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Activists occupied a British pig farm earlier this week – in a bid to protest what they describe as ‘poor living conditions’.
Around 100 campaigners with Meat The Victims took part in the action at Moss Rose Piggeries in Lancashire, which is Red Tractor approved and supplies Morrisons supermarket.
The followed a three-month-long investigation carried out by the group, which says it discovered animals ‘covered in their own waste in filthy pens’ with prolapses and other injuries. One activists said there was more than a foot of urine and feces in some areas.
‘Nothing to hide’
Despite photos from the action appearing to show filthy pens and at least one animal with a prolapse, farmer Wayne Baguley said he has ‘nothing to hide’, and that the relevant authorities had thoroughly inspected the farm.
“(Meat The Victims) came this morning. I asked them to leave politely. They said they weren’t leaving and I’d have to phone the police, and that’s what I did,” Baguley added.
“They said the pigs were not kept in a good state and tried to encourage me into a confrontation, but I rose above it. It’s their right to protest if they want to do that, but I don’t think they should have the right to trespass on anybody’s property.
“(Meat The Victims) are supposed to have been before two or three months ago, but it was in the night. I have been inspected three times since they supposedly came and there was one incident in one inspection that two of the 90 water drinkers for the pigs were blocked. We check the water every day so it would have been found, but we hadn’t got to that point.”
Action
‘Moss Rose is an intensive pig rearing facility that houses hundreds of individuals who are seen to be living in unsanitary conditions with many of them covered in their own waste in filthy concrete pens. A number of animals onsite were also seen housed on dirty and wet tiled flooring causing a clear slipping hazard for the animals,” said a Meat the Victims spokesperson.
“Away from the main pens, the activists also found individuals with what looked to be painful prolapses in small pens with no access to bedding, no visible signs of food, and bloodstains were seen on the floor and walls.
“Another major cause for concern is the number of cockroaches seen to be covering the walls and infesting food trolleys in the facility. This will expose to the public the reality of animal agriculture and raise awareness of how they can help stop the unnecessary exploitation and deaths of farmed animals by adopting a vegan lifestyle.”
