Investigations

For more than two years, we documented the horrific reality of the life and death of pigs in Spain’s meat industry. Sixty Animal Equality investigators entered 172 pig farms to obtain eyewitness footage for this groundbreaking research on animal exploitation.

Animal Equality’s first investigation into the Spanish mink industry revealed a rarely seen look inside mink fur farms. Investigators witnessed hundreds of minks caged in solitary confinement. Many of the animals endlessly paced and circled in their cages, a sign of severe psychological distress.

Animal Equality did not back down, and once again, investigators were present at the annual “Toro de la Vega” event. The photos and video https://vimeo.com/6595048footage they obtained garnered national and international media coverage, sparking outrage and debate over the cruel tradition.

Our investigator photographed a fox farm in Poland to raise awareness about how these animals live. Foxes are forced to live in small, barren, wire cages, which are surely psychological torture for these normally curious animals. The only time the foxes are likely to leave the cage is the day they're slaughtered.

Animal Equality investigators infiltrated the cruel “Toro de la Vega” festival for the first time to document and denounce the cruelty of the bull killing ritual. In the annual event, a terrified bull is chased through the town of Tordesillas, Spain, and speared to death by hundreds of lancers once he reaches an open field.

Responding to an anti-vegetarian ad campaign from meat giant, Campofrio, Animal Equality released a video exposing the cruel treatment of pigs on a farm that supplied the animals to the company. The vidhttps://vimeo.com/2749302eo was seen by hundreds and thousands of people and is still in circulation today.

Animal Equality investigators went undercover at four circuses in Spain, documenting the cruel treatment of animals used for entertainment and gathering some of the first behind-the-scenes visuals from circuses in the country. Our footage resulted in public outcry, and concerned activists took action and rescued Moses, a baboon at one of the circuses who had been kept in a cage for years. Our work along with that of other animal protection organizations led many regions and cities in Spain to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.

Animal Equality’s first investigation documented five slaughterhouses in northern Spain, exposing for the first time the cruelty and systematic mistreatment of animals in these places. The shocking footage investigators obtained is still used today by organizations around the world today.