For the first time in more than two decades, the UK Government has committed (through the 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy for England) to a consultation on ending the use of CO₂ gas chambers for pigs, acknowledging long-standing welfare concerns associated with the practice.

Despite this, no consultation has yet been launched, no timetable has been published, and no details have been provided on whether ministers intend to assess gas chambers themselves or simply replace one gas with another.

Alongside this lack of political clarity, public awareness remains remarkably low. In May 2026, we conducted a YouGov survey with 2,140 adults in the UK on the topic of pig slaughter (gassing).  

We found that:

• Three-quarters of the public (75%) say they know very little or nothing at all about how pigs are slaughtered in the UK, and 88% of people are unable to identify the most common slaughter method used in the UK.
  
  
• Only 12% correctly identify carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas as the most commonly used method for stunning and killing pigs before slaughter.

Although awareness is low, the polling suggests there is little public support for the continued use of CO₂ gas slaughter once people are presented with the issue:

• People who report knowing more about pig slaughter are substantially more likely to find CO₂ gas slaughter unacceptable than those with little or no knowledge, and UK adults are significantly more likely to find CO₂ gas slaughter unacceptable (28%) than acceptable (10%).
  
  
• Opposition to phasing out CO₂ gas slaughter is extremely low, with only 2% of the public opposing a transition away from the practice. Even among people who eat meat and fish, opposition remains very low at just 2%.
  

These findings suggest that public attitudes are not aligned with the status quo. At a time when the Government is considering the future of pig slaughter in England, there is a clear gap between current industry practice and what the public considers acceptable once the issue is brought to their attention. As decisions are made about the future of pig slaughter in the UK, we believe public opinion should be given meaningful weight in the consultation process. 

Turn Off The Gas exists to bring that hidden reality into public view, create a national conversation, and ensure the debate is not limited to which gas should replace CO₂, but whether gas chambers themselves should continue at all. We hope to see all gas chambers shut down indefinitely. For these reasons, we have two main targets for system change:

We are calling on Sainsbury's to:

1/ Publicly acknowledge the concerns associated with gas slaughter that they have previously referred to as ‘the most humane method of slaughter for pigs’

2/ Commit to reviewing their continued use within Sainsbury's supply chain

3/ Support mandatory slaughter-method labelling so consumers know 100% of Sainsbury’s own-brand ‘pork’ products come from pigs who were gassed to death.

Consumers have a right to make informed choices. If pigs are gassed to death, shoppers should be told. Sign the petition!

We are also calling on the Government to make history by launching a consultation before the end of the year and setting a clear path to phasing out CO₂ slaughter for pigs. We also urge the consultation to ask a bigger question: If CO₂ is unacceptable, should gas chambers, death by suffocation, continue at all? Can any system designed to kill millions of animals each year ever be justified as ethical?

We don’t think so. 

Turn off the gas. End the slaughter. Justice for pigs.

As always,

For the animals.