Woolworths standing by pork supplier

13 May 2009

WOOLWORTHS' image as the "fresh food people" is under attack from animal welfare groups over its refusal to dump a pork supplier facing charges of aggravated cruelty.

A commercial piggery in northeast Tasmania faces multiple charges after a raid by an animal welfare activist captured apparently damning evidence of maggot-infested pigs and pigs stuck in small pens.

The activist, Emma Haswell, and groups such as Animals Australia, are demanding Woolworths sever ties with the supplier, which faces court next month over the charges.

Woolworths spokeswoman Clare Buchanan told The Australian the company was reluctant to do so because the supplier was one of long-standing.

"We made a decision that we would attempt to work with this farmer and give him about four weeks to make significant improvements to his premises," she said.

"This was made on the basis that he is a long-standing supplier and we have never had a problem before, and he was audited in November last year."

While the supplier had made some progress in addressing the problems, Woolworths would send someone to inspect the piggery again tomorrow or Friday. It would then make a decision about whether to continue to accept pork from the supplier.

Ms Haswell, whose video evidence prompted a police prosecution, said this was not good enough. "Woolworths needs to understand that Australians don't think it is accepted to jam a 250kg mother sow into a six foot steel crate -- this is no life for an intelligent animal," she said.

"They may clean up the maggots and the two feet of manure the pigs were lying in, but they won't improve the size of the pens. Some of the sows had a blackboard above their crate with the word 'stuck' written. They couldn't get up; they were stuck lying down."

Animals Australia said one of the counts of aggravated cruelty, following a police visit to the piggery on March 8, related to a dying pig whose shoulder wound was infected with hundreds of maggots.

The farmer, Gary William Oliver of Longerenong Livestock in Winnaleah, is understood to supply 20 per cent of all the Tasmanian pork purchased by Woolworths. He is understood to have made a brief appearance before a magistrate in Scottsdale yesterday, where the matter was adjourned until late June.

A woman at Longerenong hung up when The Australian rang for comment late yesterday. Also yesterday, Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania expressed "outrage" that charges against battery hen farmer Pitts Poultry have been dropped by police because of lack of evidence.

This is despite footage aired on ABC TV in April 2007 appearing to show dead and dying hens kept in overstocked cages encrusted with faeces, and a live hen rescued from a pile of dead chickens.

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