Filename: WAM26922 Headline: Rows of sows live confined to gestation crates at an industrial pig farm. The sows are housed in bare, concrete-floored enclosures large enough only for them to sit, stand and lie down, but they cannot walk or turn around. A concrete wall is their only view. Quebec, Canada, 2022. Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Description: In many countries, gestation crates are the cages that impregnated adult female pigs, also referred to as sows, are kept in for all but the last five to ten days of their pregnancies. For the nearly four months of their gestation, they live inside a cage that is just larger than the size of their bodies, roughly two by seven feet. They can lie down, sit, and stand but cannot turn around, walk, avoid the aggression from sows in neighbouring stalls, or respond to changes in the environmental temperature. Millions of pigs live in these extremely constricted spaces every day, despite many countries banning the practice on the grounds of animal welfare. Gestation crates are also known as sow stalls. Proponents of the crates claim that they are necessary to prevent fighting among the pigs, while those in opposition say that the crates constitute animal abuse. We do know that living in these conditions, often in darkness, does not allow for the animals' natural behaviours, and research shows that the animals in crates exhibit expressions of stress, fear, boredom, and despondency. The crates do not have bedding, and the pigs lie on slatted plastic, metal, or concrete floors, to allow for the flow of waste to be easily collected in pits beneath them. Nevertheless, pigs living in gestation crates, as seen in these photographs, are often living in their waste, and their bodies are filthy. Area of Focus: Food Systems,Farmed Animals Supplemental categories: Factory Farming, Pigs, Food Systems Province/State: Québec Country: Canada Photographer/Filmmaker: Jo-Anne McArthur Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Year: 2022 License Type(s): Non-Commercial Use, Commercial Use WA Keywords: Scientific name: Sus scrofa domesticus Size: 4928px X 3280px

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