On Sunday, 27 September 2026, a protest action by a group of animal rights activists took place at a sow farm in the village of Markvartice in the Jihlava region. The activists entered the premises, where, using photographs and banners reading "Legal does not mean moral", they tried in a non-violent way to draw attention to the conditions in which sows are kept in farrowing crates.[1]*
Course of the action
A spokeswoman for the protesters said that the activists chose the Markvartice enterprise at random as a representative of other farms where sows give birth to piglets in farrowing crates, in which they spend several weeks without the possibility of free movement.[1]
The activists also published a set of photographs which, according to them, document conditions at some farms; according to the source, these images did not relate directly to Markvartice. Other photographs from the premises showed activists by pens in which the animals and the surroundings were kept clean.[1]
The activists described conditions in farrowing crates by saying that the mothers of piglets are forced to give birth to large numbers of young and then lie on concrete in a small crate, where they can only lie, stand or sit without being able to turn around, for a period of five weeks in an environment with excrement and a strong stench.[1]
Intervention and the farm's reaction
On Sunday around 6:50, a farm attendant alerted the company's representative to the presence of persons in the building who did not want to leave it. Representatives of the enterprise then contacted the police, and several patrols arrived at the scene. The activists did not obey the calls to leave the premises, and the police eventually removed 24 persons from the farm area.[1]
A spokeswoman for the farm said that by entering the farrowing house the activists violated the veterinary act, because contact with the animals risks the introduction of diseases such as African swine fever. According to her, the farm houses 120 sows, 80 gilts and their piglets.[1]
A police spokeswoman said that all 24 detained persons were released after the necessary procedures were carried out. The persons are suspected of misdemeanour conduct, but according to the police it is not ruled out that the legal classification will change.[1]
Operator of the farm
The pigs in Markvartice are kept by Zemědělská společnost Stará Říše s. r. o., which, according to public registers, has 39 partners and farms more than 1,000 hectares of fields and meadows.[1]
Chronology
- — Activists entered a sow farm in Markvartice in the Jihlava region to draw attention to farming conditions; police escorted them out of the premises. Deník: Vysočina Deník: Vysočina
Sources
- iDNES.cz — 27 September 2026