Underwater factory farms are one of the biggest causes of suffering on the planet. Forcing billions of fishes to spend their lives swimming in endless circles in cages before suffering inhumane and painful deaths. We call on the European Commission to include the protection of fish welfare among the priority objectives of the revision of the EU legislation on animal welfare.
The new investigation
A new investigation by Essere Animali reveals the shortcomings of the current European Union legislation on animal welfare, which clearly fails to guarantee the protection of farmed fish. The shocking images filmed during the investigation — which was conducted at several trout farms as well as a few sea bass and sea bream farms — reveal farming, transport and slaughter practices that cause enormous suffering to the animals.
By releasing this investigation, Essere Animali joins and relaunches the Compassion in World Farming campaign, aimed at asking the European Commission to include the protection of fish welfare among the priority objectives of the revision of the EU legislation on animal welfare.
From cage to fur farming and fish welfare, key animal welfare concerns are being addressed very differently across the EU’s 27 Member States.
In this report, we break down the steps that different countries in the EU are taking on a range of animal welfare issues – or lack thereof. The stark differences in their approaches highlights the critical need for the EU to publish its long-awaited revision to the animal welfare legislation, which has not been updated for decades, and which is not sufficiently protecting the wellbeing of animals across Europe.
Only by modernising and strengthening these laws will the EU be able to effectively harmonise the approaches of all Member States to animal welfare: improving the lives of billions of sentient beings, easing compliance for farmers, ensuring fair competition, and aligning agriculture with its sustainability and resilience goals.
22 Oct 2024: Civil defence teams and residents work together to rescue a horse trapped beneath the rubble of a home destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
One more innocent victim, among the many animals so often forgotten in this war not just on humanity, but on all creatures trapped there in this Hell unleashed by Israel, made possible by the United States.
Italy banned male chick killing in 2022, yet the slaughter quietly continues. From the heart of Rome to its most iconic landmark, advocates are demanding action.
March 28, 2025
Italy banned male chick killing in 2022, but enforcement has stalled due to loopholes and government delays.
Male chicks are killed in the egg industry because they cannot lay eggs or grow quickly enough for meat. Millions are ground up alive or suffocated each year.
Animal Equality has long pushed for in-ovo sexing, a technology that determines a chick’s sex before hatching.
Animal Equality projected a message onto the Colosseum, displaying hatchery footage and urging ministers to enforce the ban.
Advocates have also taken to the streets, protesting outside Italy’s Agriculture and Health Ministries.
Update February 2025 – Animal Equality projected a message onto the Colosseum, calling for enforcement of Italy’s male chick-killing ban. The display showed footage from hatcheries alongside the faces of the three Italian ministers responsible for implementing the ban. These were accompanied by the words: “Act now, stop the slaughter of male chicks!”
Advocates also launched a manifesto against chick killing, backed by journalist Giulia Innocenzi and singer-songwriter Giorgia.
Update December 2024 – Animal Equality’s Vice President for Europe spoke about male chick killing on TV program Mi Manda Rai Tre.
Update November 2024 – Protesters gathered outside the Agriculture and Health Ministries, condemning delays in the ban’s enforcement.
Update September 2023 – The Italian government outlined enforcement for the male chick killing ban. However, loopholes remain, allowing exceptions for sexing errors, machine failures, and more. A letter signed by Animal Equality and other groups urged the government to close these gaps.
Update August 2023 – Some members of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies–similar to the U.S. House of Representatives–asked to clarify enforcement of the 2022 male chick-killing ban. Officials formally requested answers from the Ministers of Agriculture and Health.
Update August 2022 – Italy’s Chamber of Deputies gave final approval for a ban on male chick killing. The law passed by a wide margin and is slated to take effect by 2026. Animal Equality’s Director for Italy spoke at a press conference to mark the occasion in the Parliament’s press room.
Animal Equality has launched a campaign urging Italy’s government to end the killing of male chicks in the egg industry.
The petition–directed at the Ministries of Agriculture and Health–calls for officials to promote in-ovo sexing technology and support companies that adopt it.
Italy’s largest supermarket chain–Coop–voiced its support just hours after Animal Equality’s campaign launch. The company announced online and in the media that it will adopt in-ovo sexing technology as soon as possible.
Why are male chicks killed in the egg industry?
Around the world, millions of male chicks are killed every year because they can’t lay eggs or grow fast enough for meat. Within hours of hatching, they are typically ground up alive in industrial macerators, gassed, or in some cases, electrocuted.*
*While electrocution is allowed in the U.S., it is not allowed in Europe.
In Italy, tens of millions are discarded as waste each year. The practice is just as widespread in the U.S., where hundreds of millions are killed annually.
Billions of baby birds face death on the day they are born simply because their lives are not profitable. Please sign the petition to end this massacre.
(PLEASE SIGN PETITION ON PAGE)
A proven solution: In-ovo sexing
In-ovo sexing technology identifies a chick’s sex before it hatches, preventing millions of male chicks from being born into the egg industry. Several countries have already adopted this method.
The process works by detecting the embryo’s sex within the first days of fertilization. This is done through a minimally invasive or non-invasive test.
Various in-ovo sexing technologies are available, though some are still in development.
Egg-free: The best way to protect chicks
While in-ovo sexing prevents male chicks from being killed, millions of hens still suffer in the egg industry. They endure short, stressful lives, only to be slaughtered when their production slows.
The simplest, most effective way to protect them is to choose plant-based alternatives. Check out delicious, compassionate, egg-free recipes on Love Veg (https://loveveg.com).
It sounds like something out of a dystopian nightmare, but it’s real: pregnant horses are restrained and drained of massive amounts of blood, leaving them weak and traumatized —all so the pharmaceutical industry can extract PMSG, a hormone used to fuel factory farms.
