Police and government officials charged Mindarra Farm Piggery in Gingin with a cruelty offence 2 years after a raid. After a year and a half of hearings being postponed, the case has now been dropped.

The complainant on the record for the piggery matter is the Department of Local Government and Regional Development (DLGRD).  The defendants are Westpork Pty Ltd, Neil Ferguson and Robert Massar.

The defendents were charged with being cruel to an animal, namely a pig, which suffered harm that could have been alleviated by the taking of reasonable steps under section 19(1) and 19(3)(h) of the Animal Welfare Act 2002.

In a statement from the notoriously underresourced Animal Welfare Unit in the Department of Local Government, a spokesperson said:

"The charges were withdrawn in light of technical legal difficulties which came to the Department's attention at a late stage. Those difficulties are not expected to recur in future prosecutions."

Animal Rights Advocates Inc. (ARA) Coordinator Jonathan Hallett said:

"ARA believes this is another demonstration of the pig industry's inability to regulate itself and the government not taking the interests of animals seriously. Yet again, disturbing evidence of cruelty has been revealed in a piggery and nothing is done.”

"The general public would be horrified if it knew about the conditions suffered by the animals in this piggery.”

"Farmed animals, such as these pigs, are regarded merely as production units.   We believe they are deliberately hidden from public view to prevent awareness of this cruelty."

"The ridiculously meager charge shows the inadequacy of animal cruelty laws to protect animals. The reality is that animals cannot be bred for food without causing cruelty. The economic interest in cheap, plentiful animal products will always outweigh the interests of the animals involved. As long as animals are considered resources there will always be suffering."

"We are disappointed that the prosecution was dropped however given the state of animal welfare law in Australia we are under no delusion that interests of animals can be adequately protected.”

“Most people are against cruelty to animals. Most would agree someone who inflicts unnecessary suffering or death to an animal is acting cruelly. We'd likely reject ‘pleasure’, or ‘comfort’ as acceptable reasons for a cruel act. However, our own consumer choices inflict unnecessary suffering and death to many animals on a daily basis for these very reasons. We don't need to consume the body parts or secretions of other animals to live healthily and happily. Yet we choose to consume animal products merely because they give us some momentary pleasure.”

“A vegan lifesfyle is about living without causing unnecessary suffering and death to animals. Vegans avoid consuming animal products as food, clothing or anything else.”

“It's incredibly easy to live as a healthy vegan. It's also better for the planet. And it's clearly better for the animals.”

"ARA opposes the farming of animals and works to expose and raise awareness of the cruel practices inherent in these industries."

BACKGROUND TO THE CASE

Mindarra piggery has been under investigation by the Department for Local Government and Regional Development since January 2007.

ARA received video footage taken inside the piggery which appears to show evidence of serious animal cruelty. ARA immediately passed the footage on to the DLGRD and requested an urgent investigation into possible breaches of the Animal Welfare Act.

The footage prompted a raid on the farm by the police stock squad and local government, health, agriculture and immigration officials on the 25th January 2007.

Westpork Pty Ltd
Westpork Pty Ltd was founded in 1985 and has an annual revenue of approximately $29,725,368 which is derived from breeding and rasing pigs for slaughter. Westpork operates in Western Australia and has 3 company owned farms and one contract grower and sells approx. 150,000 animals per annum.

Mindarra Farm Piggery
Mindarra Farm is an intensive piggery owned by Westpork Pty Ltd and has a design capacity of 47,800 pigs. The farm is located at Lot 10, Wannamal West Road, Gingin and can be contacted on 08 9655 7036.

Mr Neil Ferguson
Based in Western Australia, Mr Ferguson is the General Manager of Westpork Pty Ltd. He also chairs the WA Agriculture Produce Commission (Pork Committee) and is on the Committee of Pork Training WA.

View the disturbing footage that prompted the police raid below. Much of the footage was taken with a mobile phone hence is lower quality than other footage on the site.