Investigations

Animal Equality investigators in India inspected a total of 107 dairy farms, 11 live animal markets and 8 slaughterhouses across the country to expose the practices of the dairy industry. The investigation covered facilities in all regions of the country: Punjab and Haryana in the north, Uttar Pradesh in the east; Gujarat and Maharastra in the west; Secunderabad in the center; Hyderabad, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala in the south. The investigators witnessed male buffalo calves tightly tethered and left to die shortly after birth, female buffaloes injected with Oxytocin to increase their milk production while on the farms, and animals bludgeoned with a hammer in the slaughterhouses.

Undercover footage captured by Animal Equality showed a farm worker violently kicking, punching, and throwing calves on a UK dairy farm. Animal Equality provided the footage and images to local authorities and the worker pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. Abusive treatment was not the only suffering we found on this Somerset farm, which runs a farm shop and B&B as well as supplying Muller Milk (formerly Muller Wiseman), one of the main processors used by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S and the Coop for their own-brand milks.

To create a one-of-a kind virtual reality experience, Animal Equality investigators places 360 degree cameras inside standard modern chicken farms to document how these animals are forced to live, and eventually be slaughtered for meat. Our iAnimal videos are licensed to other groups and used around the world at events to show the public the realities of factory farming.

Animal Equality infiltrated 21 slaughterhouses across Mexico and exposed immense suffering and cruelty. The investigation ignited a media firestorm and a national dialogue on the way farmed animals are treated.

We exposed shocking scenes of cruelty on egg farms, in Mexico where hens endured unimaginable suffering, including being forced to go three to five days without food or water to assure a bigger egg production. The footage garnered some of the first-ever media coverage about egg production in the area.

Investigators visited Knapp Farm in the United Kingdom and filmed chickens desperately struggling, but unable to stand, and dead birds littering the floor. On one visit, investigators found a weak young bird trapped inside a dumpster, shivering on top of a pile of rotting corpses.  

Animal Equality obtained footage inside two award-winning pig farms in the United Kingdom. Pigs were kept in overcrowded, feces-caked pens. Piglets were found dead or dying, and animals languished with large wounds. A dead pig was cannibalized by other pigs on one farm, despite it being named “Pig Farmer of the Year.”

Investigators placed 360º cameras inside pig farms to document typical practices of the meat industry for an innovative virtual reality film. The footage shows standard practices in the meat industry such as castration, tail amputation, and tooth clipping without the use of pain medication or sedation. Our iAnimal films are shown to people world wide so they can learn about what happens to animals raised for food first-hand.

Animal Equality has filmed with 360-degree cameras inside two pig slaughterhouses in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The footage has been included in the virtual reality films iAnimal - Through the Eyes of a Pig and Factory Farm, seen by tens of thousands of people each year.

Animal Equality's international investigation inside chicken hatcheries was filmed over the course of two years and showed that male chicks in the egg industry were cruelly discarded and crushed after birth. After the footage was released to the public, media outlets such as The India Times, The Sun, Metro and Daily Mail, covered the story and the video went viral on social media.

With the aid of local activists, in November 2015, Animal Equality’s investigators infiltrated the Chinese dog and cat fur industry across several regions of the country. Our investigators uncovered the cruelty behind the killing of dogs and cats for their fur to make bags, toys, and clothing.

We released a photo gallery containing never-before-seen images of bulls and calves (“encierros” and “novilladas”) at cruel bullfighting festivals, which were partially funded by European Union taxpayers. The EU annually provideed a subsidy of over £110 million via the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to farmers who bred bulls for bullfights and other blood fiestas. British taxpayers helped fund bullfighting in Spain with over £13.5 million a year.