Court orders state secretary to assess enforcement of pig tail docking ban
The Board of Appeal for the Commercial Sector ruled that the state secretary for Agriculture had no good reason to refuse enforcement of the ban on docking piglets' tails.
State secretary Erkens of Agriculture must now assess whether three pig farmers keep to the rules on docking pigs' tails, the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven (CBb) ruled on Tuesday. The case was brought by the foundation Varkens in Nood, which had asked him to enforce the ban against the three farmers.
The state secretary has six months to decide whether the three farmers met the conditions for docking and whether enforcement is needed.
Docking is banned by law. It is allowed only as an exception, for piglets no older than four days, after injuries from tail biting have been found and after measures to prevent tail biting have been tried first.
Erkens had rejected the enforcement requests because the standards for enforcing the ban were said to be unclear, including how severe the injuries must be and which measures must be taken first. The court disagreed. It ruled that the rules give enough guidance to supervise compliance, and that the state secretary had no good reason not to enforce the ban.
Two views on tail biting
Pig farmers say cutting or shortening the curly tails is needed to stop pigs biting each other's tails. Varkens in Nood says tail biting is better prevented by improving living conditions. It says most pigs are kept in cramped, bare pens and bite each other out of boredom, and that docking is painful and done without anaesthetic.
The foundation says pigs need their tails to communicate and show emotions: a frightened pig tucks its tail between its legs, while a contented one carries it curled and can wag it.
CBb (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven)
The Board of Appeal for the Commercial Sector is a specialised Dutch administrative court that hears appeals against government decisions on economic and agricultural matters. For many such disputes it is the final appeal instance, so its rulings settle how economic and agricultural rules are applied. In the article it is the court that decided a case about whether the government must enforce a rule.