Farm Transparency ProjectOn a quiet street, in a residential neighbourhood, cows are being violently killed at Gathercole’s Wangaratta slaughterhouse. The worst part is; we’ve been here before.
10-years ago, this slaughterhouse was one of the first investigated by the recently launched organisation, Aussie Farms (now Farm Transparency Project).
At the time, investigators filmed pigs, cows, sheep and calves being beaten and violently slaughtered across two, blood-soaked kill rooms.
A decade later, we returned and spent two months installing cameras inside the multi-species slaughterhouse, this is what we uncovered….
Cows beaten and violenty Slaughtered | Gathercoles Wangaratta (PART 1)Farm Transparency Project2024-03-04 | On a quiet street, in a residential neighbourhood, cows are being violently killed at Gathercole’s Wangaratta slaughterhouse. The worst part is; we’ve been here before.
10-years ago, this slaughterhouse was one of the first investigated by the recently launched organisation, Aussie Farms (now Farm Transparency Project).
At the time, investigators filmed pigs, cows, sheep and calves being beaten and violently slaughtered across two, blood-soaked kill rooms.
A decade later, we returned and spent two months installing cameras inside the multi-species slaughterhouse, this is what we uncovered….
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.The Silent Suffering Of Sheep | Cedar Meats (PART 4)Farm Transparency Project2024-10-13 | While three separate species are killed at Cedar Meats, the majority of these animals are sheep.
The meat of sheep who are under a year old are sold as lamb, while those who are older than one year have their bodies marketed as mutton.
As well their name brand, Cedar Meats also offers two other brands, Jimba Premium Quality Lamb and Southern Pride Premium Lamb. On their website, Cedar boasts that Jimba Premium is well placed internationally, as well as gaining momentum as Australia’s leading lamb brand.
The view from our hidden cameras, however, was far from the image of quality and pride that these brands represent…
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Cruelty To Newborn Goats And Lambs | Cedar Meats (PART 3)Farm Transparency Project2024-10-07 | Goats and sheep are often transported long distances to the slaughterhouse, either from a farm or a depot where wild goats are herded onto trucks for transport. Many goats, and some sheep, are pregnant when they are sent to be killed and give birth on the transport truck or in the holding pens, days or mere hours before they are driven into the kill room.
Each day, workers will collect newborn goats (kids) and lambs, and deposit them in a small pen. Here these babies will often take their first steps and explore their surroundings, all the while crying out for their mothers. Our cameras showed that they are a source of entertainment and even joy for the workers, who were captured patting, photographing and picking up infant goats.
But, their cuteness means little as the end of the day approaches…
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Conscious Goats Resisting Slaughter | Cedar Meats (Part 2)Farm Transparency Project2024-09-30 | Producing 35% of the global supply, Australia is the largest exporter of goat meat in the world. Most goats killed for export or domestic consumption are born wild, rounded up by farmers and sent directly to the slaughterhouse.
or thousands of goats each week, their journey ends in the small suburb of Brooklyn in the west of Melbourne when they are unloaded into the holding pens at Cedar Meats.
In 2024, hidden cameras filmed the handling and slaughter of these goats at the Brooklyn facility. This is what we found…
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.The Slaughter of Hundreds of Bobby Calves | Cedar Meats (Part 1)Farm Transparency Project2024-09-19 | In 2019, Animal Liberation released footage taken from inside Cedar Meats as part of their Drop Dairy campaign. Their video showed tiny, five-day old bobby calves being roughly hit and thrown by workers as they were herded towards the kill room, where several appeared to be killed while still conscious.
Five years after this exposé, investigators from Farm Transparency Project returned to Cedar to see if anything had changed.
Over a period of two weeks, hidden cameras captured the handling and slaughter of hundreds of bobby calves - male dairy calves sold to the slaughterhouse at just five days old because they will never produce milk.
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Inside the Highly Guarded Cedar Meats | Shut Down SlaughterhousesFarm Transparency Project2024-09-04 | Cedar Meats is an export approved, multi-species slaughterhouse which operates just 20 minutes from Melbourne's central business district.
Every week, this facility kills thousands of sheep and goats, as well as five-day-old bobby calves, discarded as waste from the dairy industry.
With round the clock, on-site security, getting inside to monitor their treatment of animals is difficult and dangerous, but not impossible….
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Will this slaugtherhouse ever change? | MD Foods EchucaFarm Transparency Project2024-08-17 | On the banks of the Murray River, MD Foods slaughters thousands of sheep and goats every week in a purpose built killing factory.
