Document type : article in the Dépêche vétérinaire, n°1526-1527, (25 April - 8 May 2020)
Author: Tanit Halfon
Summary: Following statements issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the SNGTV and AVPO announced on 20 March that they had ruled in favour of halting the surgical castration of piglets and thus in favour of rearing whole males, with or without immunocastration, a method that both organisations consider to be "technically advanced and safe". According to the SNGTV and AVPO, this position is justified by the fact that live castration is a painful process for piglets and that none of the solutions for pain management, during or after surgery, have been found to be satisfactory. "It seems to us necessary to quickly bring all stakeholders from the entire length of the pig supply chain into line with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, in order to remove the obstacles and difficulties that are still currently in existence for this type of farming in France", conclude the SNGTV and the AVPO.
