Polish wholesaler upping committment to high welfare pork
European wholesaler Selgros Cash and Carry has confirmed that it has written to its pork producers in Poland, asking them to comply with a European Union directive which lays down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, as well as another EU declaration on the alternatives to the surgical castration of pigs.
The news came after welfare charity Eurogroup for Animals wrote to Alexander Orlowski, the chairman of Selgros about the European Declaration on alternatives to surgical castration of pigs.
In a letter to the charity, director of marketing, Cezary Furmanowicz, said that the corporation “fully supports humane treatment of animals” and was seeking to influence its suppliers to comply with the directives.
He said: “We have already sent letters to our pork suppliers asking them to inform us and confirm that both – the provisions of the Declaration and the Directive have been implemented and are being executed. We expect to receive appropriate confirmations from our suppliers”
In December 2010, European pig industry pledged to voluntarily stop surgical castration of pigs by January 2018. As a first step, it was agreed that anaesthetic and analgesia would be used during surgical castration from 1 January 2013.
The wholesaler has over 85 stores in Germany, Poland, Romania and Russia and supplies into smaller retails outlets, restaurants and to private traders.
