Published 18/05/2009

Appalling scenes of horrendous mass pig killing taking place in Egypt right now have sparked international protest. From media footage, we have seen hundreds of live pigs being thrown on top of each other in a huge dumper truck. Some must surely suffocate right away or break their limbs. They are then driven to a mass grave, thrown into it and covered in what appears to be quicklime, where they must endure a slow and agonising death.

Egyptian media reports that "When the lorry is filled with 400 pigs on average, it sets off for the burial ground in Abou Zabal. Once there, something like soft sand is sprinkled on the pigs inside the lorry. This material is made up of factory wastes. The pigs start to scream because of the searing pain until they die some 30 or 40 minutes later."

Ahmed El Sherbiny is Chairperson of Egyptian Society of Animals Friends - and an Attorney at Law. He has taken on a ground-breaking legal case to sue the Minister of Agriculture, the Governors for Cairo, Helwan and Kaliobia and the General Organization for Veterinary Services for cruelty to animals under Egyptian laws.

Ahmed says: "Animal welfare societies, individuals, religious people, officials, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the Parliament, the media are all protesting against the horrific practice regarding inhumane killing of the pigs."

What is Compassion doing about it?

Compassion in World Farming joins ESAF to strongly urge the Egyptian Government to end this horrific killing immediately and we offer ESAF our full support in the campaign for humane treatment of Egypt's pigs.

We are calling on the World Animal Health Organisation (the OIE) to urge its member state, Egypt, to halt the slaughter and to abide by the OIE Guidelines on humane slaughter, which Egypt endorsed in 2005.

We protested in person at the Egyptian Embassy in London on Tuesday 19 May 2009 at 10am, calling on the Ambassador to urge his government to halt the slaughter immediately.

Compassion in World Farming is working together with its partners at RSPCA and WSPA to strengthen the call to end the dreadful suffering taking place in Egypt right now. All three organisations are using all our collective influence to persuade both the Egyptian authorities and the OIE to halt the brutal killing of these animals, and to ensure that they can be assured of a humane future.

How can you help?

Please take action urgently. Send an email to the Egyptian Tourist Minister and to the Egyptian Ambassador in the UK or write to the Egyptian Ambassador in your own country. We must call for a halt to this inhumane killing. Such inhumane treatment of animals not only contravenes the OIE Guidelines but is also contrary to Islamic teaching which regards animals as "communities like you" (Qur'an 6:38).

• Help us end this senseless cruelty and ensure that suffering on this scale is never repeated - donate today.