Previously known as Riverside Meats, the slaughterhouse was exposed twice by Animals Australia in 2013 and 2016, with footage showing abuse, poor stunning and suffering of sheep, cows, goats and bobby calves. These investigations led to significant media coverage and the slaughterhouse was forced to install CCTV, before opting to shut down in 2018 amid protests from workers.
Three years later they quietly reopened as MD Foods Australia. Three years after that, we visited to see if much had changed. This is what we found...
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Life Of A Dairy Cow (PART 1) - MilkingFarm Transparency Project2024-08-10 | Every day, dairy cows are milked, their udders drained for human consumption.
Behind this routine process is a painful reality. One-third of these gentle beings suffer from mastitis, a painful inflammation of the udder that can lead to serious health complications.
Others suffer from lameness, a condition that, if left untreated, can result in death.
It's time to confront the uncomfortable truth of the dairy industry and make a change.
Let cows grow old.Cows Killed In Horrific Melbourne Truck CrashFarm Transparency Project2024-08-02 | At around 8.30pm on Tuesday 23 July 2024, a truck carrying dairy steers and calves crashed into the Cremorne Railway Bridge over Alexandra Avenue, in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.
The top sections of the truck were completely crushed, with many cows suffering excruciating injuries including broken legs and necks. Others jumped from the top of the truck and attempted to run, with some sighted running down major roads.
FTP investigators attended and documented the horrific crash, filming injured and panicked cows as they tried to free themselves from the wreckage of the top level.
With Victoria Police and Agriculture Victoria showing little interest in the welfare of the cows, and instead prioritising the removal of cows from the truck's lower level onto a second truck to be sent to a slaughterhouse, volunteers from Vets For Compassion pushed to be allowed to tranquilise the injured to relieve them of their pain and suffering and assess their condition. Several cows had to be euthanised on site due to the extent of their injuries.
Just before 1am, police moved on the crowd of concerned citizens who had gathered to film and witness the removal of the cows. Despite multiple offers of homes for the cows, police refused to pass on contact details to the owners, informing those gathered that they would have to contact Agriculture Victoria.
While crashes and rollovers of trucks carrying farmed animals are common, they usually occur in rural areas, not in the heart of Melbourne where they are less easy to ignore. This incident is a direct consequence of our society's support for the dairy and meat industries.
Thank you to the dedicated volunteers from Vets For Compassion for attending the scene and assisting the injured animals. Please consider donating to support their work vetsforcompassion.org/donation
Farm Transparency Project is a non-profit animal protection charity, dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals in farms, slaughterhouses and other commercial settings.
We will rise together.Male Dairy Steers Slaughtered For BeefFarm Transparency Project2024-05-25 | Some dairy farms proudly claim they don’t slaughter young ‘bobby’ calves.
However, these farms often raise these calves as ‘veal’ or ‘dairy beef’ instead of letting them live long lives.
Cows, bulls and steers can live up to 20 years. However, Australian ‘veal’ calves are killed at less than a year old, and ‘dairy beef’ cows are killed between 12-18 months old, just a fraction of their natural life expectancy.
Learn more and take action at https://www.enddairyslaughter.com.au
Let cows grow old.Life Of A Dairy Cow (PART 2) - SlaughterFarm Transparency Project2024-05-11 | Once a dairy cow’s milk production begins to slow, she is sent to slaughter.
Some slaughterhouses specialise in processing ‘spent’ dairy cows, at others they are killed alongside ‘beef’ breeds. Most dairy cows arriving at the slaughterhouse are less than six years old.
Our recent investigations into two Victorian slaughterhouses revealed emaciated cows, with their udders still full of milk, being ineffectively stunned and exhibiting signs of consciousness while their throats were cut open.
After a life of exploitation and impregnation, these cows' bodies will be turned into inexpensive, low quality meat products.
Learn more and take action at https://www.enddairyslaughter.com.au
Let cows grow old.The Heartbreakingly Short Life Of A Bobby Calf | End Dairy SlaughterFarm Transparency Project2024-04-27 | Calves are separated from their mothers within twelve hours of birth. If they are female, they will be kept on the dairy farm to replace their mothers.
If they are male, they are seen as a 'waste product'; most are sent to slaughter at less than a week old. Approximately 200,000 male bobby calves are killed every year in the Australian dairy industry, due to the fact that they will never produce milk.
