Meghalaya Government bans gestation & farrow crates for pigs, glue traps for rodents

SHILLONG: After Sikkim, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AH & VD) of the Meghalaya Government has also prohibited the manufacture, sale, and use of glue traps for rodent control, and gestation and farrowing crates in pig farming, officials said on Monday.

Officials said that the Meghalaya Government took the decision following an appeal from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.

The PETA India had earlier urged the Meghalaya Government to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of gestation and farrowing crates in pig farming, as well as deadly glue traps used for rodent control.

The advocacy body applauds the Meghalaya Government for these "progressive reforms, which could spare countless mother pigs severe confinement and many rodents and other animals hideously slow, painful deaths."

According to PETA India, gestation crates (also known as 'sow stalls') are metal cages essentially the size of a pig, with concrete or slatted floors, that leave the animals unable to turn around or even stand up without difficulty.

They are used to confine pregnant pigs which are typically transferred to farrowing crates to give birth and are kept in them until their piglets are taken away.

Farrowing crates are fundamentally the same as gestation crates, except that they contain small side compartments for piglets.

Glue traps are usually made of plastic trays or sheets of cardboard covered with strong glue and are indiscriminate killers, often catching non-target animals - including birds, squirrels, reptiles, and frogs.

Mice, rats, and other animals caught in these traps can die of hunger, dehydration, or exposure after days of prolonged suffering. Others may suffocate when their noses and mouths become stuck in the glue, while some even chew through their limbs in a desperate bid for freedom and die from blood loss.

Those found alive may be thrown away along with the trap or may face an even more traumatic death, such as by bludgeoning or drowning. Earlier, following the appeal from the PETA India, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department of the Sikkim Government recently asked the District Collector of Gangtok to ensure strict enforcement of the State's 2016 notification prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and use of glue traps for rodent control. (IANS)

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