Letter: Pig of a way to profit

DOES NEIL DATSON expect anyone to feel sorry for pig farmers, who now "have to comply with expensive unilateral rules on animal welfare and feed" (Letters, 12 September)? He's concerned about "the plight of pig farmers" but did they show any concern for the plight of pigs when sows were forced to spend their 16-week pregnancies imprisoned in tiny stalls or chained to a concrete floor, unable even to turn around?

I think not: it was thanks to animal welfare lobbyists, not to pig farmers, that legislation was introduced to phase out the cruel stall and tether system. Indeed, the National Farmers' Union argued that the law should be weakened to allow sows to be imprisoned in these systems for the first 35 days of pregnancy.

If pig farmers now complain about "the huge tide of imported pig meat", we may be sure that their concern is not at all for the suffering of pigs, but purely for their own profit margins.

RUARC GAHAN

Hollywood, Co Wicklow, Ireland