Pignorant
Source Pignorant Film
Available on Amazon Prime UK and Amazon Prime US
An ex-gang member’s love for pigs spurs him on a life-risking mission to uncover the truth behind “bacon” – exposing widespread deception in a country that claims to have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
Director and Activist Joey Carbstrong goes undercover with fellow activists to infiltrate and expose the deeply ingrained corruption and heartbreaking abuse that lies at the heart of the UK’s ‘pork industry’.
Around 2 million pigs die in farms before even reaching slaughter age
Pre-weaning mortality*:
Indoor (which makes up over 60% of piglets produced): Average 13.24%: ahdb
Outdoor (less than 40%): Average 11.45%: ahdb
Post-weaning mortality (weaning to slaughter): Average 7.66%: ahdb
*With the contributions to overall piglets entering the rearing herd, there’s an average of 12.5%
Gas chambers are used across the world on pigs
UK – 88%: DEFRA
USA – 86%: NAMI
Australia – 85%: Australian Pork
Europe: Germany – 85% / Spain – 85% / Denmark – 95% / Sweden – Nearly 100%: Eurogroup for animals
Effects of co2 on pigs
“High concentrations of CO2 have been known for decades to cause pain, fear and distress in pigs before loss of consciousness, and the stunning method is clearly associated with animal welfare concerns”: science direct
“The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) for stunning and killing animals is considered to compromise welfare due to air hunger, anxiety, fear, and pain”: MDPI
“Inhalation of CO2 causes acute respiratory distress through irritation of the mucus membranes.”: cambridge university press
“CO2 itself causes irritation of the nasal mucosa and exposure is therefore inducing a painful sensation”: EFSA
CO2 has the potential to cause welfare consequences via 3 different mechanisms:
(1) pain due to formation of carbonic acid on respiratory and ocular membranes,
(2) production of so-called air hunger and a feeling of breathlessness and
(3) direct stimulation of ion channels within the amygdala associated with the fear response
“The fact that these behaviours occur when the animal is conscious is evidence that induction to CO2 anaesthesia is not immediate and pigs suffer from fear, pain and/or stress during immersion into gas”: research gate
“It has been demonstrated that pigs find CO2 in high concentrations aversive and, given a free choice, they avoid such atmospheres”: EFSA
Behavioural studies have shown that the majority of pigs avoid or quickly withdraw from high atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and that almost 90% of pigs preferred to go without water for 72 hours rather than experience exposure to CO2: cambridge university press / EFSA
“There are longstanding concerns about the negative welfare impacts of high concentration carbon dioxide (CO2) stunning systems for pigs.”: DEFRA
‘Farm Animal Welfare Council’ called for a ban of gas chambers in 2003
“We conclude that the use of high concentrations of CO2 to stun and kill pigs is not acceptable and we wish to see it phased out in five years.”: FAWC
Co2 effects on humans
“The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidance document on humane endpoints follows the principle that if something is known to cause pain, distress and suffering in humans, it should be assumed to cause the same in animals.
There is evidence from human studies that inhalation of CO2 at various concentrations can cause pain and/or distress. For example, Danneman et al. (1997) asked 20 adult humans to take a full breath of CO2 at different concentrations ranging from 50% to 100% and to score each concentration according to the level of discomfort. Results indicated that higher concentrations of CO2 were perceived to be increasingly noxious. Danneman’s subjects used the following terms in reference to every concentration of CO2 tested: burning, tingling or prickling, and unpleasant (taste or odour); these terms were used more frequently at higher concentrations. Many described 100% CO2 as piercing, stabbing, painful or causing the eyes to burn or water, and 18 out of 20 subjects indicated that they were unable to take a full breath of this concentration.”: Sage journals
Why do they use co2?
The meat industry claim to use co2 for welfare reasons but the real reasons for using co2 are as follows:
Co2 is used because it is, quote, more ‘cost-effective’: IGC
“The carbon dioxide used by the meat industry is a by-product of fertiliser production”: BBC
Co2 systems are ‘efficient’ – In 2022, 88% of pigs were killed using co2 in 10 premises VS 12% killed using electronarcosis at 70 premises: DEFRA
Co2 has a positive effect on ‘meat quality’: Sciendo / Linde Gas / HSA 2015
Are there alternatives to co2?
