Danish pig farming violates animal welfare laws but enforcement fails

Danish laws already prohibit extreme pig breeding that harms animal health and welfare, but the rules are not being enforced, according to experts and former regulators, DR reports.

A typical Danish sow now gives birth to over 20 piglets per litter—five more on average than 20 years ago—due to selective breeding for larger litters. While this boosts farm profits, experts warn it severely compromises animal welfare, with many piglets born underdeveloped, dying from cold, starvation, or being crushed by the sow in their first days.

Lene Juul Pedersen, a professor of animal science at Aarhus University, confirms that breeding for excessively large litters has clear negative consequences. “There’s no doubt that this kind of breeding harms the welfare of both sows and piglets,” she said. Many piglets, often called “dolphin piglets” due to their misshapen heads, are born too weak to compete for milk or move away when the sow shifts position, leading to high mortality rates.

During a recent election debate, acting Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats) highlighted the issue, stating that 25,000 piglets die daily in Denmark due to extreme breeding practices. She called for political action to stop the trend.

However, Søren Stig Andersen, a postdoctoral researcher in animal law at the University of Copenhagen, argues that new legislation is unnecessary. Existing regulations—specifically the Executive Order on Minimum Welfare Requirements for Pig Farming—already ban breeding that “cannot reasonably be expected to avoid harming the pig’s health or welfare.” Andersen claims the current practices likely violate these rules, but enforcement is absent.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, responsible for oversight, removed welfare-related breeding controls from its standard inspections at the start of this year. Lena Rangstrup-Christensen, a former agency inspector and veterinarian, confirms that the rules were effectively unenforceable. “You can’t measure or weigh welfare violations like this,” she explained. “Without clear guidelines, it’s nearly impossible to prove that a piglet’s suffering stems directly from breeding practices rather than other factors.”

Rangstrup-Christensen frequently observed signs of problematic breeding during farm visits, including piglets too small to stand on slatted floors and sows with pressure sores from cramped farrowing crates. “These issues were widespread,” she said. Yet the agency reports no violations of breeding welfare rules in the past five years—a reflection of enforcement failures, not compliance.