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A nationwide peaceful protest outside retail giant Tesco is planned for August 11.
The event, organized by leading vegan charity Viva!, will ask the store to stop buying pig meat from Hogwood ‘horror farm’, Warwickshire. It forms part of Viva!’s Week of Action for Hogwood Pigs which includes a petition asking Tesco to dump Hogwood pig farm as a supplier.
During two undercover investigations of the facility, in 2017 and 2018, Viva! uncovered the neglect and abuse of factory farmed pigs, which was reported in mainstream outlets the Daily Mail and Daily Star.
‘Disturbing footage’
According to Viva!: “The latest disturbing footage taken inside Hogwood shows horrifying scenes of animal suffering – extreme overcrowding, filthy barren sheds, sick and dying animals dumped in gangways with no access to food or water, and one pig being eaten alive. Hogwood carries the Red Tractor seal of approval and supplies meat to supermarket giant Tesco.
“Lat year, Viva! Campaigns reported Hogwood to the Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Tesco and Trading Standards. As well as creating a petition demanding APHA close the farm down, which gained almost 50,000 signatures.
“Despite providing indisputable evidence of clear animal welfare breaches, all denied that there were any issues on the farm. This blatant denial of hard evidence raises the question of how closely organisations such as Red Tractor, Tesco, and APHA work together to conceal the truth about Britain’s farming industry.”
Footage from Viva!’s 2018 investigation
Action
In a bid to bring greater public awareness to the horrors of factory farming, local groups will assemble outside Tesco stores nationwide on August 11 with placards, leaflets and petitions for the public to sign, asking Tesco to dump Hogwood.
This national Day of Action includes over 150 regional demonstrations across the UK – making it the biggest Viva! Day of Action yet.
Founder and Director of Viva!, Juliet Gellatley, said: “Our second investigation shows that Hogwood farm is contemptuous of animal welfare, with pigs kept in filthy, barren conditions and injured and ill pigs still being left in a gangway with not even a blade of straw for comfort. One little piglet at the bottom of the heap was visibly shaking – she was being eaten alive!”
‘Welfare is top priority’
Speaking to the Daily Mirror after the 2017 investigation, Brian Hobill who runs the Hogwood facility, said: “The care of our animals is our top priority.
“These pictures taken by Juliet Gellatley, leader of an extremist vegan group, do not represent the general health of the animals on the farm.
“There does appear to be shortcomings on deadstock removal. However, we will review our policies and ensure these are followed.”
