Red Tractor ‘appalled’ by barbaric conditions exposed in Viva!’s latest undercover investigation into British pig farming. The disturbing footage highlights a clear lack of care for severely sick and dying animals, housed in squalid conditions that pose a serious public health risk.
‘Appalled’ by Barbaric Conditions Found on Leicestershire Pig Unit
Red Tractor suspends Flat House pig farm in Leicestershire, claiming to be ‘appalled’ by barbaric conditions uncovered in our latest investigation into British pig farming.
Captured over the course of four months, the disturbing footage highlights a clear lack of care for severely sick and dying animals, housed in squalid conditions that pose a serious public health risk.
Sick and Dying Animals Left to Suffer
Our team found animals with a range of serious ailments causing them acute pain – including bleeding hernias, prolapses, deformed trotters, rectal strictures and pot bellies.
Other animals were covered in lacerations and grotesque bites, injuries inflicted on them by other pigs who are driven to insanity by the barren environment.
Feral cats Pick off the Weak
Dismembered body parts were found on every visit, as well as numerous dead piglets alongside confined sows. Hidden camera footage from the crates captured cats picking off sick piglets, eating them alive and dragging their limp bodies into the walkways to feast.
During each pregnancy, sows at Flat House Farm are confined to a barbaric farrowing crate for five weeks at a time. Four of which are after she gives birth, restricting her natural maternal instincts to physically bond with her young. These cages are widely used on British factory farms and are entirely legal.
Brutal Mutilations and Ruthless Killing
Workers were filmed carrying out routine mutilations – docking tails and clipping teeth of newborn piglets – all without pain relief. These cruel acts are supposed to prevent tail biting, a behaviour that manifests from a lack of stimulation. Most distressingly one farm worker was filmed ‘knocking’ a piglet – killing them by slamming their tiny head onto the bars of their mother’s metal prison – and feral cats were found picking off the weak and eating the dead.
How You Can Help
As part of our overarching End Factory Farming campaign, we’re urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take action.
During the next phase, our plans include: An innovative YouTube ad campaign, featuring a range of footage from our undercover investigations Greater social media promotion with targeted messaging on how and why to go vegan The launch of our brand new seven-day vegan initiative, V7 And a range of billboards throughout the country, as and when lockdown allows for maximum impact
A gang of poachers is said to have killed more than 100 animals, including protected birds of prey. The gang is said to have been active in the districts of Gmunden, Salzburg-area in Austria. The police also found dozens of firearms.
The poachers were equipped like members of a special military unit. Rifles, silencers, and night vision devices were used to shoot everything during night operations which is not allowed.
The list of slain animals is long
At least 26 deer, gray and little egrets, beavers, foxes, buzzards, goosander, brown hares, pheasants, weasels, muskrats, crows, pigeons, jackdaws, jays, sparrows, green and black woodpeckers, house sparrows, blackbirds, squirrels, and brown trout were killed without to pay attention to any restrictions or closed seasons.
Beavers, foxes, squirrels, blackbirds – almost everything was poached
Frozen wildlife in the house
The police have been looking for the accused, who are between 19 and 52 years old, for months.
A 27-year-old was the first to go online during a traffic check in the early morning hours of June 1st in the Gmunden district.
He had a hunting rifle in his car, and in his house, there were frozen wild animals and some hunting trophies.
Further investigations led to more and more poachers, and house searches revealed more and more illegally hunted animals. In addition, 78 firearms of all categories, several thousand rounds of ammunition of various calibers, 31 silencers, night vision devices, and thermal imaging cameras as well as extensive equipment for self-production of ammunition were seized. Often they shot out of moving cars.
After extensive investigations, more than 55 acts of crime have so far been identified in which the accused were active in alternating cooperation and in different combinations in many districts.
