Press release: A ten-hour journey instead of short distances – the transport of Swiss piglets to Germany raises questions
As reported by SRF on 19 June 2026, over 20,000 piglets are set to be exported to a German slaughterhouse between June and November 2026. This is due to massive overcapacity. According to Suisseporcs, pig farms are producing 5,000 more piglets per week than the Swiss market can absorb.
Teams from Tierschutzbund Zürich followed a piglet transport and documented the journey. The findings of their investigation have prompted the Tierschutzbund Zürich to raise critical questions with the BLV, which is responsible for authorising and monitoring such transports, and with Suisseporcs, whose member farms are responsible for overproduction.
For Josephine Cornes, project manager at the Tierschutzbund Zürich, the weekly piglet transports raise questions regarding their compatibility with Swiss animal welfare legislation. Article 15 of the Animal Welfare Act generally limits the permitted journey time within Switzerland to six hours. Whilst cross-border transports are subject to the provisions of EU Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, this regulation expressly states that long-distance animal transports should be kept to a minimum for animal welfare reasons. It also obliges those responsible to keep the duration of transport as short as possible and to avoid causing unnecessary distress to the animals.
The result of this overproduction is that thousands of piglets are set to disappear from the Swiss market. “The surplus piglets are putting Swiss producer prices at risk. Instead of preventing overproduction, 900 piglets are transported to Germany for slaughter week after week,” criticises Josephine Cornes of the Tierschutzbund Zürich, who wants to know whether an end to exports is in sight for the second half of the year, following the suspension of contributions to the market relief fund on 17 July 2026, according to a Suisseporcs report. “Why are piglets being transported to Germany for around ten hours for slaughter, whilst Swiss slaughterhouses are not being used? We cannot help but suspect that the animals are being subjected to this long journey purely for economic reasons,” suggests the Tierschutzbund Zürich.
Piglets are among the most vulnerable farm animals. According to current scientific knowledge, long transport times cause considerable stress and impair the animals’ welfare. Against this background, it is unacceptable for animals to be transported abroad for many hours.
In an open letter, Tierschutzbund Zürich calls on Suisseporcs and the BLV to explain,
- which is why piglets are transported to Germany despite there being sufficient slaughter capacity in Switzerland,
- what economic or structural reasons justify journey times of ten hours or more,
- whether alternatives involving shorter transport distances were considered,
- which is why piglets are exported whilst pork is imported at the same time,
- and what measures are intended to prevent economic interests from taking precedence over animal welfare in future.
Tierschutzbund Zürich emphasises that Switzerland prides itself internationally on its high animal welfare standards. The documented animal transports are ethically unacceptable and unnecessary. In particular, the long-distance transport of young animals from Switzerland to other countries, lasting many hours and resulting from mismanagement, is intolerable. “We expect the BLV and Suisseporcs to provide answers and solutions that prioritise animal welfare. We are calling for an end to overproduction and the associated long-distance transports,” says Tierschutzbund Zürich, urging greater animal welfare standards on pig farms and an end to animal transports abroad.
Download press release here (german)