than twenty different studies, the report likened the
stereotypical behavior of sows to obsessive-compulsive
behaviorinneurotichumanbeingswhocontinuouslywashor
wringtheirhands.Itsanswertothequestioninvestigatedwas
unequivocal: “The close confinement
ofsowscausesseveredistress.”^90 TheBritishFarmAnimal
Welfare Council, an official advisory body to the British
government, reached thesameconclusion, in moreofficial
language, in its 1988 report:
Both stall and tether systems fail to meet certain welfare
criteriatowhichweattachparticularimportance.Asaresult
oftheirdesigntheanimalshousedinthemarepreventedfrom
exercising and from displaying most natural behaviour
patterns;inthewiderangeofsystemsseenbymembersthere
waslittlescopetoreducethecontinuingstresswhichcanbe
causedbyconfinementin thesesystems....Werecommend
... that the Government should introduce legislation as a
matterofurgencytopreventallfurtherinstallationsofunits
of these designs.^91
Onlywhenthesowisplacedwiththeboardoesshehavea
shortperiodoffreedominalargerpen—althoughthisisstill
likelytobeindoors.Foratleasttenmonthsineveryyear,the
pregnant and nursing sow willbe unable to walk around.
When artificial insemination is more widely used, this
sensitiveanimalwillbedeniedherlastchancetoexercise,as
well as the only remaining natural contact she has with
anothermemberofherspecies,apartforherfleetingcontact
with her offspring.
In1988,aftermorethantwentyyearsofconfinementofsows,
an important study was published showing that the