The animals were hunted with rifles, silencers and night vision devices
According to the police, all seven suspects basically confessed at the interrogations. Provisional weapons bans were issued against all seven. The property damage caused by the gang is said to amount to a five-digit amount. WWF speaks of “ecological amok running”
The nature conservation organization WWF Austriais appalled: “We are shocked by this ecological rampage. Such crimes are among the main threats to strictly protected species and destroy decades of conservation work. The illegal pursuit of animals is not a trivial offense, but has to be punished with the full severity of the law, ” says WWF conservation expert Arno Aschauer.
The WWF takes the politicians to duty and demands more resources for the investigating authorities and severe punishments.
1. Expensive telescopic sights, night vision devices, thermal imaging cameras, 31 silencers, 78 rifles, and several thousand rounds of ammunition!
Who can afford that?
Guess!! people from the military.
2. “The perpetrators explain the offenses because of their interest in hunting and weapons. The awareness of injustice is likely to be very low,” says a district inspector.
Is it different by hunters?
Of course not.
Hunters also kill pregnant animals, mother animals, young animals, pets, stray animals …everything that moves.
Hunting is murder, hunters are murderers, it doesn’t change whether the murder is committed by the poacher or the hunter.
3. (the best at the end): “Among the victims are nine owners of hunting grounds who want to be compensated with around 15,000 euros” !!!!
For those who didn’t understand: the poachers have murdered in foreign territories! that annoyed the hunters, who had leased the territory, then they demanded that the “others” have to pay for it. The financial loss counts for the hunters, not the animals!
Compensating hunters as victims because others have murdered their animals and not themselves, that’s what I call an indictment of the government and the media.
This is an issue which has been a ‘battleground’ for UK animal campaigners and the official British government Defence Ministry for many years. As an animal activist; I have been involved with this in the past as I feel the use of bearskin is completely unnecessary now days; and has been for many years.
If London soldiers (and others) have to parade around in furry hats; then let them; fine; I have no objection to that; but all I say is that with the progress in faux fur over the years; there is no need now for real bearskins to be used in a soldiers hat. The wearing of bearskin caps goes way back to 1815 when the British fought at Waterloo; have we not moved on a bit since then ? – over 200 years later ?
I have argued the case for a ban on real bearskin with my MP in the distant past; and have always had the reply of ‘indigenous peoples need to get the skins’ as (in my opinion) an excuse for the unnecessary killing of bears. That is what it comes down to – the slaughter of bears to make hats – it is unnecessary in 2020 as there are a lot of options available that do not involve any cruelty.
Fur farming was banned in the UK some 20 years ago; and we as Brits are well proud of that. Tribute must go to Mark and the team at ‘Respect for Animals’ who undertook a fantastic campaign to achieve this. His work continues everywhere – find out more at http://www.respectforanimals.org/
From what we now understand, once the UK has finally left the EU next year (2021) and is not bound by single market (EU) rules; new legislation could be introduced (in the UK) to ban the use of real bearskin in the guards hats. It may seem a bit confusing – the UK formally left the EU at the start of 2020; but it is now in a ‘transition period’ (during 2020) with the EU where trade deals are going to be negotiated and set. This is to allow trade between the UK and the EU; so at the moment, despite leaving the EU, the UK cannot really introduce its own legislation; free from the rules of the EU, until new trade negotiations are completed this year (2020). Issues like animal welfare are included in the negotiations; and with higher, good welfare standards than in some places within the EU; UK activists do not want to see the UK lowering standards to those of some EU nations with issues such as intensive farming and fur.
Very recently; the UK government DEFRA; (Department for Food, the Environment and Regional Affairs) confirmed a sale ban which could raise standards (laws) further with regards fur products by the introduction of new laws; once the UK is completely free in 2021. The ban could affect both new and vintage coats, and also see shops selling decades old furs from being sold. Many areas in London are already not selling any fur products; a move which we welcome.
DEFRA said in their statement: “the UK has some of the highest welfare standards in the world and this is both a source of pride and a clear reflection of British attitudes towards animals. Fur farming has been banned in this country (UK) for nearly 20 years, and at the end of the transition period we will be able to properly consider steps to raise (our) standards even further. This is something that the Government is very keen to do”.
