Around 1,500 pigs die in barn fire in Canada

Around 1,500 pigs have died after a large fire destroyed a barn near Pansy in the province of Manitoba, Canada.

Firefighters were called to the farm on Friday evening, August 7, after the pig barn caught fire.

Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe told local news outlet SteinbachOnline that around 1,500 pigs were inside the barn. The animals were locked in cages inside the barn and could not escape. They did not survive the fire.

There is currently little information about how the fire started. No official cause has been announced.

Animal welfare organisation Animal Justice described the animals who died as young pigs and called attention to the number of farmed animals who die in barn fires in Canada.

Barn fires can be especially dangerous for animals kept inside large livestock buildings because hundreds or thousands of animals may be housed in one place.

Another deadly barn fire in Pansy

It is not the first time thousands of pigs have died in a barn fire in the Pansy area. In November 2017, another major fire destroyed most of a large pig farm near Pansy. More than 7,000 pigs died in that fire.

An investigation later found that the 2017 fire was caused by a mechanical problem.

After that fire, Manitoba farm safety experts called for better monitoring of barns where large numbers of animals are kept. One programme encouraged farmers to use infrared cameras during inspections to find dangerous hot spots in electrical systems that may otherwise be difficult to see.