This horrible footage of mother pigs watching their babies die was taken by Animal Equality on a pig farm in Spain. In the video we can see mother pigs who have just given birth. The miserable pigs are brought to this filthy area a week before they should give birth. Before being here, the mother pigs were held inside the smallest cages called "gestation crates", all through their pregnancies.

'Breeding sows', as they are referred to by the pig meat industry, are viewed as machines that produce piglets. Each mother is forcefully impregnated 3-8 times before she is sent to slaughter. Since more piglets means more money, the pig meat industry created a breed of pigs that can have 12 piglets per pregnancy, or more.

10% of the piglets die soon after birth

Carrying so many babies makes the pregnancy very hard and risky. Since there are so many fetuses, some babies are born underdeveloped or deformed. On this pig farm, about 10% of the piglets die soon after birth, either hours or days after. In addition, many pregnancies end up in a miscarriage. Sadly, babies from miscarriages who come out alive are left to slowly die on their own.

As if these mother pigs don't live in hell as it is, they also have to watch some of their babies die. Time and time again, pregnancy after pregnancy. Can we even imagine how helpless theses mothers must feel? Knowing that they can’t help their dying babies? Knowing what kind of horrible lives await their healthy ones?

And all this endless suffering for what? So we can put a piece of pig meat in a sandwich?

What can people do to help mother pigs and their piglets?