The castration of male piglets in pig farming without anesthetic (the so-called piglet castration) is often presented as having no alternative. This extremely painful procedure is usually justified by the risk of so-called boar taint. However, boar taint occurs extremely rarely and only when heating the meat. In addition, there are several alternatives. Next to the boar fattening and the Vaccination against boar taint (immunocastration) also includes surgical castration under general anesthesia in addition.
All three alternatives are acceptable. On the other hand, methods that do not sufficiently eliminate pain or consciousness, such as local anesthesia, are unacceptable.