By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 20:22 EST, 31 December 2012 | UPDATED: 04:37 EST, 1 January 2013 Farmers across Europe have ignored an EU ban on 'pig cages’, meaning UK families will continue to eat pork, ham and bacon from cruel factory farms. British farmers stopped using the cages or sow stalls in 1999 because they were so small the huge animals did not even have enough room to turn around. The EU finally agreed to outlaw the system across member states from today, but it has emerged that thousands across the continent have failed to meet the deadline.
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The ban on sow stalls comes into force in EU today
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Only one third of French farms have removed cages
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Half of German farms also still using sow stalls
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EU farmers given 11 years notice of deadline
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British farmers banned cruel practice in 1999
The organisation is advising consumers to buy @placeholder bacon as the only guarantee of avoiding meat from the cage system.