Investigations
With My Own Eyes: Rooney Mara Joins Factory Farm Investigation
Animal rights activist and actor, Rooney Mara, joined Animal Equality for an investigation inside two modern farms. The investigation video, narrated by Mara and titled “With My Own Eyes,” reveals how pigs and chickens raised for meat, languished in abhorrent conditions, and encourages viewers to examine this harsh and painful reality for billions of farmed animals.
Gadhimai Festival Ritual Animal Killing
Animal Equality investigators have documented the massive ritual slaughter of animals during the Gadhimai Festival in Southern Nepal, which takes place every five years. Using drones, the investigators captured the magnitude of the killing, which occurred despite a promise to ban animal sacrifice.
Chickens Endlessly Suffer at Artisinal Slaughterhouses
In Italy, Animal Equality released new footage about the slaughter of chickens by artisanal butchers, which often takes place without stunning and forces the animals to suffer endlessly.
Horror of Mexican Backyard Lamb Slaughterhouses
Animal Equality Mexico investigated the country’s illegal slaughterhouses and brought to light the cruel treatment and slaughter of lambs and sheep. They witnessed lambs and sheep fully-conscious as they were tied up and decapitated, and in full view of other animals awaiting slaughter. We are currently working with lawmakers in Mexico to criminalize these places and the people who operate them.
Sheep Brutally Killed in Farmers Fresh Wales Slaughterhouse
Our investigator went undercover at Farmers Fresh Wales slaughterhouse in Wrexham, North Wales, and witnessed unimaginable cruelty. Sheep and lambs were decapitated in front of each other, corpses were piled on the backs of live sheep on a conveyor belt, and the use of inadequate machinery resulted in animals becoming painfully trapped and hanging in mid air. What was most shocking, though, was that cruelty in this slaughterhouse had been uncovered previously by Animal Aid, and that much of this suffering took place with a Food Standards Agency inspector present.
Italy’s Buffalo Mozzarella Production
Animal Equality investigators documented the horrors of buffalo mozzarella production in Northern Italy that are hidden from public view. Video footage revealed buffalos being forced to live amid knee-deep feces alongside dead animals, and baby male buffaloes abandoned to die of hunger and thirst. We also collected testimonials of Italian citizens who revealed the environmental impact of these farms on the community.
Amazon Rainforest Deforestation
After the devastating wildfires decimated the Amazon Rainforest, Animal Equality Brazil sent investigators to Northern Brazil to document the increased deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and its connection to animal agriculture. Cattle farming is mostly responsible for deforestation, with fires set to turn forests into pasturelands for cows or soy plantations to grow feed for animals raised for food. Our footage shows that the devastation of the Amazon rainforest for animal agriculture is extreme and far-reaching.
Suffering and Agony Inside Italian Pig Slaughterhouses
Animal Equality Italy released a horrifying video from within a pig slaughterhouse in Lombardy, Italy. Terrified pigs tried to escape were gouged with electric prods. Many animals were not stunned properly and were still conscious as they were hung upside down by their legs and slaughtered. with scenes shot inside an Italian slaughterhouse showing the brutal killing of pigs. We’ve collected the support and signatures of over 140 thousand Italian citizens who have asked for change and new reform legislation regarding animal slaughter, and we’re using this footage to push for the installation of closed-circuit television cameras in all Italian slaughterhouses.
Animal Equality, With Italy’s National Media Outlet, Exposed Italian Slaughterhouse Cruelty
For four months Animal Equality Italy’s investigation team, along with Tg2 journalist and host Piergiorgio Giacovazzo, made visits to a pig farm in the Northern Italian region of Lombardy. Despite the region’s animal welfare laws, we found that the thousands of pigs living on the farm were being subjected to extreme confinement, filth, untreated wounds, and abuse, including a worker who killed a pig by throwing the animal against a wall. We started a petition urging the Minister of Agricultural Policies to close this farm and improve oversight of all farms in the area.
Shocking Pattern of Neglect at Nebraska Dairy Supplier
Animal Equality investigated Summit Calf Ranch in Nebraska, a facility housing 11,000 calves and owned by Tuls Dairy a supplier of Bel Brands, producer of Babybel and The Laughing Cow Cheese. The footage our investigator recorded reveals prolonged suffering of dozens of calves freezing to death outdoors. Repeated exposure to extreme temperatures resulted in frozen limbs, and the separation of the hoof from the leg of several calves. Some even died in agony as they were thrown into a pile of dead and dying animals. We're pushing authorities to consider criminal charges against those involverd.
High Rise of Hell: Massive Chicken Sheds Exposed
Our investigators visited Red Tractor-certified farms in the United Kingdom multiple times between February and April 2019 and found shocking cruelty within the massive double-decker chicken sheds, which held over 30,000 birds on each floor. They saw many chickens unable to stand, which is unfortunately common in the chicken industry, and carcasses left to rot for days amongst the living birds. These farms supply chicken to major retailers in the UK, including high-end supermarkets. The conditions documented on these farms are far from what most consumers would consider to be “high-welfare.”
The Reality of the Turkey Industry
Animal Equality investigators documented hatcheries, factory farms and slaughterhouses that show standard practices that are also present in the United States. In the hatcheries, the birds who do not meet the standards required by the industry are discarded alive along with the eggshells. They will die in the trash containers, crushed soon after seeing the world for the first time.