Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the enforcement of laws prohibiting piglet thumping on pig farms.

There are strict rules to protect the welfare of animals at the time of killing. Due to serious concerns about the welfare consequences of a manual percussive blow to the head, piglet thumping is not a permitted method for stunning or killing piglets.

Potential breaches of animal health and welfare legislation, such as the use of manual blunt force trauma on piglets, are taken very seriously. Any allegations of poor animal welfare are investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and appropriate action is taken. The local authority, as the appropriate enforcement agency, may initiate prosecution action for animal welfare offences where there is sufficient evidence.