Pigs are intelligent, curious, and highly social animals. In natural conditions, they spend their days exploring, rooting in soil, foraging for food, and building complex relationships with one another. But when confined to the barren, crowded pens of a fattening farm, their entire system becomes frustrated, and their mental and physical health begins to deteriorate. In these unnatural conditions, where enrichment is abysmal, stimulation is minimal, and personal space is non-existent, these young pigs are pushed to psychological breaking points – and the frustration festers. The overwhelming life in concrete cells inevitably leads pigs to turn on each other out of sheer desperation.

Cannibalism on fattening farms is not a reflection of who pigs are – it's a desperate cry from animals trapped in a system that denies them even their most basic needs. This behaviour often begins in playfighting, tugging on one another’s tails or ears. Once a pig’s tail or ears are injured, others – also deprived of appropriate outlets for their energy and instincts – may become drawn to the wound. Blood is red, and red is a colour that doesn’t go unnoticed in these barren concrete cells. The situation can escalate into violent outbreaks of cannibalism, especially in large pens where injured pigs are not identified or removed quickly by negligent workers.

Rather than being seen as cruel or monstrous, these acts must be understood for what they are: survival behaviours in an environment of chronic suffering. The psychological torture of being locked up in a desolate pen 24 hours a day for 10 weeks is unfathomable. Pigs are not naturally aggressive. When treated with kindness and provided with space, stimulation, and care, they form friendships, communicate in sophisticated ways, and even enjoy playing games. The problem lies not with the pigs – but with a system that imprisons sensitive, intelligent animals in conditions so bleak that their only outlet becomes harming each other.

In truth, cannibalism on farms is a tragic symptom of industrial animal agriculture. It is not the pigs we should blame, but the concrete, the confinement, the neglect, and the industry that not only allows this systemic suffering, but normalises it by allowing it to become the norm.

Let this be yet another reason why you leave pigs off your plates and advocate for a future where everyone is free, including our fellow animal friends.

As always,

For the animals.