The New Zealand Government moved to strengthen protections for pigs by gradually eliminating the use of sow stalls – narrow metal enclosures that severely restrict the movement of pregnant pigs. In 2010, updated welfare regulations were introduced, reducing stall confinement to the first month of pregnancy by 2012 before prohibiting their standard use altogether from 2015 onward.
These reforms came after growing public concern and sustained advocacy from animal welfare organisations. By 2016, sow stalls had largely disappeared from use across New Zealand pig farming. While the changes marked meaningful progress, controversial systems such as farrowing crates continue to be permitted, highlighting that the debate around pig welfare in Aotearoa is far from resolved.
Farrowing crates are so restrictive that mother pigs are often unable to properly turn around, walk freely, or express natural maternal behaviours such as nest-building and interacting normally with their piglets. Critics argue that prolonged confinement causes both physical suffering and severe psychological distress.
Beyond confinement systems, pigs raised in factory-farmed conditions often endure barren environments with little stimulation, overcrowding, harsh concrete flooring, and chronic stress.
Many pigs suffer injuries, illness, and frustration from being unable to perform natural behaviours such as rooting, exploring, or socialising freely.
Pigs are widely recognised as highly intelligent and emotionally complex animals.
Studies have shown they possess strong problem-solving abilities, social awareness, and long-term memory comparable in some ways to dogs and even young human children. They are capable of forming close social bonds, recognising individuals, and experiencing fear, anxiety, excitement, and grief.
Despite this intelligence, most pigs in Aotearoa New Zealand are slaughtered at a very young age – typically around four to six months old – despite having a natural lifespan of more than ten years.
