Target: Hugo Alfonso Morán, Spain Secretary of State for Environment
Goal: Stop mismanagement and negligence of pork agriculture industry from endangering pigs and wildlife.
In order to satisfy international markets’ insatiable appetite for pork, Spain has ramped up intensive farming practices for pigs. These highly produced, lowly regulated forms of agriculture are inevitably leading to the slaughter of more swine. Their destructive reach is now spreading to other animals.
Spain’s Murcia region hosts one of the world’s biggest saltwater lagoons, where scores of fish make their home. Beginning in August, the remains of these fish started piling up on shores. In an alarmingly short time, five tons of fish carcasses clouded the waters. The stench of death permeated a once-popular beach.
While algae blooms were initially blamed for this disaster, subsequent investigations have revealed that agriculture likely played a prominent role. Local government officials even banned fertilizer use around the lagoon. Yet they have taken no action on the poorly maintained pig waste dumps that could be pumping up to a quarter of poisonous nitrogen into the Mar Menor Lagoon.
Sign the petition below to demand more regulation on an out-of-control industry that is putting the lives of land and sea animals at risk.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Morán,
Critics have accused Spain of sacrificing its own natural welfare for the benefit of international consumers. The pork industry has exploded in recent years, due in large part to demand from other countries. In response, this government has seemingly taken a hands-off approach, with some skeptics claiming the industry is being granted amnesty without controls.
Your agency’s own report highlighted the potential major contributions of intensive pork farming to the nitrogen levels in areas like Mar Menor Lagoon. This aquatic habitat’s recent inundation of dead fish is both a symptom of the problem and a harbinger of worse ecological disasters to come. The pork agriculture industry needs more regulation and oversight, for the marine species inadvertently caught in its crosshairs and for the farm animals that are the greatest casualties of its relentless drive to get more for less.
Please reign in pig farms before they set off an even more devastating chain reaction.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Leah Kelley
STOP DUMPING UNTREATED WASTE from animal farms into waterways! The algal blooms that result REMOVE OXYGEN from the water, KILLING every living being in those waters.
You’re cruel to all animals
All animal abusers globally must be put to death!
It is happening in North Carolina since the 80s when factory farm invaded the state. Rivers are DEAD. Fish are DEAD. Bacteria have mutated. God know what else. This should never happen because of these cruel farms. I agree that ALL animal abusers SUFFER because it is not only the animals that are the victims.
America is wrong to allow these factory farms to treat animals the way they do and then allow them to dump waste into our waterways. It’s the way so called farmers chose to make a living but that in no way means we must clean up their waste or smell and breathe horrible air or not have clean water. They must make their farms safe for their animals and safe for their neighbors. I feel the reason they are so lax is due to the government paying for lost animals in floods or fires or other grim factors These farmers need to stop sexually abusing their animals, have fire alarms in place and sprinkler systems as well. They sell their livestock but when the government bails them out of all catastrophes, it sends the wrong message. These farmers are negligent in their duties. If they had losses as the rest of us they would be forced to have insurance and safety measures in place or else get out of business. That’s the way it is for most f us so why not for them?