Former hospital chief physician and chief surgeon Ellen Appelquist has lived in her house for 44 years. It is located only 100 meters away from the industrial pig farm Vandvaerksgaarden in the small village of Tingerup - 60 kilometers west of Copenhagen.
Here Ellen is covering her nose to reduce the smell from the farm, seen in the background of the photo.
The presence of the farm has a big impact on her life, she reported to Greenpeace Nordic in Denmark. She often gets headaches, which she has to treat with medication. She also has to leave her home when the smell is really bad. Ellen said: “When the wind blows from East and South, it stinks so much, that I cannot breathe outside. I get diarrhoea and have to go inside or leave my property. The vents in my new windows are always shut to keep the smell out. The noise from trucks and tractors is a permanent nuisance. My quality of life has significantly deteriorated”.
“Often I simply leave my property and go to visit someone, because the smell is too awful. I don’t understand, how it can be legal to have so many animals in such a limited place - and in such a short distance from people’s houses.”