These calves will be kept on the farm for several days without access to their mother's milk until they are taken to the saleyard to be sold or directly to the slaughterhouse.
Here they will be roughly handled before being brutally slaughtered. At times, calves have been fully conscious while having their throats cut.
These bobby calves are just one of the reasons we must end dairy slaughter.
Learn more and take action at https://www.enddairyslaughter.com.au
Let cows grow old.The Brutal Slaughter Of Conscious Cows | Ralphs Meat CompanyFarm Transparency Project2024-04-18 | Just five minutes out of the rural town of Seymour, Ralph’s Meats Company slaughterhouse sits, surrounded by trees and grassland. On most days, cows fill the pens outside the slaughterhouse, gently calling out and reaching for the grass that grows on the other side of the fences that confine them. From outside, it's hard to imagine what happens behind the slaughterhouses walls. Throughout February 2024, our investigators entered and installed cameras inside Ralph’s, which kills up to 500 cows a day.
This is the disturbing footage that was captured….
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Commercial Rabbit Slaughter in Australia | Gippsland Meats & Summerland PoultryFarm Transparency Project2024-03-30 | The commercial slaughter of rabbits in Australia has never been captured on camera... until now.
Our investigators installed hidden cameras in not one, but two rabbit slaughterhouses, capturing the final terrified moments of these gentle, sensitive animals.
This is what our investigations into Gippsland Meats in Bairnsdale, VIC and Summerland Poultry in Kellyville, NSW uncovered…
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.We Hid Inside A Pig Gas Chamber | Australian Food Group SlaughterhouseFarm Transparency Project2024-03-27 | All major pig slaughterhouses in Australia now use carbon dioxide gas chambers as a means of rendering pigs unconscious before cutting their throats.
Referred to by the industry as "controlled atmosphere stunning" or "controlled atmosphere killing", the process involves forcing pigs into gondola cages which are then lowered into the pit of the chamber, where high concentrations of the excruciating toxic gas cause them to suffocate.
On January 27, 2023, Farm Transparency Project's founding director, Chris Delforce, spent over 9 hours hidden above the gas chamber at the Australian Food Group (AFG) slaughterhouse in Melbourne's west, witnessing first-hand the absolute horror faced by millions of pigs every year in Australia.
It’s time to ban gas chambers.Disturbing Treatment Of Animals at Slaughterhouse | Gathercoles Wangaratta (PART 2)Farm Transparency Project2024-03-25 | Across two months, we visited and installed cameras inside Gathercole’s Wangaratta slaughterhouse, a multi-species abattoir that sits on a residential street in the busy, rural city of Wangaratta.
At this slaughterhouse sheep, goats and pigs are herded through a race and onto a conveyor belt restraint, which moves them into the kill room where they are electrically stunned and brutally slaughtered,
Our cameras captured workers hitting and punching stunned animals and even using the bodies of sheep and pigs as punching bags as they hung suspended on the shackle line, slowly bleeding out.
Some pigs were seen moving and gasping for air seconds before they were tipped into a tank of scalding water, while workers watched on, occasionally dancing and laughing with their friends.
This is only part of what our investigation uncovered…
PART 1: youtube.com/watch?v=fWAINVsbqscFarm Transparency Project Live StreamFarm Transparency Project2024-03-18 | ...Parliamentary Inquiry into Pig Welfare | Farm Transparency Projects HearingFarm Transparency Project2024-03-14 | On 12 March 2024, Farm Transparency Project's Executive Director, Chris Delforce, and Strategy & Campaigns Director, Harley McDonald-Eckersall, gave evidence at a hearing for the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the welfare of farmed pigs.Newborn Calves Ripped From Their Mothers | End Dairy SlaughterFarm Transparency Project2024-02-27 | In the dairy industry calves are separated from their mother almost immediately - usually within 12 hours of birth.
With so much secrecy around this practice and little available footage, we set out to uncover the reality of calf separation.
In September 2023, we used drones to film as newborn calves were taken from their mothers at four Tasmanian dairy farms.
These are the heartbreaking moments where they were separated…
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.End Dairy SlaughterFarm Transparency Project2024-02-26 | Our latest campaign takes on an industry which thrives on the mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of cows and calves; and all for a glass of milk.
End dairy slaughter uncovers the industry’s deadly secrets, from newborn calves being taken from their mothers and their merciless slaughter, to the 4-7 year old dairy cows sent to slaughter after having her milk sucked from her body by machines.
This is Australian dairy.
