We’re heading to the Supreme Court to protect pigs like her.

Animals Australia has just filed a proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria that challenges the legality of suffocating pigs inside gas chambers — one of the cruellest killing methods of pigs in the world today.

Earlier this year, the Farm Transparency Project media exposé provided a disturbing insight into the traumatic final moments of most pigs killed for meat  – their pain, their distress, and their prolonged suffering as they suffocate and slowly lose consciousness.

Disturbing footage captured by FTP investigators led to two ABC 7.30 reports and made clear just how much pigs – whether factory-farmed, free-range or RSPCA Approved – suffer in cruel carbon dioxide gassing systems. These sensitive, intelligent animals were filmed screaming out in fear and pain, and gasping for air.

Caring Australians were horrified to see (and hear) terrified pigs thrashing in agony, and naturally asked the question, “how can this be legal?.”

Well, after months of scrutiny with some of the finest legal minds in the country, we’ve built a case that argues it isn’t.

On Friday afternoon, Animals Australia filed a proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria against Victorian meat industry regulator, Primesafe, and the Benalla slaughterhouse. With pig gassing routine not just in Australia but in many parts of the world, this will be a globally significant legal test case that will shine a spotlight on animal suffering on a mass scale.

Changing laws is a long and difficult process. But this case is about upholding the current law, which we will argue is unable to be met by slaughterhouses that use the cruel gassing method.

Christmas is a peak time of suffering for pigs, so rather than ‘winding down’, we’ll be spending these days preparing to give pigs the representation that they need and deserve — in Victoria’s Supreme Court. This is a world-first litigation and the complexity of it makes it both challenging and expensive — but we know the pigs need us and we’re determined to do everything we can to spare these sensitive, social animals from cruel gas chambers.

Look out for updates in the new year.

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