Investigations
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.
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.
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.
Ducks and Geese Force-Fed for Cruel Foie Gras
Animal Equality investigators visited a foie gras farm to witness the production of the cruel ‘delicacy’ first hand. To our amazement, many farms in France offer public tours, open to families. We were welcomed onto one and filmed ducks and geese suffering severely in barren, wire cages and terrified birds struggling while being ruthlessly force fed with metal tubes. If the cruelty we filmed on this farm is the most humane way that foie gras can be produced, then it clearly has no place in a compassionate society. Over 100,000 people have asked for a ban in the United Kingdom.
Turkeys Eaten Alive on Award-Winning Farm
Animal Equality released footage showing extreme suffering and cannibalism on an award-winning farm in the United Kingdom, Grove Smith Turkeys Ltd, which supplies turkey high-end retailers, local butcher shops and pubs. Filmed by our investigators in late 2018 at Hubbard’s Farm in Essex – Grove Smith Turkeys’ main site – the shocking footage shows birds unable to walk being eaten alive by flockmates, birds with severely infected wounds left untreated, and dozens of birds left to rot among the living, some for so long they had decomposed into skeletons.
Abuse and Cannibalism Filmed on Certified Chicken Farms
Investigators gathered footage from within Red Tractor-Certified British chicken farms supplying major retailers after a whistleblower reported the cruel treatment of animals. Our investigation—which shows how labels and certificates don’t prevent animals from suffering—revealed dozens of birds collapsed under the weight of their unnaturally large bodies and unable to stand, dead birds left to rot among the living, leading to cannibalism on at least one farm, workers breaking birds’ necks and leaving them to convulse amidst the flock, dying birds thrown onto a pile and left to suffer for hours, and workers deliberately kicking and stepping on birds repeatedly.
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.”
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.
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.
Actor Eugenio Derbez Speaks Out for Hens in Mexico
Animal Equality’s investigation team re-visited Mexican egg production facilities in Jalisco, Mexico in August, 2017 and March and August, 2018. The footage was presented by actor, comedian and television show host Eugenio Derbez, who helped raise awareness about the miserable lives of caged hens raised for eggs.
