Investigations

Animal Equality investigated a Red Tractor-certified farm in Southwest England. At Cross Farm, they found dead piglets, filthy conditions, and extreme confinement. Despite being exposed in 2017, Cross Farm continues to supply Tesco, a major UK grocery store. Animal Equality filed a formal complaint about its alleged crimes.

Animal Equality's investigation into Mexico's rabbit meat industry exposed overcrowded cages, slaughter without stunning, and rabbits crying out before slaughter. Conducted at farms in Querétaro and Mexico City, the footage showed rabbits fully conscious as their throats were slit, violating Mexican law. Complaints were filed with authorities, but no response has been received.

Animal Equality’s undercover investigation in Germany revealed severe and intentional cruelty at one of the country's largest pig farms. Over four months, the investigation documented widespread abuse and neglect, with workers deliberately mistreating piglets and allegedly violating European Union laws. These findings, broadcast on Germany’s leading television news channel, resulted in criminal charges against the farm and its employees.

For the first time in over a decade, Animal Equality’s team in Spain unveiled an investigation into the horse meat industry. At a slaughterhouse in Asturias, investigators documented horses being inadequately stunned, causing the animals to be slaughtered while conscious. The investigation also revealed that horses witnessed each other being slaughtered.

Despite many in Spain advocating for a ban on cages, Animal Equality’s investigative footage shows the ongoing and extreme confinement of mother pigs. The footage also exposed the mutilation of piglets without anesthesia, including the cutting of their tails. These tails were found scattered on the floor and left in buckets. Meanwhile, the rotting bodies of dead piglets littered the farm.

During an investigation inside five pig farms, Animal Equality in Spain found pigs with inflamed, pus-filled wounds, prolapsed uteruses and rectums, swollen genitals, lameness, mutilations, dead rats and maggots, and pigs nibbling on the carcasses of other pigs. This investigation release focused on the fattening stage, which takes place after weaning.

Animal Equality in Brazil conducted an investigation into hens factory farms, including four farms and a specialized hen slaughterhouse. Over 95% of hens in Brazil are kept in caged systems, where each bird has less space than a sheet of paper. With 13 birds per cage, investigators have documented cannibalism, extreme heat stress, various injuries, and disease.

Animal Equality in the U.S. released a new undercover investigation into India’s dairy industry. The investigation featured celebrated actress and activist Richa Moorjani, who presented the findings and shared an important message about who is behind every glass of milk and dairy product. The release shows evidence of the suffering of cows and buffaloes from around the world, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.

Animal Equality has released never-before-seen footage from inside a chicken slaughterhouse in Jalisco, Mexico, exposing systemic cruelty in factory farming. Captured by undercover investigators in 2016, the images reveal the immense suffering chickens endure—conditions faced by nearly 8 billion birds in the United States every year.

As the Brazilian government moved to give slaughterhouses the ability to regulate themselves, Animal Equality exposed how decreasing oversight will only increase animal cruelty. These images come from illegal slaughterhouses in Brazil—the conditions of which give a glimpse into the future under the Self-Control Bill.

In late 2022, Animal Equality conducted a two-month drone investigation into Scotland’s salmon and trout industry, exposing the harsh realities of fish farming. Footage reveals overcrowded pens, fish violently thrown and arriving at slaughter—bruised and bloody—left to suffocate, and even killed while still conscious.

Animal Equality has released footage from a large pig farm in Lombardy, Italy—part of a series of investigations since 2019 exposing animal suffering at facilities marketing products as “Made-in-Italy excellence.” The investigation shows pigs with untreated sores and wounds, dying animals left in their own waste, piglets’ bodies torn apart, and buckets of rotting remains. Animal Equality is urging authorities to take immediate legal action against the farm.