" Everything is in order in Caniga ." Antonio and Andrea Moro, a zootechnician and agronomist, as well as brothers and managers of the pig farm in the Sassari village, have decided to respond to the barrage of accusations leveled at them by residents and animal rights groups. "First, let's clarify that the business was established in the countryside , that is, in the only place where it can be built, and it has received all the necessary permits from the municipality and the local health authority to open ."

The two then specify a fundamental point: « It is not an intensive farm, because it does not exceed 1500 heads of 30 kg as required by law ».

The pigs arrive in Sassari after leaving Villacidro, the first stop on the "Il Grugno" brand supply chain. The sow farm produces 13,000 pigs a year, 9,000 of which are weaned as suckling pigs in Caniga, again over 365 days and six cycles, and then brought back to Villacidro. "The overall ownership is owned by Ciemme di Cuneo, but we are the ones who purchased the sheds and made all the investments to upgrade the facility."

The currently operational shed is one of three, 130 meters long by 17 meters, not fully occupied, where there are 14 pens for the animals present, they report, numbering 1,200. " It's not a concentration camp, the pigs can roam freely. No tail docking, no tooth extraction, no episodes of cannibalism ."

"On the ground," they continue, "there's concrete covered with straw. The excrement ends up there, not on the ground as some have said. Every ten days, to maintain good neighborly relations, we have this straw removed."

Thus the accusation of possible pollution of the aquifers falls: " The sewage cannot percolate into the concrete ."

And speaking of water, the Moro brothers clarify another point. " We're not currently using local water; we're buying it . Because when we tested the water, as requested by the local health authority, we found the presence of bacteria such as pseudomonas and Escherichia coli. The pigs can't drink it."

Regarding the amount of water consumed per animal, they clarify that it's a maximum of one liter per day, not seven as stated. The project, they explain, began four years ago when they gathered the first information. "We did everything openly. We've been working since May, and both the municipality and the local health authority told us there were no problems."

What's their response to the accusations of residents whose homes are about a hundred meters away? " The law allows breeding within 500 meters of a residential area. In this case, it's Caniga, 4 km away . The nearby homes are not part of a residential complex."

The controversy over the feed coming from Cuneo is deflected: "Where should we get it from? Sardinia lacks the raw materials for grain production. We supply 6,000 kilos of feed a week."

The two reassure each other about health checks: "The local health authority comes every week to check the animal's well-being, and we have two company veterinarians who monitor everything ." Yet they are in the eye of the storm, and the city councilors have proposed moving them to Truncu Reale: "Impossible. It's an industrial area, not an agricultural area."

In the future, if things go well, the two plan to expand the farm and create jobs. And regarding alleged convictions related to their business, they retort: "Not for us. And we want to point out that this is the first time in years of work that we've encountered problems."

Meanwhile, requests for access to company records at the City Hall continue: there are currently ten. "We've received insults, and at the gates they tell us we're illegal. They even patrol. We've hired a lawyer."

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