Published 26/05/2009

Compassion is urging government vets from across the world to help end Egypt's horrific mass pig kill.

Our call for international condemnation of the 'cull' comes during the annual gathering in Paris of veterinary representatives from over 170 countries that make up the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Compassion's team is working tirelessly, both in the meeting and outside, to bring our message to bear.

"Unjustified and unacceptable"

The OIE's Director General has rightly described the culling of Egypt's 300,000 pigs as unjustified, pointless and unacceptable. We strongly urge the Delegates attending the OIE Assembly in Paris, particularly the representative from Egypt, to take immediate and urgent action and force the Egyptian Government to abide by the OIE Guidelines (which Egypt endorsed in 2005) and demand a halt to this horrific inhumane practice.

And there's the rub: the OIE guidelines on animal welfare, agreed by member countries including Egypt, are being ignored in the worst way imaginable. This can only serve to threaten their very credibility. Strong and resonating international condemnation of Egypt's cull would therefore be in the interest of both the pigs involved and the long term standing of the OIE's own standards.

Every day for the past two weeks, thousands of pigs in Egypt have been killed using horrific methods that include being dumped alive and fully conscious on top of each other in open-topped trucks where they writhe as they fight to breathe, before being driven alive to mass graves. The pigs are then often covered in chemicals before being buried alive, screaming in pain until they die about thirty minutes later.

Stark contravention of OIE guidelines

We understand that Egypt's Prime Minister has issued a decree, which forbids burning or burying the pigs alive or bludgeoning them in the pits. However, the serious concern remains about the methods that are likely to be used instead. Egypt's head of veterinary services is quoted as saying, "The pigs are first stabbed with an iron bar in the heart before they are buried. This is the usual way of slaughtering them."

All in all, the ongoing killing of Egypt's pigs looks set to continue in ways that are in stark contravention of the OIE's animal welfare guidelines.

Take action

Our campaign to see an end to this most horrific event goes on. Please help us bring further pressure on Egypt by emailing the Egyptian Prime Minister and emailing the Egyptian Tourist Minister.

Help us end this senseless cruelty and ensure that suffering on this scale is never repeated - donate today.