Taiwan Sugar Corporation pig farm has its water supply cut off; animal protection volunteers witness pigs lying in feces and urine, breathing rapidly

The Taiwan Sugar Pingtung Wanluan Silin pig farm had its water rights suspended by the Pingtung County Government on July 1 of this year for failing to carry out plans such as the "Biogas Residue and Biogas Slurry Farmland Fertilizer Use Plan." Nearly 17,000 pigs on the farm rely entirely on purchased tap water. The Taiwan Animal Society Research Association (hereinafter referred to as "the Animal Society") conducted an on-site inspection on July 21 and found that most of the pigs, due to insufficient water supply, showed rapid breathing, were covered in feces, and lay directly in the manure trenches, suspected of suffering heat stress; there were even reports of a significant rise in the number of pigs dying suddenly.

Chen Yumin, director of the Animal Society, said that both environmental protection and animal welfare are very important! The 17,000 pigs at Taiwan Sugar normally need 400 tonnes of water per day, but Taiwan Sugar supplies only 105 tonnes per day, which is clearly too low. Taiwan Sugar is clearly mistreating animals, and she called for sufficient water supply as soon as possible. Wu Zhaohong, deputy chief executive of Taiwan Sugar's Livestock Business Department, said that if pigs feel the environment is bad they will become restless, and lying there without moving means the pigs are still fairly comfortable and at ease, so there should be no water shortage problem. However, to dispel doubts, the supply was increased to 215 tonnes yesterday, and the public need not worry.

"Judging from the on-site conditions, the pigs are lying collapsed in the manure and urine, breathing rapidly with lifeless eyes, and this is called at ease?" Chen Yumin refuted Taiwan Sugar's statement with on-site video, arguing that there was no sprinkling to cool the pigs at the high on-site temperatures, and the animals suffered greatly from the lack of water.

Taiwan Sugar: Budget Issues Make Early Renovation Difficult; County Government: Improvements Were Already Required in 2014

Two Taiwan Sugar pig farms in Pingtung had their water rights suspended by the Pingtung County Government this year. The Liukuaicuo pig farm had its water rights suspended on March 1 of this year for failing to carry out the "Biogas Residue and Biogas Slurry Farmland Fertilizer Use Plan" and "Livestock Farm Odor Improvement Measures." The Wanluan Silin breeding farm then also had its water rights suspended on July 1 for failing to submit for review the "Biogas Residue and Biogas Slurry Farmland Fertilizer Use Plan" and the "Livestock Wastewater Return to Farmland Reuse Plan."

Wu Zhaohong said that Taiwan Sugar is not refusing to propose environmental plans, but because the 2018 budget was already too late to be compiled, it could only be included in the 2019 budget. However, at least in 2019 it will ask the Executive Yuan for early expenditure, so that the pig barn renovation plan can be carried out in 2019. Zhang said it will continue to negotiate with the Pingtung County Government.

Zhang Jiahong, section chief of the Water Resources Administration Section of the Pingtung County Government Water Resources Department, said that as early as 2014 it began demanding that Taiwan Sugar should improve the pig-raising environment as soon as possible and should not allow air pollution and livestock wastewater to affect water quality. More than 2 years have passed and Taiwan Sugar has done nothing. Taiwan Sugar is a state-run enterprise and should take the lead in improving pig farms so that Pingtung's environment can be improved.

Animal Society: Administrative Problems Should Not Lead to Harm to Pigs' Rights, Calls for a Speedy Resolution

Chen Yumin said that Taiwan Sugar's water supply only reaches the minimum standard for the water needs of adult and young pigs and half of what lactating pigs need. The insufficient water supply causes enormous stress on the pigs in the farm and already constitutes serious animal cruelty. In addition, Taiwan Sugar's pig barns are traditional barns with no sprinkling or cooling facilities at all. In summer, to prevent adult pigs from heat stress, the work of washing the pigs and barns daily to cool them down has stopped completely, and the barns are only washed once every three days with recycled sewage, and when washing, the pigs also drink the sewage.

Chen said that if Taiwan Sugar's pig-raising business breaks the law, the county government can, under livestock pollution-related regulations such as the Water Pollution Control Act, the Air Pollution Control Act, and the Waste Disposal Act, inspect the pig farm's pollution prevention and control equipment, urge improvement of wastewater pollution and odor, and impose fines in accordance with the law until improvements are made. But the county government adopted the drastic measure of "suspending water rights" as a penalty, seriously affecting the pigs' rights. More than ten thousand pigs lack sufficient drinking water, and the barn environment cannot be cleaned. If a disease outbreak occurs, it may involve violations of the Animal Protection Act and the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, and the problem should not be underestimated.

Wu Zhaohong explained, "This place (the Wanluan Silin breeding farm) was our most profitable pig farm last year. Pigs are Taiwan Sugar's precious assets, so of course we will take care of them." It originally supplied 105 tonnes of water per day, and as of yesterday it had expanded this to 215 tonnes, hoping to dispel outside concerns.