Learn more and take action at www.enddairyslaughter.com.au
Original music: Andrew Consolino and Maddy instagram.com/voxanimalimusicCalves & Sheep Killed While Fully Conscious | Tasmanian Quality MeatsFarm Transparency Project2024-02-19 | Tasmanian Quality Meats, a multi-species slaughterhouse which specialises in the killing of tiny, days old bobby calves who have been discarded as waste from any of the 412 dairy farms in Tasmania.
Over the course of a month, we installed cameras at TQM slaughterhouse, capturing the brutal treatment and slaughter of thousands of sheep and week-old calves.
Original music: Andrew Consolino instagram.com/voxanimalimusicNo Animal Goes Willingly To Slaughter | This Is Animal ResistanceFarm Transparency Project2024-02-13 | Last year we investigated 12 Australian slaughterhouses.
At every slaughterhouse, we saw unimaginable violence, suffering and cruelty. Yet, we also witnessed incredible acts of bravery, selflessness and resistance from animals of all species, right up until the moment of their death.
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Anonymous Tip-off Leads to Slaughterhouse Investigation | Wals Bulk MeatsFarm Transparency Project2024-01-21 | Slaughterhouse #11 - Wal’s Bulk Meats, Stowport, Tasmania
An anonymous tip-off leads us to our eleventh slaughterhouse of the year
“I could hear cattle bellowing and banging in distress before being what sounded like shot with a rifle and loud banging and thrashing after. I heard that several times over around an hour… I won't stand for cruelty or suffering and processing needs to be done right, quickly and humanely… from what I heard today that ain't happening.”
Sometimes, we are called to investigate places by members of the public who have witnessed or heard rumours of violence and abuse on farms and slaughterhouses, and feel powerless to do anything about it. Most of the time, these people are farmers, consumers or even workers who have experienced the frustrations of an uncaring, overly complicated system of animal ‘welfare,’ designed entirely to benefit those who exploit and abuse animals. So, when we receive an anonymous tip-off about a slaughterhouse, we do what we can to investigate. Wal’s Bulk Meats in Stowport, Tasmania is one of these stories.
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Tasmanias Largest Pig Slaughterhouse Exposed | Scottsdale PorkFarm Transparency Project2024-01-10 | Slaughterhouse #10 - Scottsdale Pork Abattoir and Piggery, Scottsdale, Tasmania
In 2018 and 2019, Tasmania’s pig meat industry looked like it was close to extinction. The sudden closure of JBS’ Devonport slaughterhouse in 2018, meant that the state's already small population of pig farmers were faced with an uncertain future.
Already the only state in Australia without pig gas chambers, Tasmania could have been the first state to do away with pig slaughter entirely, shrinking one of the most violent and horrifying animal slaughter industries in the country.
Instead, Tasmania’s Liberal government chose to give 2 million dollars to Scottsdale Pork, a company operated by members of the Exclusive Brethren religious group. Instead of letting a dying industry come to a close, the Australian government used public money to support the unnecessary and unjustifiable abuse of thinking and feeling animals.
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.A Look At Locally Sourced Small-Scale Slaughter | The Local Meat CoFarm Transparency Project2024-01-01 | Slaughterhouse #9 - The Local Meat Co, Sheffield, Tasmania
Are small, local slaughterhouses more humane?
Something we hear often, is that the best thing to do if you are concerned about the welfare of animals, is to only buy meat from local sources, where animals are slaughtered in smaller numbers, closer to where they were bred.
The Local Meat Co, is one of the smallest that we have investigated, primarily servicing the local community of Sheffield, Tasmania. It is owned by 2024 Tasmanian of the year, Steph Trethewey, and her husband Sam, who operate a ‘beef’ farm in the local area.
Operating only two days a week, The Local Meat Co kills cows, sheep and pigs. Cows are shot with a rifle to immoblise them before their throats are slit, while sheep and pigs are paralysed using electrical stunning.
In September 2023, we installed cameras over the race and knockbox at the facility, this is what we found...
It’s time to shut down slaughterhouses.Sow stalls in VictoriaFarm Transparency Project2022-09-21 | Our damning new investigation reveals how the Australian pig farming industry, and its largest company Sunpork, have been deceiving the public on their use of small cages for mother pigs.
Dominion uses drones, hidden and handheld cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture, questioning the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom. While mainly focusing on animals used for food, it also explores other ways animals are exploited and abused by humans, including clothing, entertainment and research.
Find out more, get involved, download the film or donate to our ongoing work at http://www.dominionmovement.com.
