Campaign for animal welfare

24 hours on the slatted floor: Hematomas & pain

Two animal rights activists held out for 24 hours on a fully slatted concrete floor.

(Bild: VGT.at)

"Unbearable!" said the animal welfare activists who sat and lay on fully slatted floors for 24 hours. As pigs have not been able to adapt to hard, sharp-edged floors without the possibility of burrowing, they assume that this type of animal husbandry is also painful for the pigs.

Fully slatted floors consist of hard concrete slabs with gaps in them so that the pigs' faeces can fall through, making the work of pig farming easier. However, these floors promote inflammation in the animals, which is why animal rights activists are calling for a ban on this type of pig farming.

In order to draw attention to the effects of fully slatted floors and raise awareness of the urgency of a ban, two animal rights activists dared to carry out a self-experiment at the Dreifaligkeitssäule in Klagenfurt's Alter Platz: from 9 a.m. on Saturday to 9 a.m. on Sunday, they sat and lay on an original fully slatted floor.

The verdict after 24 hours
"I had few expectations before the event. I assumed that I would simply sit on the solid slatted floor and get it over easily. After the first two hours, however, I started to get blue discoloration on my ankles and heel. Towards the evening, the pain became much worse and I had to reposition myself every ten minutes to make the pain go away for a short time," reports Thomas.

Passers-by showed a lot of interest and understanding for the campaign. One man even brought over breakfast at 6am. 

"The fact that I was able to experience on my own body for 24 hours what it means to have to live on a fully slatted floor - in my case: clean - made me realize how hard and unbearable this form of husbandry must be for the pigs. I wouldn't have been able to stand it any longer because of the pain all over my body and I'm glad that the campaign is over for me now," says Daniel.

Martin Balluch from the Association Against Animal Factories (VGT) was present at times: "The two animal rights activists have red bruises and hematomas. It is unbelievable what we are doing to the pigs and cattle with the fully slatted floor. Such torture cannot be justified by prices, however cheap they may be." The regulation on pig farming stipulates that pigs must have a physically comfortable, clean lying area. Balluch: "This is clearly not the case on fully slatted floors. But, as is so often the case, the laws for the protection of animals are not enforced. That is why we are calling for a very clear and explicit ban on fully slatted floors together with mandatory straw bedding. Cheap production on the backs of animals is not compatible with our society's understanding of morality!"