Another day, another idea for intensive farming.

I received a message from Peta UK informing me that South Derbyshire District Council plan to build an intensive pig farm in their district. It wasn't long ago that a similar thing happened with regards to an intensive dairy farm.

The plans were submitted by Midland Pig Producers (MPP) and they hope this huge development will produce one thousand pigs per week to be transported to the slaughterhouse. The development could keep around 26,000 pigs. The Managing Director of MPP, Martin Baker, was voted "Pig Farmer of the Year" back in 2009 and claims that factory farmed animals are better off than free range.

Please click here and fill in your details in order to contact South Derbyshire District Council and tell them you oppose MPP's plans.

If you can spare the time to amend the subject header and to add some extra points in then the letter will be a lot more effective.

Peta have provided the following ideas for addition to the letter:

*Confining so many pigs to one space will inevitably guarantee nothing but a massive rise in disease, infection and injury as well as extreme suffering for the animals. Intensive farming also contributes to the spread of diseases to the human population. The nearest inhabited dwelling is only 20 metres from the perimeter.

*MPP claims that the pigs' welfare would be better served by being kept indoors. This is a ridiculous suggestion, as the pigs would be denied the right to express their natural behaviours, such as foraging for food and nurturing their young in a natural environment.

*According to a new UN report, less consumption of animal-derived products is necessary in order to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change. Local governments should adopt policies that encourage a move away from the consumption of meat and dairy products and towards sustainable projects that are aimed at reinvigorating land and growing crops to feed people directly.

Pigs are very social and intelligent animals, they certainly don't deserve to spend their entire life in an intensive farm before being slaughtered.