Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CALL THIS SICK ABUSE ‘FARMING WITH CARE’?
With a swing of his foot, a farm worker kicks a defenceless pig in the head.
The shocking attack was covertly filmed by campaigning charity Animal Equality at Fir Tree Farm in Goxhill, Lincolnshire.
Pigs were also filmed being hit with forks and having metal gates repeatedly slammed into them.
Three workers who have admitted animal cruelty offences in a prosecution brought by the RSPCA are due to be sentenced later this month.
Incredibly, Fir Tree Farm was accredited to the Red Tractor food labelling scheme – motto: “Safe, traceable, and farmed with care”.
“Despite what many consumers believe, the Red Tractor label does not indicate high animal welfare,” said
Animal Equality executive director Dr
Toni Shephard.
“Between November
2017 and July 2018 we investigated six Red
Tractor certified pig farms and found poor welfare and suffering on every one, despite Red
Tractor claiming to inspect all pig farms in their scheme five times a year.
“Unfortunately, the vast majority of these inspections are pre-announced, with the farmer even able to choose the inspector.”
Red Tractor said that it had 46,000 farm members, and abuses like those at Fir Tree Farm have been uncovered at only a tiny fraction of them.
“The actions of these three individuals is abhorrent, but the truth is that no assurance scheme, inspection regime or standard can prevent the actions of individuals who are intent on committing criminal acts and hiding their behaviour,” it said.
“The vast majority of UK farmers do an outstanding job of caring for their animals, day in and day out.”