Published 28/05/2009

"Egypt's mass pig kill is quite simply the worst atrocity to farm animals that I have ever seen."

Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive, Compassion in World Farming

Egypt latest: 160,000 pigs have now been killed in Egypt's shameful 'cull'. Many of these will have died in horrific ways such as being tipped hundreds at a time live into open-topped trucks, covered with caustic chemicals or stabbed through the heart with iron bars before being buried in mass graves.

In a meeting with the Egyptian government's chief veterinary officer, Compassion learned that some 10,000 pigs have apparently been spared. These will be used as breeding animals in new farms being developed away from the cities. This is a departure from earlier reports that all pigs would be killed and breeding stock imported.

Amongst the confusion and chaos in Egypt, reliable information is often hard to come by. In our meeting, the Egyptian chief vet informed us that the killing had ceased. Reports on the ground doubt this. Regardless of the situation, Compassion will keep on pushing. For us, the important thing is that we must move quickly to ensure that the world never sees the likes of this again.

Pointless and unnecessary

This killing has taken place in direct contravention to advice from leading international authorities, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health, which described the cull as "pointless" and unnecessary from a public and animal health standpoint. This laid bare the excuse given by Egypt that the cull was being carried out as a precaution against swine flu. The killing was also seriously in breach of international guidelines on animal welfare to which Egypt has signed up.

Storm of protest

Egypt has come under enormous pressure internationally. Thanks to Compassion, our friends in Egypt - the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF), our partner organisations worldwide and to you, our dedicated supporters, tens of thousands have expressed outrage. We must now make our protests stick. We must make sure that such a thing could never happen again.

For the past two years, Egypt has presided over draft animal welfare legislation. If that legislation had been in place, it is conceivable that this atrocity might never have happened. Working with our partner organisation in Egypt, Compassion is now seizing this moment to push for that new law.

Never again

You can help by writing urgently to the government of Egypt. Please reiterate your outrage at this pointless and cruel 'cull'. Point out the damage that has been done to the country's reputation. Call for national legislation to be passed that protects animal welfare and prevents these horrific scenes from being repeated. You might also like to mention that you will no longer consider Egypt as a holiday destination until it takes tough action to stop animal cruelty.

Take action

• Lobby the Egyptian tourism industry
• Lobby the Egyptian Prime Minister
  
• Help us end this senseless cruelty and ensure that suffering on this scale is never repeated - donate today.