The Styrian Animal Protection ombudswoman, Barbara Fiala-Kock has been left shocked and appalled at the case of animal cruelty but was surprised above all that nobody noticed the suffering animals sooner. When pigs are hungry they scream and squeal.

She said: "In my opinion someone must have heard them. But sadly the village community does not function in most cases anymore. People and families are happy when they can solve their own problems. That means that the willingness to help other people was perhaps not there.

"How can a person become so deadened, that he can be so brutal, which feelings of indifference must these people have that they can let something like this happen? For me it is a cry for help from the people, who say, look here, I am letting my animals starve to death."

According to Austrian Times, the farm, which is one of 7,000 pig farms in Styria had not been on the register of the AgrarMarkt Austria (responsible for various aspects of Austrian agriculture including quality control) and as such had not had any spot checks or control measures put in place. A vet discovered the dire situation whilst on a routine control. The farmer had reportedly become completely overwhelmed by the work on the farm and was no longer able to look after the animals.

The Chamber of Agriculture has suggested, in light of this incident, that many business and farmers will be offered more training and consultancy in matters of livestock farming. For farms in an emergency situation, a telephone number on which people can call and discuss their problems anonymously is available. Some 2,000 of the 7,000 pig farms have used the help on offer from the Chamber of Agriculture in the last year.