Merchandise available at https://shop.dominionmovement.com.
Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Sia, Sadie Sink and Kat Von D, and co-produced by Earthlings creator Shaun Monson. Directed by Chris Delforce. Filmed in Australia, with a global message.
Italian dubbed version available at: vimeo.com/293741698Dominion (2018): Official Trailer #2Farm Transparency Project2018-07-10 | Dominion uses drones, hidden and handheld cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture, questioning the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom. While mainly focusing on animals used for food, it also explores other ways animals are exploited and abused by humans, including clothing, entertainment and research.
Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Sia, Sadie Sink and Kat Von D, and co-produced by Earthlings creator Shaun Monson.
Filmed in Australia with a global message.
Watch the film at http://watch.dominionmovement.com.Dominion Animal Rights March: 28 April 2018Farm Transparency Project2018-04-17 | ...Who Silenced The Lambs? - Melbourne, 9 September 2017 (short version)Farm Transparency Project2017-09-12 | Who Silenced the Lambs?
15 million lambs die within their first 48 hours of life every single year on Australian sheep farms, usually from malnutrition or exposure.
Visit lambtruth.com to find out how you can help save these precious babies.
Organised by Melbourne Sheep Save & Why Animal Rights Matter.Dominion (2018): Official Trailer - We Will Rise TogetherFarm Transparency Project2017-08-26 | Dominion uses drones, hidden and handheld cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture, questioning the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom. While mainly focusing on animals used for food, it also explores other ways animals are exploited and abused by humans, including clothing, entertainment and research.
Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Sia, Sadie Sink and Kat Von D, and co-produced by Earthlings creator Shaun Monson.
Filmed in Australia with a global message.
Watch the film at http://watch.dominionmovement.com.
Through a combination of hand-held and hidden camera footage, Lucent explores the darker side of Australia's pig farming industry, highlighting the day-to-day cruelty accepted by the industry as standard practice.
Lucent is the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign initiated in late 2013. Narrated by Lindsay McDougall (The Doctor from Triple J), the film contains footage from over 50 farms and slaughterhouses across Australia - much of this footage has never been seen before.
Rated MA15+.
More information and available to download at farmtransparency.org/videos?id=7Teq4Icbec.Wongalea Piggery, Quinalow QLD, 2013Farm Transparency Project2014-10-30 | Standard Australian pig farming at Wongalea Piggery, Quinalow QLD, filmed in 2013. www.aussiepigs.com/piggeries/wongaleaPine Park Piggery, Temora NSW, 2013Farm Transparency Project2014-10-30 | Standard Australian pig farming at Pine Park Piggery, Temora NSW, filmed in 2013. www.aussiepigs.com/piggeries/pine-parkBoen Boe Stud Piggery NSW 2013 - Australian farrowing cratesFarm Transparency Project2013-09-22 | www.aussiepigs.comStrathvean Piggery NSW 2013 - Australian farrowing crates and sow stallsFarm Transparency Project2013-09-08 | www.aussiepigs.comWallys Piggery, closed and empty, May 2013Farm Transparency Project2013-06-12 | Almost a year after the covert investigation by Animal Liberation ACT and NSW, the strength of the campaign has led to Wally's Piggery being shut down; now only an eerie reminder of what it once was. See www.aussiepigs.com for more investigations into Australian piggeriesAllains Piggery NSW, May 2013 - farrowing crates and sow stallsFarm Transparency Project2013-06-12 | Activists return to Allains Piggery in May 2013 More investigations of Australian pig farms at www.aussiepigs.comAuthorities raid Wallys Piggery, August 2012Farm Transparency Project2013-06-02 | www.aussiepigs.comRally against Australian pig farming, August 2012Farm Transparency Project2013-06-02 | www.aussiepigs.comPigs in the LanewayFarm Transparency Project2013-06-01 | Extra hidden camera footage from Wally's Piggery, 2012 www.aussiepigs.comReturn to Wallys Piggery: November 2012Farm Transparency Project2012-11-12 | Activists return to Wally's Piggery to find a pig's head on the floor of the slaughter room and fresh blood, indicating that Wally is continuing to illegally slaughter his pigs. www.aussiepigs.comTennessee Piggery NSW - Standard Australian Pig FarmingFarm Transparency Project2012-08-10 | www.aussiepigs.com Following the release of footage taken inside Wally's Piggery NSW, activists from Animal Liberation ACT and NSW captured footage at two additional piggeries in August 2012, proving that the atrocities at Wally's are not a one-off but are in fact the industry standard. Allain's and Tennessee are considered "good", legal piggeries by this industry.
