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‘Horrifically deformed’ turkeys at a major factory farm have been captured on film by undercover vegan investigators.
The footage, which was shared with Plant Based News by activist collective Surge, shows turkeys who are so malformed they cannot walk.
According to Surge, the footage was taken at a facility run by the Faccenda group which is owned by Avara Foods. Avara produces 100 million chickens and turkeys every year supplying a number of major retailers.
Vegan lifestyle
“Undercover investigators working for Surge have discovered turkeys suffering horrifically in a standard UK turkey farm,” Ed Winters – aka Earthling Ed – Co-Director of Surge, told Plant Based News.
“These animals, treated as nothing other than commodities, were shown to be severely lame and in terrible pain – a consequence of consumer demand for their flesh.
“This is the bleak reality of what life is like for farmed animals in the UK, a country that preaches to have the highest welfare standards in the world.
“What this proves is that welfare regulations will never be able to safeguard these animals and as long as there is demand, there will be exploitation. The only way to truly end animal suffering is to live a vegan lifestyle.”
Footage from the investigation
‘Problems have been addressed’
In response to the footage, which was filmed at the beginning of the year, Avara released a statement saying the footage had been edited to ‘to focus on a small number of turkeys that were suffering with health issues, which should have been addressed sooner’.
“As soon as we saw this film, in March, we immediately took action. We identified the farm involved and requested three independent audits, as well as increasing the number of visits by our own team,” Avara said.
“None of these audits reported concerns about the health of the birds on site or the environment. However, we are not complacent and remain vigilant.
“We will continue to monitor and always encourage anyone with concerns to contact us so that we continue to meet the highest standards.”
You can watch the video here
