UK investigation reveals dead piglets and caged mother pigs on certified farm

• Animal Equality’s UK Executive Director–joined by photographer Aitor Garmendia–revealed distressing footage from Cross Farm, a Red Tractor-certified pig farm in Southwest England.
• Mother pigs were kept in farrowing crates, unable to turn around, with piglets subjected to mutilations without anesthesia.
• The investigation found dead piglets, unsanitary conditions, and evidence of psychological distress among the pigs.
• Cross Farm, previously exposed for similar abuses in 2017, continues to operate despite its history and recent findings.
• Animal Equality has partnered with a law firm to file a formal complaint, citing potential breaches of animal protection laws.

Animal Equality’s UK Executive Director–alongside award-winning photographer Aitor Garmendia–has uncovered distressing animal suffering within a UK pig facility known as Cross Farm. Despite its Red Tractor certification–which claims to ensure high standards of animal welfare–the farm’s practices appear to tell a different story.

The Southwest English farm confines about 12,000 pigs at any given time. Female pigs are kept in small cages known as “farrowing crates.” These cages confine pregnant pigs shortly before giving birth and for several weeks after they have given birth, typically for 4-5 weeks each time. The space of the crates is so small that the mother pigs are prevented from turning around. These pigs endure constant confinement and stress, repeatedly giving birth to piglets destined for the UK pig meat market. Eventually, mother pigs are also slaughtered.

Cross Farm supplies Tesco, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains. The investigative findings, recently highlighted in The Daily Mail and The Times, raise questions about the true value of “high-welfare” labels. They also provide further evidence for the need to shift towards a plant-based food system.

Dead piglets, cages, and decaying corpses

Animal Equality UK’s Executive Director–Abigail Penny–and a team of investigators visited the farm six times across 2023 and 2024. They captured over 100 hours of footage. 

They found: 

• Piglets “thumped” against concrete walls with enough force to kill them
• Piglets having their tails cut off and teeth clipped without anesthesia
• A piglet thrown by workers across the shed
• Dead piglets throughout the farm, with paperwork noting deaths from starvation, sickness, or crushing
• A bin full of dead piglets and rotting corpses on the barn floor
• Mother pigs biting at the bars of their metal cages from psychological distress
• A pig, caught beneath metal bars while trying to turn, suffering from deep, bloody wounds
• Mother pigs with raw leg sores and injuries to their genitals from repeated cycles of giving birth
• Filthy conditions in the barns, with cobwebs and dust throughout

Having visited Cross Farm personally on several occasions, I witnessed the suffering of these animals first-hand. I looked caged mother pigs in the eye and their deep sorrow will stay with me forever.

Abigail Penny, Executive Director, Animal Equality UK

Cross Farm won the National Pig Award in 2016 and 2017. This year, Adrian Russell–a Director at Cross Farm–ran for an elected seat on the National Pig Association Pig Industry Group. Although he didn’t win, Adrian has worked in the pig industry for over 30 years.

Cross Farm has been exposed for its disturbing practices before. In 2017, after a tip-off, Animal Equality filmed pigs in leaking, rundown buildings, covered in liquid manure, and lying in their own waste. Investigators also recorded pigs with their tails cut off, others suffering from large hernias, as well as pregnant pigs in concrete pens without anything to keep them occupied.

In March, Glass Wall Films released footage from another Cross Farm investigation. Captured in late 2023, the footage shows dead piglets and decomposing bodies, pigs engaging in cannibalism due to the stressful and unnatural conditions, caged pigs with untreated wounds, and cramped, filthy conditions.

Formal complaint to authorities

Animal Equality has instructed Advocates for Animals, a law firm, to file a formal complaint with the UK’s Trading Standards and the Animal, Plant, and Health Agency. Animal Equality believes there are several potential legal breaches, including the treatment and killing of piglets, untreated injuries to pigs, piglet carcasses, lack of stimulation for caged pigs, and unsanitary conditions found throughout the farm.

The potential breaches to animal welfare laws seen in the footage captured by Animal Equality is very concerning.

Taylor Mcleod, Solicitor, Advocates for Animals

Typical of the industry, experts claim

Animal Equality’s investigations repeatedly show that animals suffer for meat, and experts agree.

Dr. Alice Brough, a veterinarian who worked with UK pig producers from 2015 to 2019, says, “Most of what we see here is typical of the industry as a whole… very little of UK pig farming is suitable for the eyes of the public.”

Eva Read, a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics, agrees. She has researched commercial pig farming in the UK and studied pig vocal communication in France, and is familiar with typical British farming practices.

This footage is distressing, not because it is an example of extreme but rare horrors that are possible in UK pig farms, but rather because it is not rare. I see here standard practice and that is what should motivate us all to demand better.

Eva Read, PhD candidate, London School of Economics and Political Science

Legal enforcement lacking in the UK

In 2022, Animal Equality and The Animal Law Foundation released a groundbreaking report on “The Enforcement Problem.” Our teams found that fewer than 3% of the UK’s 290,000 farms are inspected annually, and only 0.33% of complaints lead to prosecution.

The report also reveals that nearly three-quarters of pigs have their tails cut off without pain relief to prevent tail-biting, a painful practice caused by stress, inadequate space, and lack of stimulation.

Global response to pig farming cruelty

This investigation highlights pig farming issues that resonate globally. Animal Equality’s investigators have found piglets’ body parts strewn about Italian farms, cannibalism amongst pigs in Spain, and severe, deliberate abuse on one of Germany’s largest pig farms. 

In the UK, previous investigations have found piglets hammered to death in “high-welfare” facilities. 

Similar problems are rampant in the United States, where factory farms subject pigs to extreme confinement, painful procedures without anesthesia, and unsanitary conditions. Critics note that inspections are infrequent and legal enforcement is lacking, allowing these illegal practices to continue.

Animal Equality needs your support to eliminate factory farming cruelty. By signing the U.S. petition, you can advocate for stronger regulations and a future where animals are respected and protected. 

You can also protect pigs by choosing plant-based proteins for your next meal. The Love Veg program offers delicious, easy-to-follow recipes to reduce the demand for factory-farmed products. Subscribe to Love Veg for your copy of the downloadable cookbook, and begin your compassionate journey today!