The dreaded “hecatomb of pigs” on British farms, due to the lack of personnel in the slaughterhouses and in the meat processing plants, has torn off this week with the sacrifice in East Anglia of 500 animals, later buried or incinerated.
“This is just the beginning,” said Zoe Davies, Executive Director of the National Association of Porcine Cattle (NPA), which has warned that up to 120,000 pigs can be sacrificed in the coming weeks if the situation does not change.
“The problem here is not the lack of supplies, but lack of space on farms,” Davies stressed.
“And this happens because in the slaughterhouses there is not enough staff to process the meat, so there is no choice but to eliminate the pigs and prevent them from entering the feed chain.”
In a recent interview in the BBC, the “Premier” Boris Johnson submitted importance to the problem, denounced by the farmers themselves and animal welfare groups, claiming that the fate of pigs is to be killed in any case.
“And the great hectombe of pigs has not yet occurred,” he added.
“We’ll see how it happens.”
“What is happening is that farmers we are condemned to this financial and emotional disaster,” said Vicky Scott, owner of a farm in East Yorkshire and protester for the swine cause before the Conference of the Conservative Party in Manchester.
“We pay our staff well, and it’s not our fault that there are not enough butchers.”
The Association of Porcine Cattle and the British Association of Meat Processing (BMPA) have asked the Government for the granting of 12-month visas to allow illegal immigrants to cover vacancies, as part of an economic recovery package of Covid.
“The Government has to help us because we have done everything in neustho hand to solve the problem,” Zoe Davies warned.
“The meat processors have exponentially increased the salaries to try to hire staff in recent months. But the reality is that most British do not want to work in the slaughterhouses, it does not matter what you pay them.”