Market acceptation is the biggest obstacle for achieving the goal of completely banning castration of male piglets in the European Union by 2018 reports PigProgress on November 18, 2013.
This was the key outcome of a conference related to a ban on castration in the Netherlands, late last week. The recent conference showed that national attitude differences throughout Europe appear difficult to erase.
The UK is the best known example where castration is a thing of the past. In many countries, however, developments are slower than in the Netherlands.
- In Germany, research is being conducted but market acceptation is missing;
- In France, only cooperative Cooperl uses entire boars for its meat production;
- In Belgium, castration occurs using painkillers – and vaccination is being used as well;
- The Danish, usually leading in animal welfare discussions, are hesitant;
- In Poland and Italy, the topic is no point of discussion at all.
The delegates concluded that popular support for a stop of castration needs to grow.
Read the complete article on the website PigProgress.