We at WAV would also include here the issue of live animal exports. Under current EU rules, the UK cannot introduce an individual state ban on live animal export; but this will be possible in 2021; post trade negotiations; when the UK is free from the shackles of the EU and can make its own legislations. In 2021 we are hoping that with campaign pressure and the vast majority wish of the British people voicing opinion against live export, the UK government will ban the export of live animals to Europe by (primarily) the Dutch and that the UK will formally stop this disgusting trade in sentient beings that we have been directly involved with for decades.
Read more on the Dutch association with UK live animal exports here:
Back to bearskin hats for soldiers. It is thought that the British Army purchases between 50 and 100 skins each year.; at a cost of around £650 per skin. HIS UK which is being consulted on the issue, stated that there could be ‘pragmatic exemptions’ from outdated fur being worn; such as with hats already in use by the military. But any ban on fur could apply under normal circumstances to charity shops, vintage fashion shops, anything in fact both on the high street or online which relates to fur.
Plans should take place in 2021 to have consultations on the issue; with an opportunity for both business and the general public to have their say. Even now, 81 MP’s and over 750,000 Britons support a ban on the sale of fur. Through effective and educational campaigning; the AR movement and organisations such as ‘Respect for Animals’ have won in the desperate attempt by the fur industry to withdraw itself from the animal suffering and grim truth that we all see regarding fur and fur farming.
Mark at WAV says – you cannot meet the complex behavioural and biological requirements of highly active and highly inquisitive animals such as mink, foxes and raccoon dogs by keeping them in the utmost deplorable conditions which we have all seen and posted about regarding fur farms. It is a simple fact; no amount of any PR spin by the fur industry and the animal killers will change that. A fur ban is not simply a fur wearing ban; it is about the saving of and the sparing of millions of animals the excruciating torment of confined life on a fur farm. It is time for the UK government to acknowledge the very strong British public opinion that any trade in the fur industry is cruel and unacceptable. It is time for a complete ban in every way as soon as the chance arises in 2021.
But until the UK officially leaves the EU on 31st December 2020, it cannot implement a unilateral ben on the fur trade and all its associated products. We understand that any new / future law would need most importantly to protect animal welfare, and that a draft government Bill / documentation on the fur ban has already been produced by HIS UK with the government. Meetings to date between parties have been described as ‘productive’.
A spokesperson for the British Fur Trade Association has said that ‘it beggars belief that in the middle of a pandemic and a recession, the government is secretly working on plans to ban the fur in people’s wardrobes. He went on declaring that fur is a natural and sustainable product that comes from highly regulated (??) and humane (???) sources which have increased sales by over 200% in recent years due to their ‘popularity’. Also declaring that the government needs to reject the pressure being exerted by ‘animal rights groups’ and instead focus on issues that actually matter to people !
So, no win for either at the moment; although it seems very much like the UK is coming out on the side of fur bearing animals. We at WAV fully support this approach. and we look forward very much to 2021 for many reasons. If we get a full fur ban in every way in the UK, and also stop by law the export of live animal exports, then things are moving on positively big time.
The government has a choice; it listens and acts on behalf of the people, or the people throw them out when they have the chance. A simple choice; and we hope they listen to the wishes of the vast majority of the British people.
We at Doctors Against Animal Experimentsare committed to modern animal-free research and medicine. Animal experiments must no longer have a place in the 21st century!
The US company Covanceoperates in Münster, Germany, one of the largest animal testing laboratories for monkeys in Europe.
Every year up to 2,000 monkeys are killed here in excruciating toxicity tests.
Covance is thus the largest “monkey consumer” in Germany! Now the group wants to expand: A new building for animal stalls is to be built, an advertisement is looking for animal care personnel (!!!).
Animal experiment factory “Covance Laboratories GmbH” in Münster, Germany
So soon more monkeys will suffer and die here!
Covance Inc. is one of the world’s largest contract research organizations with offices in 20 countries. The branch in Münster specializes in reproductive toxicity tests on monkeys.
Pregnant monkeys are often given drugs or chemicals pumped into their stomachs or injected into the bloodstream daily to see the effect on their offspring.
