Drawing on fieldwork on efforts to tackle the problem of pig tail biting in Dutch pork production, this paper introduces the concept of value-scapes, highlighting veterinary care as a crucial node where the different values at stake around animal farming come together and are negotiated.
Long abstract:
This paper introduces the concept of value-scapes, highlighting veterinary care as a crucial node where the different values at stake around animal farming come together and are negotiated. I illustrate the concept of value-scapes through the case of pig tail biting in Dutch pork production. Although illegal under EU law, farmers routinely cut tails to prevent pigs from biting each other when stressed. Recent problematizations of tail biting has led to new regulatory practices and has shaped notions of good stockmanship for farmers and good care for veterinarians. I show how vets are at the heart of a dynamic value-scape; one shaped by EU and national governance frameworks, and the health checks and pricing of meat at the abattoir. Pigs themselves, to some extent, get to shape this value-scape. And frictions emerge; for instance between animal welfare, biosecurity demands and measures to reduce air pollution. Studying tensions within and differences between value-scapes, I suggest, provides crucial insights into what is at stake in the regulation of human and farm animal life within the EU.