56,000 pigs Killed in two months in a farm in Tochigi

The fourth case of Swine fever was detected on July 23rd 2022 in Tochigi prefecture. The news reported that this was the biggest case in Japan as approximately 56,000 pigs would be culled. There have been 83 Swine fever cases, including this latest one, and 353,852 pigs will have been killed in Japan. This is as many as the population in Iwaki city of Fukushima prefecture, Kawagoe city of Saitama prefecture, or Takatsuki city of Osaka prefecture.

We have been dealing with Swine fever by culling these affected pigs so far, but should we continue to take these innocent lives away?

This case in Tochigi was discovered not by the farmer or their veterinarian, but an email sent anonymously to the prefecture.

As for the methodology, injecting disinfectant, Pacoma, or carbon dioxide euthanasia is the most common way for pigs and animal welfare is the last thing they care about when killing large numbers of farm animals like this instance.

We should note that, internationally, the use of Pacoma is not allowed as a killing method of animals since the degree of pain is too agonizing. Animals will also suffer if an electrical stunning device is used improperly.

When using carbon dioxide euthanasia, measuring the level of CO2 is crucial before applying this method. However, this step is often skipped and CO2 tends to stimulate animals too much so pigs will suffer greatly. More expensive and yet humane methods would be inert gas, such as nitrogen or argon.

Efficiency is most valued so there will likely be little to no practice to observe whether or not animals are dead. We have all heard of horror stories where plastic bags were moving when animal “corpses”were disposed of.

According to the news, it will take about 2 months to slaughter all these hogs.

The Japanese self defense force won’t be dispatched this time as the Ministry of General Affairs issued a warning letter not to resort to this option too easily on April 22 in 2022.

Let’s take a look at Specific Domestic Animal Infectious Disease Quarantine Guidelines in case of Swine fever. First off, this case failed the most important point, which is to report promptly as discovered. What’s also interesting is the clause about the control of pathogens. The guidelines encourage discarding corpses within 72 hours, and slaughtering animals within 24 hours after discovering the disease with a disclaimer this guideline is intended for a scenario of an animal farm with 1,000 to 2,000 animals so adjustments may be needed. With that being said,2 months to slaughter 54,000 animals is beyond adjustments.

The lowest number of animals that were slaughtered was the fifth case that took place in Kani city in Gifu prefecture since September 2018. They slaughtered 10 animals, taking 20 hours to complete the process, including disinfection. It makes no sense to change our definition of “early response”depending on the size of animals when the ultimate goal is to destroy the pathogens.

Also, the following 17 cases took longer than 200 hours of disinfection. To calculate, we assumed the process takes 120 hours in 5 days and added 72 hours indicated in the guidelines, which roughly comes around 200 hours:

210 hours (Case #65, approximately 10000 animals: 1 farm)
210 hours (Case #54, 3024 animals: 1 farm)
213 hours (Case #82, approximately 5000 animals: 1 farm)
214 hours (Case #61, 7026 animals: 1 farm)
215 hours (Case #80, approximately 3000 animals: 1 farm)
224 hours (Case #8, 15433 animals:6 farms + associated slaughter house)
242 hours (Case #53, 3174 animals: 2 farms)
245 hours (Case #28, 7828 animals: 2 farms)
245 hours (Case #52, 1127 animals: 2 farms)
276 hours (Case #9, 17390 animals: 2 farms)
297 hours (Case #73, approximately 3900 animals: 2 farms)
308 hours (Case #76, approximately 7862 animals: 27 farms)
309 hours (Case #59, 5887 animals: 1 farm)
310 hours (Case #69, 4109 animals :2 farms + associated slaughter house)
333 hours (Case #64, 9790 animals: 2 farms)
453 hours (Case #71, 5020 animals: 1 farm)
719 hours (Case #66, approximately 39000 animals: 3 farms)

This most recent case would come around 1,488 hours over 2 months, only from slaughtering to discarding, excluding the hours for disinfection.

How can we call this an“early”response? They hardly check if animals are positive in order to control pathogens before killing animals, and yet, they take so long to slaughter them. Pigs have to be frightened during these two months. Pigs can smell the blood and hear the voices of their peers so the more they wait, the scarier it gets.

In order to address this issue, producers and corporations must ultimately reduce their numbers of animals they keep in farms. The government should also work together to move on from old ways and press animal welfare more on them. For that, it is crucial that citizens monitor these producers, corporations, and the government to hold them accountable. At the same time, we can also reduce the numbers of animals we consume.

As for these 54,000 pigs who are going to be killed in the next two months, the only thing we can do is to ensure we apply a humane method like anesthesia as much as possible.

To send your voice, contact Tochigi Prefecture:
Livestock Production and Feed Division,
Address: Prefectural Office 13th floor, Utsunomiya, Hanawada, 1-1-20, 320-8501
Telephone: 028-623-2352
Fax: 028-623-2353
Email: chikusan@pref.tochigi.lg.jp