The consequences can be stillbirths or malformations.
The substances are also given to male monkeys to test their fertility.
Such toxicity tests on our closest relatives are ethically unjustifiable and scientifically nonsensical, since the results only say something about the reaction of the monkeys, but do not allow predictions for humans.
Summer is wasp time: As every year, from August onwards the black and yellow insects cavort more and more at barbecue parties, at the coffee table, at a picnic in the park or behind the counters of the bakeries.
During these days, the hard-working workers of the “Common Wasp” and the “German Wasp” mainly throw themselves on lemonade, ice cream and cake.
Wasp sharing a pop drink.
For many people, the uninvited guests cause fear. The bad reputation of the wasps is not justified, because the actually harmless and very useful insects are only looking for food and usually only sting when they feel threatened.
Nadja Michler, specialist advisor for wildlife at PETA, has put together some simple tricks for peaceful coexistence between humans and wasps.
“Wasps are very extraordinary creatures in many ways”. Some species use saliva and wood chips to produce a paper-like material that they use to build their nests. The workers are tirelessly busy tending to the larvae, bringing in food, expanding the nest and defending it. They really deserve a sweet treat in between, ”says Nadja Michler
This is how animal lovers can keep wasps away:
–Distraction feeding: a bowl of overripe fruit placed at a safe distance distracts the animals. Grapes are particularly good.
For the dogs boiled alive in Korea
For the dolphins eviscerated in Japan
For the whales hunted by the Norwegians
For the bulls stabbed to death in Spain
For the donkeys worked to death in Nepal
For the foxes and the badgers torn apart in England
For the elephants maimed and shackled in India
For the bears and the bison and the wolves shot in America
For the seal calves clubbed to death in Canada and Iceland
For the rabbits skinned alive in China
For the kittens and puppies starving in Serbia
For all the animals in labs, in zoos, in factory farms and in circuses
For every animal on the Earth that has to endure the cruel silence of human indifference
I shall be their voice – Mark Stewart
And I mean…we will continue to oppose the daily genocide against animals. The right to life, freedom, integrity, protection must be due to all species. Not a privilege of the ruler.
We fight for basic rights for all feeling, thinking individuals.
Nobody may be disadvantaged or preferred because of their species.
‘Meat is Murder’ by the Smiths – and frontman Morrisey; dedicated animal rights campaigner; is now a famous song that has probably converted more people to vegetarianism in the UK than anything else over the years.
Morrissey; or ‘Mozza’ (as he is known to all); promotes animal rights and a meat free diet all the time. A very well known and brilliant musical artist with a massive fan following.
For the past fifteen years, my work as an animal photojournalist has taken me through the world of dairy production, far beyond the marketing campaigns, and taught me an entirely different story about milk.
When I was a kid in the ‘80s, cow’s milk was ubiquitous in school life. Parents paid a token amount so that their child could have a personalized carton of milk every day at lunch. We needed cow’s milk so that our bones would have a fighting chance at growing strong, and preventing later-life diseases such as osteoporosis. Since 1942, Canada’s Food Guide promoted milk and dairy products as a standalone food group that we should consume, ‘as available.’
However, in early 2019 sweeping changes to the Canada Food Guide provided an evolved understanding of our nutrition needs; gone are the pictures of milk and dairy products floating across the food guide rainbow, and they are no longer included in the long list of healthy options for school snacks. Milk and milk products are now lumped into the ‘protein’ food group and surrounded by disclaimers: “Among protein foods, consume plant-based more often”, and “Make water your drink of choice.”
Today, Dairy is still the largest sector of agriculture in Ontario, where I live, and according to the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the elementary school milk program serves 70% of Ontario schools.
For the past fifteen years, my work as an animal photojournalist has taken me through the world of dairy production, far beyond the marketing campaigns, and taught me an entirely different story about milk.
In my twenties I took a deep dive into understanding animal use and food production, but even then, dairy was not on my radar.
