Imagine the longest long-haul flight or road trip you’ve taken. You’re stuck. The stiffness, the pain, the boredom—the intense desire to walk the Earth and move freely again. Now imagine that instead of a soft seat, you’re sitting on damp, abrasive concrete. Pressure sores are opening up on your skin, making sitting or lying down nearly unbearable. In place of a view, all you see are rows of others just like you, trapped, distressed, and desperate to escape. No one lets you out for a break, and the trip lasts four agonizing months. Oh, and you’re pregnant.

This is the pig industry’s response to prenatal care. Specifically, it’s how the pig industry forces a mother pig to wait out her pregnancy between giving birth and being re-impregnated. The cycle of suffering repeats over and over—until her body can no longer take it. Then she’s sent to slaughter.

Experts agree that pigsareamongthemostintelligentspeciesontheplanet. That means their capacity to suffer is profound. Just like humans, pigs can—and do—suffer depression.

So why does the pig industry insist on causing such extreme suffering? Because it makes them money. And because in many states, it’s still legal.

Rather than recognize that immobilizing mother pigs in cages is indefensible, the pig industry has doubled down, fighting tooth and nail against laws that try to ban the practice.

In October 2022, the pig industry took its fight all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States in an effort to overturn Prop 12, a landmark law that bans the sale of animal products in California that come from caged systems. Along with our partner organizations, The Humane League’s legal counsel mounted a valiant defense—and we won. Prop 12 was upheld.

The tide is turning, but there still are dozens of states across the US where mother pigs suffer agonizing confinement. Legally. Repeatedly.

Law by law, alongside our partner organizations, The Humane League is defending mother pigs from the industry’s attack on animal welfare.

Add your name to join this historic fight for compassion. If you opt to receive emails from The Humane League, we’ll alert you as soon as there’s a legal initiative in your state that needs support!