A common claim from the industry and suppliers is that they are ‘searching for more humane alternatives to Co2’ but this is what we found:
“FAWC previously recommended a ban on CO2 stunning of pigs. There has been no willingness on the part of abattoirs to explore inert gas mixture stunning commercially because of extended dwell time and therefore reduced throughput”: DEFRA
It is important to note that FAWC claims: “It’s not possible to simply replace the CO2 gas mixtures used in the current systems with other gas mixtures.”: FAWC
Marel Meat – creators of the Backloader Co2 stunning system – said: “The Backloader CO2 stunning system is equipped with CO2 meters and they truly measure CO2, which means that they cannot be used for inert gases where the level of the inert gas is usually measured by measuring the oxygen level.”: Marel
LAPS – DEFRA and HSA co-sponsored a project evaluating ‘low atmospheric pressure stunning’ but concluded that LAPS “does not offer a humane alternative to high concentrations of CO2 in pigs”: DEFRA
ARGON – “Exposure to argon for 5 minutes or less can result in rapid recovery. Unless pigs can be immersed in the gas mixture for periods of 7 minutes or longer, additional steps need to be taken to ensure death by cardiac arrest or bleeding”: FAWC
Other animals killed in gas chambers in uk Include:
81% of ‘Meat’ chickens
88% of Spent egg layer hens
98% of Turkeys
Male chicks in the egg industry
“The industrial-scale culling of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing each year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of those in the UK.”: The Guardian
Sometimes used on Salmon & other Fish
“A number of slaughter methods are used in fish farming. Methods such as the use of carbon dioxide, suffocation in the air or on ice, or bleeding the fish without stunning can cause significant suffering”: RSPCA
Factory farms
93% of pigs killed for meat in UK are indoor factory farmed: Soil association / CPRE
95% of pigs in the U.S live on the factory farms/CAFOs: World Animal Protection / Farm Sanctuary
90% of pigs in Australia are indoor factory-farmed: ALQ / Australian Pork
Around 85% of the UK’s farmed land animals live in factory farms: Viva
60% of UK sows (mother pigs) are kept in farrowing crates
Sows are kept in crates for 5 weeks each litter, and they farrow 2.3 times each year. So, sows are kept confined in this way for 80 days each year, or nearly a quarter of their adult breeding lives: University of Winchester
“One of the leading causes of early piglet mortality is the crushing or overlay of piglets by the sow” – Sows have extremely restricted movement in farrowing crates and are unable to turn around: NIH
Approximately 92% of pigs are kept on 1,400 pig farms and the rest on some 10,000 small-holdings and smaller and mixed farms.
the largest existing pig farm in the UK has around 1,100 sows, with the average large-scale intensive pig farm in the UK containing around 500-900 sows
About 1/3 of pigs reared for meat in the UK are kept in barren systems without any straw bedding.
“In the wild, pigs are active during the day and spend 75% of their active time on foraging activities, including rummaging, grazing and exploring with their snout.” – They are unable to express their natural behaviours in factory farms: MDPI
See more
Factory: The industrial exploitation of pigs
Download Your free Vegan PDF HERE
Order a free vegan kit HERE
Dairy-Free Info HERE
Take the Dairy-Free Challenge HERE
Click HERE for more Dairy-Free
Fish alternatives can be found HERE
Learn about eggs HERE
Find bacon alternatives HERE and HERE
Take PETA’s Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide along with you next time you head to the store! The handy guide will help you find humane products at a glance. Order a FREE copy HERE
Searching for Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, Personal-Care Products, Vegan Products, or more?
Click HERE to search.