Yet the footage reveals row upon row of female breeding pigs crammed into individual pens where they have less room than hens in battery cages. At Allain's, rats scurry around the spider web infested shed, while feral cats share stalls with piglets at Tennessee. In one section of the Tennessee Piggery, the heat lamps for the piglets are off or broken, leaving them shivering in the darkness.
Many of the large mother pigs are forced to lie immobile with their heads wedged under feeders and waterers, with scabby limbs jammed up against the bars of their cage. One pig takes a deep breath of the putrid air and her lungs touch both sides of the stall. For others, their only comfort is touching the sides of the pig in the next cage through the bars. These magnificent creatures, more intelligent than dogs and even some primates, are forced to lie for months on end in these 'standard' conditions. These ghastly cages, known as sow stalls, are what the pig industry considers essential to 'deliver a superior reproductive performance'.
Mark Pearson (Executive Director, Animal Liberation NSW): "These are typical intensive piggeries keeping female pigs in undersized stalls and crates for long periods of time. To the pig industry, this is normal pig 'accommodation'. To anyone else, it's just plain cruelty."
Jess Ferry (Co-President of Animal Liberation ACT): "These are supposed to be 'good' piggeries. No matter what way you look at it, pig farming is cruel - don't buy into it."Allains Piggery NSW - Standard Australian Pig FarmingFarm Transparency Project2012-08-09 | www.aussiepigs.com Following the release of footage taken inside Wally's Piggery NSW, activists from Animal Liberation ACT and NSW captured footage at two additional piggeries in August 2012, proving that the atrocities at Wally's are not a one-off but are in fact the industry standard. Allain's and Tennessee are considered "good", legal piggeries by this industry.
Yet the footage reveals row upon row of female breeding pigs crammed into individual pens where they have less room than hens in battery cages. At Allain's, rats scurry around the spider web infested shed, while feral cats share stalls with piglets at Tennessee. In one section of the Tennessee Piggery, the heat lamps for the piglets are off or broken, leaving them shivering in the darkness.
Many of the large mother pigs are forced to lie immobile with their heads wedged under feeders and waterers, with scabby limbs jammed up against the bars of their cage. One pig takes a deep breath of the putrid air and her lungs touch both sides of the stall. For others, their only comfort is touching the sides of the pig in the next cage through the bars. These magnificent creatures, more intelligent than dogs and even some primates, are forced to lie for months on end in these 'standard' conditions. These ghastly cages, known as sow stalls, are what the pig industry considers essential to 'deliver a superior reproductive performance'.
Mark Pearson (Executive Director, Animal Liberation NSW): "These are typical intensive piggeries keeping female pigs in undersized stalls and crates for long periods of time. To the pig industry, this is normal pig 'accommodation'. To anyone else, it's just plain cruelty."
Jess Ferry (Co-President of Animal Liberation ACT): "These are supposed to be 'good' piggeries. No matter what way you look at it, pig farming is cruel - don't buy into it."Australian Pig Farming: The Inside Story - Longer editFarm Transparency Project2012-08-05 | www.aussiepigs.com At Wally's Piggery, 20 minutes from Australia's Capital Territory, the owner bashes his pigs to death with a sledgehammer and hacks at their throats while his employees stand by drinking beer, some pigs taking up to 6 minutes to die. The pigs' remains are left sometimes for days on end to be eaten by stray cats and other pigs. Sows are confined to enclosures so tiny they can't turn around, and are repeatedly impregnated. Restricted space, filthy conditions, and abuse from employees result in the frequent injuries and deaths of the piglets and their mothers. This is common practice within the commercial pig industry in Australia and worldwide.Australian Pig Farming: The Inside StoryFarm Transparency Project2012-08-03 | www.aussiepigs.com At Wally's Piggery, 20 minutes from Australia's Capital Territory, the owner bashes his pigs to death with a sledgehammer and hacks at their throats while his employees stand by drinking beer, some pigs taking up to 6 minutes to die. The pigs' remains are left sometimes for days on end to be eaten by stray cats and other pigs. Sows are confined to enclosures so tiny they can't turn around, and are repeatedly impregnated. Restricted space, filthy conditions, and abuse from employees result in the frequent injuries and deaths of the piglets and their mothers. This is common practice within the commercial pig industry in Australia and worldwide.