And Iceland is at the center of this horror. As the only producer of PMSG in Europe, its blood farms keep industrial animal agriculture running across the continent. Without Iceland’s supply, the entire industry takes a major hit. But right now, we have a rare chance to shut these farms down for good.
Iceland’s government has already admitted that blood farms violate EU animal welfare laws. Under pressure, they’ve pledged to reconsider the future of PMSG production *this year*—to either ban it permanently or allow this cruelty to continue. Meanwhile, Ísteka—the pharmaceutical company profiting from this torture—is lobbying hard to keep blood farms open, pressuring Iceland’s government to protect its bottom line.
This is our moment. If we raise a massive global outcry now, we can drown out Big Pharma’s lobbyists and push Iceland to finally ban PMSG for good.
Tell Iceland: ban PMSG
Thanks to numerous investigations by the Animal Welfare Foundation, the reality of PMSG production in Iceland has been exposed. Their latest undercover investigation in 2023 revealed the true extent of the cruelty behind PMSG extraction, bringing this hidden industry to light.
PMSG is the ultimate symbol of factory farming’s brutality—a hormone extracted from the blood of pregnant horses to fuel mass production of meat. In industrial pig farms across Europe, mother sows are injected with PMSG to hijack their bodies, forcing synchronized pregnancies so factory farms can churn out piglets on a rigid schedule.
Iceland had a chance to stop it. But in 2023, under pressure from Ístekathe government caved. Instead of banning blood farms, they put forward weak regulations and delayed real action until this year. Now, with the future of PMSG on the line, Big Pharma’s lobbyists are back, fighting to keep the cruelty going. This time, we can’t let them win—Iceland’s leaders need to see that people everywhere are demanding they ban PMSG for good. If we act now, we can make this year the turning point.
The Ekō community has taken on this fight before—and won. We pressured two major German pharmaceutical companies to cut ties with blood farms in South America, dealing a big blow to this cruel industry. Now, Iceland is the last major stronghold—and together, we can shut it down.
Translation of above text: An excerpt from a biased article in late 2016 about the adequacy of the conditions in the live transports (since then, countless horrors have been documented, all of which turn out to be adequate):
“The issue of animal cruelty is very important to the Ministry of Agriculture and to me personally,” Uri Ariel clarified. “We decided to conduct a surprise inspection of a shipment of calves arriving in Israel, in order to see the reality up close. The conditions on the ship were adequate.”
According to him, the professionals in veterinary services are doing a sacred job to reduce harm to animals, “We are constantly examining new ways to see what else can be done to reduce harm to animals imported into Israel.”
“Animal cruelty is a well-known prohibition in Judaism, an example of which is the rule ‘You shall not muzzle an ox,’ which was already written in the Torah thousands of years ago. Judaism taught humanity not to harm animals, and we as a country see this as a moral and professional obligation,” emphasized the Minister of Agriculture.
In February, 2025, Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) exposed rampant animal cruelty and environmental violations at Butterfield Dairy and Rainbow Valley Dairy – two major suppliers of Coca-Cola’s fairlife milk outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Despite fairlife’s claims of humane sourcing, ARM’s investigation proves the corporation’s complicity in severe abuse.
Undercover Investigation Reveals Brutal Cruelty Between July and December 2024, ARM operatives infiltrated these dairies as employees, capturing disturbing footage of:
Calves violently separated from their mothers, confined in tiny wooden crates, and subjected to relentless abuse by workers and managers.
Workers punched, kicked, whipped, and dragged calves by their ears, tails, and legs, resulting in fractures, internal injuries, and painful deaths.
Calves denied food, water, and medical care, left to suffer from fatal infections.
In 135°F heat, calves collapsed from dehydration and exhaustion, left to die in filthy conditions.
At Butterfield Dairy, workers rough-housed confused newborn calves and shoved feeding tubes down their throats, leading to fatal internal injuries and trauma. Their carcasses were left scattered across the property or sent to a methane plant for fuel.
At Rainbow Valley Dairy, pregnant cows endured continual beatings, their tails broken, and electric prods used to force compliance. Managers botched euthanasia procedures, shooting cows in the neck and leaving them to suffer prolonged, agonizing deaths.
Environmental Infractions & Worker Misconduct
Illegal disposal of animal carcasses threatens wildlife and contaminates local water sources.
Leaking waste pits pose a serious risk to the environment and public drinking water.
Rainbow Valley employees were documented operating heavy machinery under the influence of alcohol and illicit drugs, endangering both animals and public safety.
A Pattern of Abuse: The DeJong Family & Fairlife’s Broken Promises Both dairies are owned and operated by the DeJong family. ARM’s 2019 dairy expose at Natural Prairie Dairy and Fair Oaks Farms exposed similar horrors, revealing Coca-Cola and fairlife’s direct ties to industrialized animal cruelty.
In response to public outrage, Coca-Cola pledged over $40 million in animal welfare reforms, promising audits, employee training, and video monitoring. However, ARM’s latest findings prove these measures were nothing more than corporate deception—systemic abuse persists.
Take Action: Demand Accountability ARM demands immediate arrests of dairy owners, managers, and employees. All calves must be removed from inhumane enclosures. Coca-Cola and fairlife executives must be held accountable for their role in enabling this cruelty and for this ongoing atrocity.
Consumers have the power to demand real change. Boycott fairlife and Coca-Cola’s cruelty-ridden products and expose corporate lies.
Update:
The Maricopa Sheriff’s Office and the USDA are currently conducting their own investigations for arrests and accountability.
Fairlife has stated it has cut ties with the Rainbow Valley and Butterfield Dairy, however ARM will monitor this to ensure this continues.
A civil action lawsuit has been filed against fairlife, Click to view.
We will update this page once this investigation develops and arrests are made.
World Animals Voice 