Addressing the pig in the room : how is animal welfare governance in EU intensive farming systems impacting public health?

Abstract

European agriculture has drastically changed in the last forty years. As intensive farming systems have now become the norm in animal husbandry, the problems arising from the poor hygiene, intensive indoor confinement and chronic stress of animals have become hard to ignore. While public health implications of these high-output, low-cost production systems are becoming more apparent with the rise of Anti-Microbial Resistance, EU policy intervention remains lethargic. This paper explores the way in which EU animal welfare governance addresses the pressing problems of intensive farming systems by looking at European pig farming. By conducting a policy analysis on EU animal welfare policies and legislation on pig welfare, this paper finds that the EU’s ambition to make its agricultural systems more sustainable are limited by its own governance strategies and its outdated Common Agricultural Policy.