. They cannot satisfy their curiosity So everything that pigs actually need for a good life is taken from them there. And that's exactly what you see on this video material. "
Animal rights activists have been demonstrating for more animal welfare in pig breeding for decades. In July 2020 the Federal Council decided that the so-called crate stands will be abolished. However, there is an eight-year transition period during which the animal no longer even has the legal right to stretch out unhindered while lying down. For the responsible minister, Julia Klöckner, the amendment to the livestock law is still a success.
Julia Klöckner / Federal Minister of Agriculture (Berlin, July 3, 2020)
"And the ordinance on livestock husbandry has just been adopted in the Federal Council, also by broad consensus. And it has achieved one thing: more animal welfare, more animal welfare. And we are helping animal owners in the right way a lot of federal money so that they can quickly convert the stables. That we keep livestock here, but raise our standards and above all step on the gas to show that ecology, economy and social issues go together. We consumers are in demand here. This is where pet owners are in demand, and the entire chain is in demand.
But animal welfare is currently far from being achieved in conventional pig breeding. Here you can see several crate stalls that are just 52 centimeters tall - far too small for a full-grown sow.
Sandra Franz / Animal Rights Watch
"The crate stalls actually have to be as wide as the sow is high. This has been regulated for over 20 years. In 2016, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed that it must be so. In 2020, the Animal Welfare and Farming Ordinance became so changed so that they will be abolished in eight years. Until then, within these eight years, these narrow crate stalls were retrospectively legalized, even though they have actually been illegal for over 20 years. That runs through this entire industry. Not only that these animals suffer immensely, even if the legal minimum standards are observed. But not even these minimum standards are observed. "
Germany is the largest producer of pork in Europe and ranks third in the world after China and the USA. Over 26 million pigs are kept in this country. Fewer and fewer highly specialized companies manage ever larger animal populations. This makes pig farming the second most important branch of agriculture in Germany after milk production.
Marco König / Animal Welfare Officer, Saxony-Anhalt "In the meantime, the situation is such that we have been bringing the cheapest pork in Europe to the market in Germany for many years, and far more than we need for the population's own consumption I think it is necessary to ensure that the industry makes a profit from exports at the expense of animals and causing animal suffering for very questionable . "
We show the animal welfare officer of Saxony-Anhalt, Marco König, the recordings that Animal Rights Watch was leaked. You are not registered in Saxony-Anhalt.
Marco König / Animal Welfare Officer Saxony-Anhalt
" Here you can clearly see that the stand in which the sow is standing, the piglet basket, is obviously too short for this sow. It is mandatory that the sow, if it does not move a lot can, at least lie down and stretch his head. That is not the case here, as you can easily see. The stall is simply too small for the sow. The sows you see here don't care in such a crate whether it is narrow or wide, nothing is lost. The sows are absolutely malnourished. This is what a sow looks like when she has been suckled by lots of piglets and has invested so much energy in caring for her piglets.
Too small, too many piglets, no one to take care of the injured and weak newborn piglets.
Marco König / Animal Welfare Officer Saxony-Anhalt "That's 20 piglets. A sow doesn't have that many teats, she can't take care of all of them. But our sows are bred for so many piglets. That is of course a problem. Otherwise, I have to Unfortunately, one can say: 13 percent piglet losses of all newborn animals is a margin that is common in the industry. Of course, this is anything but animal-friendly, but by no means unusual. "
The animal as a waste product. This is where animals end up that can no longer be helped or whose medical care would consume too much money and resources.
Marco König / Animal Welfare Officer Saxony-Anhalt
"Dead pigs and afterbirths - that is, so to speak, the waste of our intensive pig husbandry. This is a relatively typical, conventional pig husbandry. This is how you have to imagine it, this is what it looks like in a piglet facility in Germany."
For the animal welfare officer, there are numerous violations of animal welfare, but the pig breeder's offense is limited to administrative offenses that could be punished with a fine. Animal Rights Watch activists will file charges.
Sandra Franz / Animal Rights Watch
"We do not hope for anything from the complaint. The complaint will be investigated pro forma. But the investigations are actually always closed. And yes, that is. That is part of this sick system."