Investigation: The Face of Italian “Excellence”
Animal Equality's investigators returned to a pig farm in Northern Italy to see if conditions improved after our initial investigation in 2019 uncovered extreme abuse. The farm produces products for the DOP (“Protected Designation of Origin”) supply chain that claims higher-quality items from regulated sources. When packaged for grocery store shelves, these products are labeled with "Made in Italy" excellence. But what Animal Equality found was anything but "excellent."
➡ Discover more about the investigation findings: www.animalequality.org/news/italy-excellence-pig-farm-investigation
Animal Equality has been investigating pig farms around the world since 2008—uncovering painful mutilations, deliberate abuse by farm and slaughterhouse workers, the deprivation of natural behaviors, and the extreme confinement of these intelligent and curious animals.
You can join our fight to end the physical and psychological trauma of animals, like pigs, trapped inside our food system by reducing your intake of animal food products. Visit LoveVeg.com to learn more about animal-free foods and discover plant-based recipes.
Featured in
Transcript (English — en-x-autogen)
The images you are about to see were recorded at a pig
farm in Northern Italy.
This is one of the many facilities that produces products labeled
with made in Italy Excellence which claims higher
standards.
But what investigators with Animal Equality found was anything but
excellent.
Investigators first entered this farm in 2019 with
a camera crew from Italy's TG2 news
channel.
The image is shocked the public,
who joined Animal Equality in denouncing the farm and asking authorities
to close it.
Despite media coverage and public outrage, investigators returned
to the farm to find animals still suffering.
In the hallways, the decomposing bodies of
abandoned pigs are found scattered around the farm.
Only the legs, heads, and other body
parts of pigs are found.
These remains are the only signs of pigs who didn't survive
the extreme conditions.
In the pens, feeders are full of
sewage and thousands of cockroaches scurry across the walls.
In the maternity ward, mother pigs are kept in
cages so small they can't even turn around.
Many are covered in sores, wounds and other infections.
Several piglets are found lying dead on the ground in
various stages of decomposition.
One of these baby pigs lies right next to his mother's feeder.
Other bodies have been discarded like trash in a bin.
Animals on this farm are often left in agony
while suffering without care.
This piglet is stuck between the floor grates, which
is unsuitable for such small animals.
He cannot be reached by his mother and is unable to feed.
The workers do nothing to help him.
This pig has been left to suffer without proper care,
food, or water.
Workers simply sprinkle litter around him instead of
providing veterinary care as required by law.
The tattoo indicates that this is one of the farms that
are supposedly more regulated and have high standards.
But many of these products that claim strict standards come from
similar farms where the animals suffer greatly from
the first moment of their lives.
Animal Equality has filed a legal complaint demanding
authorities prosecute the farm and its owner for their crimes
of animal cruelty.
Pigs, chickens, cows, and
other animals are trapped on factory farms and suffering.
Consider replacing meat and other animal products with plant-based
options to help them.