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This afternoon, representatives from Viva! Campaigns visited the Animal and Plant Health Agency [APHA] office in Worcestershire, to hand in a petition asking the Government to shut down a pig farm.
The petition has garnered 49,500 signatures from vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters since Viva! released images from its initial investigation of Hogwood Farm.
Footage from the investigation revealed grim conditions – leading The Sunday Mirror to dub the facility ‘Hogwood Horror’ in its exposé.
Tesco
According to Viva!: “Following the Sunday Mirror’s exposé of Hogwood Farm in June, Viva! Campaigns discovered Hogwood Farm supplies pig meat to British supermarket giant Tesco.
“Viva! Campaigns have since launched a petition demanding that due to the serious animal cruelty and neglect brought to light, the APHA needs to close this farm down.
“Shortly after discovering Hogwood Farm supplies Tesco, Viva! organized a nationwide Day of Action, their biggest ever, demanding that Tesco dump Hogwood Farm as a supplier.”
The investigation was carried out by Viva!
Cruelty
According to Viva!: “In 2017, vegan organization Viva! Campaigns exposed widespread animal abuse and cruelty at Hogwood pig farm, Warwickshire.
“The farm, which housed over 15,000 pigs, displayed shockingly squalid conditions and the scale of atrocities found has sparked public outrage.
“Viva! Campaigns released undercover footage taken from inside Hogwood Farm.
“The footage shows extreme overcrowding inside vast, barren sheds housing thousands of pigs, routine tail mutilations, cruel farrowing crates, filthy and waterlogged floors, sick and dying pigs left in a gangway and shed, no meaningful environmental stimulation and piles of decaying and maggot-infested piglets left to rot in a wheelbarrow.”
Report
After the investigation, Viva! submitted a report of its findings to the APHA.
According to the charity, although it provided evidence to back up all its claims, the APHA has failed to respond to the report.
Viva! said: “In the past, Viva! Campaigns has submitted countless reports of unnecessary suffering and cruelty to APHA on a range of British farms – and rarely received a response.
“At best, APHA acknowledges receipt of the information but never anything more than that. APHA claims it cannot comment on ongoing prosecutions.”
‘Hellhole’
Founder & Director of Viva!, Juliet Gellatley, who investigated the conditions at the farm herself, describes why the farm needs to be closed.
She said: “Our initial investigation of Hogwood Farm exposed widespread abuse in a disgustingly dirty ‘Red Tractor Approved’ factory farm.
“Inside this hellhole we filmed cannibalism, sick dying pigs and wheelbarrows full of dead rotting animals.
“These pigs have endured a life of suffering and misery at the hands of the farmer. The sheds in which they live are covered in excreta and filth, creating a breeding ground for bacteria.”
‘Farce’
She added: “The idea that Britain has the highest animal welfare standards is a farce.
“Hogwood Farm epitomises everything that is wrong with factory farming. The conditions found at Hogwood have been sanctioned by the Government – something has to change.
“Considering that over 90 percent of pigs in the UK are factory farmed, this is an issue that cannot be ignored.”
