Investigation inside 9 pig farms in Spain
Animal Equality has released a new investigation exposing conditions on pig farms in Spain’s Aragón region. Across nine farms, investigators documented serious violations of animal protection laws. The organization has filed a legal complaint to challenge these abuses.
Key findings:
Dead and dying piglets: Bodies piled in corridors and wheelbarrows, with decomposing piglets found in mothers’ drinking troughs.
Newborn suffering: Many piglets died within hours of birth from lack of oxygen; some were found still covered in placenta behind their mothers.
Extreme breeding practices: Mother pigs were bred to produce oversized litters, leaving many piglets unable to nurse and at risk of starvation.
Severe injuries and untreated illness: Pigs suffered from tumors, infections, lameness, breathing difficulties, and large untreated wounds. Investigators also documented uterine prolapses.
Illegal mutilations: Despite a European Union ban on routine tail docking, nearly all pigs had their tails cut off without anesthesia. Buckets of severed tails and testicles and filthy mutilation tools were found on the barn floors.
Extreme confinement: Mother pigs were kept for months in cages so small they could not turn around, often developing wounds from the metal bars and showing signs of distress.
Read the full story: https://animalequality.org/news/2026/03/10/spain-pig-farming-investigation/
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Transcript (English — en-x-autogen)
Obtaining the greatest profit at the lowest cost.
This is the goal of the animal agriculture industry.
But behind this logic, our lives bound
to suffering from birth.
A new animal equality investigation
filmed in nine pig farms in atone reveals the serious
consequences of this model.
The industry treats mother pigs like production machines,
encouraging them to have more
and more litters, even if this means
that many piglets are born weak, unable to feed
and die crushed within the first days of life.
In several of the documented farms,
the mothers simply do not have the capacity
to nurse all of their offspring.
The smallest ones fall behind, grow,
weaker, and die of hunger.
Some die from asphyxiation during birth,
others agonize as their lives slowly fade,
crushed, or starved to death beside their siblings.
In Spain, up to one in every five piglets dies
before reaching one week of age, not from disease, but
because of a system that aims to produce more at any cost.
Those who survive are mutilated without anesthesia.
Their tails are cut or they are castrated by hand.
These procedures are routine because intense pain.
Meanwhile, their mothers remain confined in cages so small,
they can barely move There.
They repeat desperate behaviors over
and over, such as biting the bars until their gums bleed.
Some suffer visible prolapses while others carry the bodies
of their unborn piglets trapped in their vulva.
Spain is now the largest producer
of pork in the entire European Union.
In 2024 alone,
more than 53 million animals were slaughtered.
Only between one and 3% of farms are inspected each year.
Most of these inspections are announced in advance.
It can take up to 60 years for a farm
to receive an inspection.
The authorities are aware of the situation,
but their response continues to be insufficient.
This inaction and the support given
to the industry allows these scenes to be repeated
day after day.
But we can put an end to the cycle.
Put an end to the suffering of mother pigs and their babies.
Let your meals reflect compassion.
Try plant-based today.