Contentious pig farm gets all-clear

A farm at the centre of a public row over pig-farming methods does not breach the animal welfare code.

An investigation into former Pork Industry Board member Colin Kay's Levin farm found it did not breach the code, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said yesterday.

The confined pigs were secretly filmed by animal welfare organisation Open Rescue, accompanied by former pork board frontman Mike King, and shown on television in May.

King later said he was ashamed of his role in promoting that type of farming, and the pigs looked "despairing, terrified and lost".

Board chief executive Sam McIvor said the ministry's finding vindicated the farm's practices.

The animals were "cruelly antagonised" during the filming, and investigators found the farm's condition met or exceeded the code's minimum requirements for health and welfare, he said.

Hans Kriek, of Save Animals From Exploitation, said he was not surprised by the investigation's result.

"While it is abhorrent, it is within the law. The problem lies with the legislation, and we have to change it."

- © Fairfax NZ News