Woman Emerges From Pig Crate After 21 Days And Nights Trapped In London Square

Animal Rising campaign lead Michelle Farnham walked free from a pig farrowing crate in Trafalgar Square on September 22 after spending 21 consecutive days and nights confined inside it.

Farnham entered the crate at 7 a.m. on September 1 and left at 11 a.m. on September 22, completing a physical and psychological challenge intended to bring attention to factory farming.

Around 100 supporters welcomed her as she was joined by her partner and family. Thousands of passersby encountered the installation during the three weeks, with many stopping to speak with Farnham about the action and conditions faced by animals on factory farms.

Animal Rising said the end of her confinement marks the beginning of a long-term campaign against factory farming. The group is calling on the government to end factory farming by 2040 and says further investigations and exposés of British farms will follow.

Farnham’s action was inspired by Luna, a mother pig whose life Animal Rising documented for a month on a Suffolk factory farm. The crate was similar to those used in around 90% of indoor British pig farming systems, where mother pigs can be confined for four to five weeks and unable to turn around.

Animal Rising says around 200,000 mother pigs are confined in farrowing crates in the UK each year. A petition calling for Luna’s release is approaching 30,000 signatures.