I understood dairy to be healthy all around; that no one was hurt in the making of it and certainly no one died. I had absorbed pictures of dairy cows living in pastures from the side of milk cartons and on TV, and had fond memories of meeting cows on a visit to The Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. I was an animal lover from a young age, and my family is particularly fond of this photo of me, aged three, admiring the Jersey cows.
I had been a vegetarian for a few years before I decided to do a one-month internship at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. The Farm was the first of its kind: a sanctuary for animals who had been rescued from all areas of factory farming.
Interns at Farm Sanctuary are asked to participate in a vegan lifestyle out of respect for the animals. I felt that this was extreme, but I’d do it, and resume vegetarianism upon my return to Toronto.
It was there where I learned that animals do get killed in the dairy industry. Cows are killed when their bodies are broken down, or “spent”, from the constant cycle of pregnancies, and then typically slaughtered for cheap hamburger before the age of six.
I learned that a healthy cow can live twenty and even thirty years, but that their health, and therefore milk productivity, declines with each pregnancy until they are replaced by younger cows. Cows are also incredible mothers. When given the chance to stay together, they share an unbreakable bond for life.
And about that pregnancy. I believed that dairy cows just produced milk. I didn’t consider the baby involved.
WAV Comment – Wow ! – double wow ! – what a truly fantastic lady. A dream; a vision to help and protect animals; now put into practice. We fully support her vision for the future and wish her and her team the very best in promoting animal welfare and veganism in Bangladesh.
Animal protection is now an issue for many across the world; and we (WAV) have seen recently from our Clustrmap (global visitors – https://clustrmaps.com/site/1a9kn ) that people are visiting us from places we never dreamt of in the past to read and learn about protecting animals; and for us, this can only be seen as the very best news.
On the days when I feel like I don’t want to do this anymore because it’s too hard, I remind myself that there was a time when I didn’t do anything, and I wasn’t happy. Even the worst day of doing something is better than the best day of doing nothing.”
“No matter how absurd an idea may seem, if you put your mind to it, you can.”
“EVEN THE WORST DAY OF DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN THE BEST DAY OF DOING NOTHING.”
Ask Rubaiya Ahmad about her proudest achievement on behalf of animals, and her answer is immediate.
“Stopping dog culling in Bangladesh,” she says.
Seven years ago, Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital and largest city, was a different world for free-roaming dogs. They were almost constantly hunted by government cullers as part of an ineffective bid to control the country’s rabies problem.
Friendly dogs, including beloved pets, were the easiest targets, sauntering over to anyone who stretched out a hand. Savvier victims were caught using badger tongs, devices on poles that clamped around dogs’ heads inside their mouths, causing excruciating pain. Cullers typically then injected dogs with poison and cut off their tails as proof of the kill. To inflate their numbers, cullers sometimes cut single tails into several pieces to turn in to their overseers.
One night, this happened to Kashtanka, a light brown, grinning dog who Ahmad had cared for since she was a puppy. Kashtanka was one of three street dogs Ahmad began looking after when she returned to her native Bangladesh in 2006 after a decade living in the United States. She was renting a tiny studio apartment at the time and felt it would be cruel to keep the dogs inside. But she’d had them vaccinated and sterilized, had bought them collars and fed them every day, and all of her neighbors knew they were Ahmad’s.
Two of the dogs, including Kashtanka’s mother, Rosha, were able to escape. But Kashtanka was young and trusting and likely greeted the cullers who grabbed and poisoned her. Ahmad remembers it like yesterday. She got a call from her building’s night guard saying that Kashtanka was being taken. She chased after the cullers and found Kashtanka in the back of their truck, lifeless, still wearing her collar, on top of a pile of other dogs.
“Even the worst day of doing something is better than the best day of doing nothing. It’s more difficult to do nothing.”
It was an experience that changed her life’s focus. Ahmad founded Bangladesh’s first animal welfare organization, Obhoyaronno – which roughly translates to “Sanctuary” – in 2009. In 2012, after Obhoyaronno launched a program to sterilize and vaccinate free-roaming dogs in line with World Health Organization protocols for rabies control, Dhaka city agreed to end dog culling. In 2014, Obhoyaronno successfully petitioned Bangladesh’s high court for a national injunction against culling, as well as against animal sports such as bull and cock fighting. There are still occasional incidents of dog culling outside of Dhaka, but today, for the most part, the practice has ended across Bangladesh.