Free PDF of Vegan & Cruelty-Free Products/Companies HERE
Click HERE for clothing without suffering
Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only humane:
PETA HERE
Vegan Outreach HERE
Get free Anti-Speciesism Activist Kit material from PETA HERE
Click HERE for Well-Fed World’s Free Climate Food Guide PDF
Our Compass 
I’m following Joey since a couple years… his personal actions are touching, many times I wonder how he can remain calm during some interviews that he then sends online on the web. If some kind of vomiting feeling is triggered inside me, Joey remains firm and always reiterates coincidentally and directly. Few times have I heard him use “strong” and yet 100% appropriate vocabulary.
I couldn’t watch the whole film, I felt sick… fortunately (unlike other very impressive films such as Seaspiracy, Home, Anthropocene etc.) I was not in a movie theater.
I will have to try to watch it after a good meditation.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like him, too, but isn’t it disgusting how vegans, regardless of behaving calmly, rationally, and appropriately – which is so difficult considering the violent suffering animals are forced to endure – are still harassed with nonsense, lies, and hate from anti/nonvegans, who are rarely called out for their reprehensible behaviour?
And I agree about how difficult it is to watch footage of animal exploitation, that’s why it’s hidden and why you’ll never see accurate footage provided by the animal exploitation industries – the only footage from them is in the form of ads, like where cows dance, wear party hats, and go to school … absolute nonsense, they literally treat the consumer population of primarily adults, like kids, and people fall for it.
Thank you, beautiful Claudine. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh dear, of course I too consider it disgusting how people who refuse to eat the corpses of other creatures are treated by the rest of the multitude.
I am relieved, however, to realize that little by little people are realizing that this cannot continue….
More and more I am finding vegan food on the market, although I am not 100 percent satisfied as many are highly processed foods. I should only take produce “free” from mechanical processes, and provide it myself to process it, but more than various legumes or making a “cheese” from oat drink… for now I can’t. I admit, I could do much but much more I hope to succeed. For this, I adapt tofu with lots of vegetables, or lightly processed preparations. Replacement vegan preparations like “Roots,” unfortunately, are always a tad complicated to make. But important is to reduce the consumption of animal products. Several years ago I told you that I cannot, for obvious reasons, give away my wool sweaters that have 40 or more and because of it, I will still use them untill full of holes. Saving and recicling is important as well… Hugs and love :-)c
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a disaster in the kitchen, I end up eating the same thing over and over and over. I will never understand why someone enjoys spending hours/days preparing food only to eat it in five minutes, but maybe that’s me just in awe that someone actually does enjoy that. I’m sure I’ve told you before because I tell everyone, lol, that I once ate potatoes every day for two years, I just don’t have a “sophisticated palate”. And I would probably die if I tried to make my own oat cheese or cashew cheese. ;)
Thank you, my dear, hugs and love to you as well. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I understand you, I can empathize. The pleasure of cooking is, I think, related to the pleasure of sharing what you have cooked with others. I cook with greater joy what our garden gives us…. well, depending on the seasons, we currently have only ribs (Beta vulgaris), leeks, jackdaws (seedlings that have grown on their own and withstood the rigors of winter) and a few aromatic herbs. Spring will provide us with several more varieties of “herbs” that we collect in the meadows… and then we will have to redo the synergistic garden by adding straw.
In short, now that I am retired I will have much more time for this. But cooking is a kind of calming diversion for me, it’s not like I’m doing who knows what Galt Milleau star miracle, sometimes it happens that I make messes that make your nose twitch. It is, however, creative, it helps the mind and health. When I worked as a cabin manager for Swissair, I used to eat well when I went to a restaurant during rotations. On the plane I did not taste what I was ingesting, always in a hurry, most of the time cold food. When I was returning from a rotation, I, like you, would eat food made quickly, birchermüsli and yogurt or with fruit, mashed potetos from a bag (stocki)… but always in a hurry since I was alone most of the time.
I changed drastically after I got married at 37 and when the children came along. Since then, the priority of eating healthy and varied food has opened up a new world for me. I think you change, you always change….
Creativity is important to me: cooking, gardening, writing books, sewing or knitting, sometimes drawing…
A hug and happy Easter
LikeLiked by 2 people