Rally calls for pig protection

Animal Liberation ACT said yesterday Australians should expect more evidence of cruelty at the nation's piggeries to be made public.

The new footage - which was released a week after a first video was aired showing animals allegedly being beaten and treated inhumanely at Wally's Piggery near Murrumbateman - shows pigs living in cramped, rat-infested conditions at properties activists named as Allain's Piggery, north of Yass, and Tennessee Piggery, near Young.

Calls to the two piggeries were not returned yesterday.

The new footage sparked the inspection, on Friday, of the Young piggery by representatives from the RSPCA and Livestock Health and Pest Authority.

Activists, who staged a vocal rally in Civic yesterday, said the Young business was linked to Wally's Piggery, which has been issued with an order to improve conditions.

More than 250 people attended yesterday's rally in Garema Place condemning the conditions.

An online petition has collected almost 15,000 signatures in support of shutting Wally's Piggery.

Animal Liberation ACT co-president Jess Ferry said the level of cruelty and disrepair at the exposed piggeries was an industry norm.

She called on the authorities to close the farm permanently, seek new accommodation for the animals where they will not be raised for slaughter, and inspect piggeries Australia-wide.

''We'll keep exposing this cruelty, we want people to see the images for themselves,'' Ms Ferry said.

''We've got the evidence to show this is standard practice in the industry.''

ACT Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur said pig farming was crueller than caged hens.

''We need an equal amount of outrage [to that seen after Indonesia abattoir conditions were exposed last year] so we can stop this behaviour,'' Ms Le Couteur said.

''If people knew, they wouldn't accept this cruelty.

''How we treat animals shows a country's moral fibre and [Australia's] not doing a very good job.''