Petition 3 of 3
Originally posted by Tiffany White on petitions.org
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
Sign this petition here: https://animalpetitions.org/1046907/prevent-pig-farms-from-potentially-killing-tons-of-saltwater-fish/
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