Surgical castration is routinely performed on commercial pig farms in North America to prevent boar taint and aggression. This procedure is known to be painful for piglets, yet is typically done without the use of analgesics or topical anesthetics for pain relief. In Canada, the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs was updated in 2014 and requires, as of July 1st, 2016, castration of piglets be done with analgesia to help control post-procedure pain.