Female Pigs Are Dying in Record Numbers - Does Congress Need to Act?

What’s the story?

• Death rates are surging for female pigs on U.S. farms—the rate has climbed from 5.8 to 10.2 percent on farms owning more than 125 sows in the past three years.
• The rise in deaths has been linked to “sow prolapse syndrome,” which occurs when pressure on the animal’s uterus, vagina, and rectum become too much and it collapses.

“We have seen farms with as much as 25 to 50 percent of the sow mortality due to prolapses,” Jeremy Pittman, a veterinarian for Smithfield Foods, said.

What’s causing the prolapse?

Pittman and others have suggested a number of possible causes, including:

• Overfeeding.
• Larger litters – The average sow produces 23.5 piglets per year. "Large litter sizes or large pigs predispose sows to uterus and abdominal pressure and excessive duration of farrowing (giving birth to piglets),” Pittman explains in Successful Farming.
• Mycotoxins in the feed.
• Breeding issues – “We’ve bred a contradiction into these animals,” says Leah Garces, outgoing executive director of the US branch of Compassion in World Farming.

“Over the last few decades, sows to have been bred to have less back-fat – because people don’t want to eat as much fat – but we also want them to produce more and more babies. And that’s not biologically possible; their bones are weak and they don’t have enough fat to support the reproductive process. We’ve bred them to their limit and the animals are telling us that.”

• Vitamin deficiency.
• Constipation and high density diets – “Lack of adequate water and low-fiber diets can lead to constipation, straining, and increased prolapses,” writes Successful Farming.
• Confinement systems in intensive farming – sows spend a large percentage of their lives in gestation and crates that don’t allow them to move around. Around 97 percent of the nation’s 73 million hogs are raised in closed barns or confined feeding warehouses.
• Tail docking - Snipping “tails too short can result in damage of the nerves near the anal sphincter and can cause rectal prolapse in growing pigs.” (Piglets that are prematurely taken from their mothers will keep their urge to suckle. Pigs confined to small pens without stimulation will also bite each other’s tails. As both practices occur on industrial farms, piglets' tails are snipped so they become more sensitive—should a pig bite another pig’s docked tail, that pig will fight off the biter.)

What’s the industry saying?

• In their report on the topic, the Guardian noted that “industry figures largely declined to comment but some acknowledged that they are grappling with the issue.”
• “It’s a topic in our meetings, both in the hallways and the meeting spaces,” said Dr Tom Burkgren, executive director of American Association of Swine Veterinarians, a group that educates vets around the country.
• Temple Grandin – professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant on the design of livestock-handling facilities – told the Guardian that the key in livestock production is finding a balance between productivity and animal health.

“You have to figure out the optimal number of piglets these sows should have. One thing people have trouble with is asking what is optimal – not maximal, but optimal – when it comes to breeding.”

What do you think?

Pittman hopes the swine industry will work together to solve the issue of swine prolapse syndrome, adding that there’s been no funding for research yet, but the National Pork Board has expressed interest.

Does Congress need to fund research? Pass laws about animal welfare? Require concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO)'s to be made of transparent material? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / agnormark)