“Whenever people tell me that what I do is really difficult and that they could never do it, I just tell them the same thing I tell myself when things get difficult: that it’s more difficult to do nothing,” says Ahmad, formerly an IT consultant. “On the days when I feel like I don’t want to do this anymore because it’s too hard, I remind myself that there was a time when I didn’t do anything, and I wasn’t happy. Even the worst day of doing something is better than the best day of doing nothing.”
“Any platform that allows me to talk about veganism, I take that opportunity.”
With Obhoyaronno’s clinic and spay-neuter program going strong, Ahmad has turned her focus to promoting veganism. Because of her work, local schools have adopted Meatless Monday, popular hotels and restaurants have added veg choices, and Bangladesh’s top-ranking grocery store chain has installed vegan sections. Ahmad gives talks on animal welfare and vegan eating almost anywhere she is asked, shares information and recipes on social media, and writes a regular column, A Vegan’s Diary, in Bangladesh’s largest English-language newspaper. She holds vegan brunches and recently launched a new online vegan food delivery platform, The Bangu Vegan. The venture delivers vegan meals every Monday, hosts supper club events and supplies vegan food items to local retailers. Ahmad also uses The Bangu Vegan to do advocacy and offer cooking courses.
“Any platform that allows me to talk about veganism, I take that opportunity,” Ahmad says.
In Bangladesh, even things as simple as vegan menu options are a breakthrough, she notes. She says figuring out the right messages and how to present them has been difficult, but it’s also been a big key to her success.
“We got our way by speaking in a language they understood.”
“We’ve focused very much on the scientific approach to things, as opposed to being emotionally driven,” Ahmad explains. “When we started talking about our dog population management program, we didn’t talk about animal welfare. We talked about rabies control and how many kids were dying of rabies in Bangladesh. We showed the government that how they’ve been killing dogs for 50 years has not changed the rabies situation – it escalated it, if anything. And in the end, they stopped killing dogs. We got our way by speaking in a language they understood.”
Obhoyaronno’s spay-neuter program has now sterilized more than 16,000 free-roaming dogs, and the organization recently entered into a partnership with Dogs Trust International that has allowed Obhoyaronno to expand its clinic and gain critical surgical training.
Ahmad has also taken a science-based approach in her efforts to reduce animal-product consumption.
“The less you create the divide of us versus them, the better, because no one likes to be judged or told what to do.”
“We focus primarily on the health aspect. Eventually, at the right time and with the right platform, we’ll bring in animal welfare, like we do with our dog work now. We openly talk about how inhumane it is to kill dogs, and no one questions that now.”
She says it’s important, too, for activists to see themselves as part of the communities they work in.
The Team
“The less you create the divide of us versus them, the better, because no one likes to be judged or told what to do. It helps me to remember that I couldn’t care less about animals when I was young, and I ate meat until I was 30 years old.”
The progress she sees, even when it’s incremental, motivates her to keep going.
“It’s the changes in the community, the changes in mindset – every time an animal is saved or someone chooses a vegetarian meal because of what I posted on Facebook,” Ahmad says. “It’s so funny, I’ll post something, and two or three people will comment, and I’ll think no one cares. And then the next week, five messages will show up with pictures of vegetarian food, saying, ‘Because of what you wrote last week, I cooked this.’”
As for what’s next, Ahmad plans to focus on legislative reforms to help Bangladesh’s animals. She knows it’s a tall order, but so was ending dog culling, and she says that’s been the biggest lesson her work has taught her – that nothing is impossible.
“No matter how absurd an idea may seem, if you put your mind to it, you can.”
Beavers, foxes, squirrels, blackbirds – almost everything was poached
The animals were hunted with rifles, silencers and night vision devices
Animal experiment factory “Covance Laboratories GmbH” in Münster, Germany
World Animals Voice 