Canada's pigs are about to get a little more breathing space.

The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) has introduced a new Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs that effectively bans the use of controversial gestation crates in which sows are so confined that they are unable to turn around. The code also mandates pain relief during castration and tail docking.

As of July 1, mature female pigs must be kept in groups rather than in the small crates. The regulations do allow for animals who have just bred to be housed in individual stalls for roughly one month, but the new regulations require that the pig be able to stand up without touching the bars on both sides of the stall and to be able to lie down without their udders protruding into the adjacent stall.

However, the new regulations only apply to new construction or replacement stalls, so the more controversial gestation crates will continue to be used for the time being.

Sayara Thurston, a spokesperson with the Humane Society, called the new rules a "watershed moment for farm animals in Canada and throughout North America."

"It signals the beginning of the end of archaic, extreme confinement systems that consumers simply don’t support and which other countries have long-since banned," Thurston said in a statement. "There is still much advancement needed to improve the welfare of pigs raised on Canadian farms, but this Code of Practice is a monumental first step."

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