Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of (a) the extent and (b) impact on pig welfare of pig thumping in the pig industry.

Piglet thumping (a manual percussive blow to the head) it is not a permitted method for stunning or killing piglets due to serious concerns about the welfare consequences. The Department is engaging with the industry to encourage use of alternative humane methods.

Allegations of animal welfare abuses are investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The local authority, as the appropriate enforcement agency, may initiate prosecution action for animal welfare offences where there is sufficient evidence.

The Department does not hold centrally recorded information on the number of farms where a manual percussive blow to the head was used for killing piglets, nor is data on prosecutions recorded in a way that would enable cases to be identified.