Hamming it up for animal welfare

The traditional festive ham became a bone of contention as animal welfare activists - including a pig-friendly Father Christmas - protested in Christchurch yesterday.

Members of the charity Save Animals From Exploitation (Safe), wearing pig masks and confined in pens used in intensive pig-rearing, asked customers at a supermarket to put pressure on producers by boycotting factory-farmed pork.

An earlier protest by up to 50 Safe members was held on Saturday morning outside the Christchurch Convention Centre on the first day of the Australasian Pig Science Conference.