17/10/2014

It’s been a momentous week for Compassion. Our patron, Joanna Lumley has supported us in our protest against Gadhimai; and our biggest, new campaign ‘End the Cage Age’ has launched and been featured in two national newspapers (Daily Mail and The Sunday Times [£]). This gathering impetus for animal welfare is wonderful to see and I wanted to put my support behind another brilliant campaign.

I am proud to support the Pig Pledge Campaign. Their 3-minute film tells the story of Tracy Worcester’s ten-year worldwide battle against animal factories. Having worked with Tracy over the years, I know how dedicated and tenacious she is. She has helped to put pig welfare on the agenda, both politically, and for consumers.

She says: “When it comes to pork, please change your shopping habits to support a better future for pigs, farmers and the planet by buying meat from real farms not animal factories. To highlight your commitment, please sign the Pig Pledge.”

I couldn’t agree more. Factory farms are bleak, outdated methods of producing meat and I ask everyone to make the conscious effort to avoid supporting them with our purchases, as Tracy has outlined in the pledge.

Hundreds of millions of pigs around the world are kept in factory farms. This is damaging, not only to the pigs themselves, but to the environment and local communities.

We need to take a stand, alongside The Pig Pledge campaign and the Soil Association, who, like Compassion, are supporting this movement.

Let’s move away from the dark age of pig production, in which pigs throughout the world are increasingly kept confined. I urge you all to stand up against factory farming, for the good of our own health and the environment as well as for the welfare of these pigs.