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About pigs
Pigs are intelligent and amusing animals. They are very sociable and have greater cognitive abilities than dogs. Scientific research has shown that they have intelligence comparable to that of a three-year-old child. They can learn to play video games and appreciate music. They dream and prefer to cuddle together, nose to nose. Pigs have diverse personalities and character traits vary widely. Gilts can distinguish their litters on the first day and use different sounds to call them. Piglets learn to recognize their mother’s call by the second day. The gilt is caring and loving, and she “sings” to her piglets. Piglets are playful and highly active. Pigs wag their tails when they are happy. Contrary to what many believe, pigs are very clean animals.

 

Piggery Conditions
Pigs in Iceland are subjected to miserable conditions in factory farms. Confined in narrow stalls, they have no opportunity to perform their natural behaviors. They are never allowed outside and can never breathe fresh air. They are not allowed to play in natural settings or root around in the mud with their snouts. Sows give birth up to three times a year and spend long periods in stalls so narrow that they cannot turn around. They can only stand up and lie down. They cannot snort at their piglets, which suckle through bars. The teeth of piglets are filed down. Their tails are clipped without anesthesia by factory farm staff — a violation of laws and regulations, but such procedures should be performed by veterinarians if necessary, always using anesthetic. Tail clipping is a painful procedure where part of the bone is cut from the animal. These clean animals are then kept confined in tight stalls in their own waste. The conditions for pigs in factory farming are far worse than regulations allow. On Icelandic pig farms, breaking regulations related to pig welfare is more the rule than the exception. A 2015 report from the Food and Veterinary Authority revealed that every other gilt suffered from uterine ulcers and that pigs were lame due to lack of movement.

The final stage of production is slaughter, which often takes place in gas chambers under horrific conditions. In gas chambers, groups of pigs can be suffocated, but their death agony can last up to 60 agonizing seconds. The gas is highly irritant, causing burns in mucous membranes and severe suffocation. In Iceland, around 80,000 pigs are slaughtered annually.

Here you can see a video from the Australian documentary Dominion from 2018, which shows and explains (in English) the slaughter of pigs in gas chambers / similar to what is done here. Warning! Heart-wrenching footage.

 

AWI’s stance  
AWI encourages people to reduce their consumption of pig meat. By rejecting meat produced under unacceptable conditions, producers receive a clear message to switch to farming methods that better treat animals. We demand that pigs be offered a life worth living.

 

Is a pig always necessary?  
Animal Welfare Iceland (AWI) is now in its third year of an advertising campaign encouraging people not to buy pig meat for Christmas. In November and December, the plan is to focus on pigs, raise awareness about these wonderful animals and their characteristics. We also want to draw attention to their poor conditions. Follow SDÍ on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @dyravelferd.

 

What can you do?
There’s quite a lot you can do to help pigs!

- You can register with us here and participate in activities for animal welfare.  
- You can stop buying pig meat (hamburger, bacon, pepperoni, ham, and sausages), thereby no longer supporting the production.  
- You can share information about pigs and their conditions on your social media channels.  
- You can support us through our donation account. Details are at the bottom of this page. It’s thanks to support from animal lovers that we can run such advertising campaigns.  
- Urge MPs and ministers to take action on this issue.

 

News / Articles

- Article - Is a pig always necessary?  
- Article - Do you support factory farming this Christmas?  
- TV Interview - Encouraging people to skip the Christmas ham in protest  
- Radio Interview - The welfare of pigs  
- Article - Is a pig always necessary in 2024?  
- Article - Ham — the least appropriate Christmas dish  
- Article - Gas chambers in Iceland  
- Article - Pink puppies  
- Article - No one should feel sad during Christmas  
- News report - The conditions of pigs in Iceland, Part 1  
- News report - The conditions of pigs in Iceland, Part 2  
- Radio Interview - Pigs are smarter than dogs  
- Article - Factory farming and the Christmas celebration  
- Article - Smart piglets and evil witches