Before a EU Parliament photo exhibition on factory farming opened on March 25, one image of a piglet mid-castration — screaming, restrained — was quietly removed. A senior official who approves internal events, flagged the photo as 'exceptionally drastic'. The procedure is legal, common, and carried out across EU farms to curb pigs’ sexual and aggressive behavior. But it’s apparently not fit for Parliament walls. The exhibition was organized by Animal Law Europe, with the aim of highlighting standard practices in industrial farming.
POLITICO: The European Union allows surgical castration of piglets without anesthesia. Just don’t try showing a photo of it in the European Parliament.
Before a new exhibition on factory farming [Jo-Anne McArthur’s photographs] opened Tuesday March 25, an image of a piglet mid-castration — screaming, restrained — was quietly removed. Polish rightwing MEP Kosma Złotowski, a senior official who approves internal events, flagged the photo as “exceptionally drastic.”
The procedure is legal, common, and carried out across EU farms — to prevent a smell in pork known as “boar taint,” and to curb pigs’ sexual and aggressive behavior. But it’s apparently not fit for Parliament walls.
The exhibition was co-hosted by Luxembourgish Green MEP Tilly Metz and organized by NGOs Animal Law Europe and the European Environmental Bureau, with the aim of highlighting standard practices in industrial farming. Metz’s office didn’t formally contest the request — her team submitted alternative images, and the swap was made within minutes. SOURCE…
Unveiling the Hidden Costs of Factory Farming at the European Parliament
JO-ANNE McARTHUR: On March 25th, I walked into the European Parliament with jittery excitement. I was invited there by the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy and the European Environmental Bureau to speak on a topic I feel so passionately about: ending the suffering of animals in factory farms. Large printed photographs depicting cruelty and hidden exploitation, shot by me and several other photojournalists, flanked the walls.
Throughout the three-day exhibit, the faces looking out from the photographs would be hard to ignore. Thousands of people would see the brutality of modern farming that is imposed upon billions of animals in the EU each year… Interestingly, an image of a piglet mid-castration—screaming, restrained—was quietly removed from the exhibition ahead of its launch. Polish right-wing MEP Kosma Złotowski, a senior official who approves internal events, flagged the photo as ‘exceptionally drastiC’…
I shared stories about my first intimidating and shocking visits to farms. I talked about what we do to the bodies and minds of animals like pigs, cows, calves, laying hens and “broiler” chickens, rabbits, and fish; how we transport and slaughter them; and how we fail to evacuate them in fires and floods. I talked about the suffering of farm workers, too. Behind me was the exhibit of photographs as proof of my words, and of the animals’ experiences. SOURCE…
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