“Concentration camps”: Secret film exposes sickening cruelty of UK chicken factory farms

“Yet another scene of typical animal neglect & cruelty that goes on in farms around the world…this is the UK, England; where our standards are supposed to be so good…well obviously they are not…these people care only for the profits, not animal welfare!!  These sentient beings, should not have to live in deplorable conditions; before they even get to slaughter. But why does it always seem like it is just vegetarians & vegans (or tree huggers as illiterate numb nuts, prefer to call us) that stand up & fight for animals??”

“I wish more meat eaters would stand up & fight for the animals, that will ultimately end up on their plates! You don’t have to be vegetarian or vegan to fight for the conditions these animals are forced to live in. If I still ate meat, I would be horrified seeing the conditions these chickens live in. Think of the infection & bacterial disease that must be rife in these disgraceful conditions. It is up to us all, to stand up & demand better conditions, for animals that are going to be slaughtered for human consumption.”

Crammed into a huge windowless sheds, covered in scabs and with no feathers, the birds are too week to stand

Sick and deformed chickens with raw ­patches of skin flap around the corpse of a bird too weak to ­survive.

In seconds they are pecking away at its flesh as hundreds around them, unable to stand and with most of their feathers gone, drag themselves along by their wings.

All are crammed into a huge windowless shed. And soon they will all be dead… skinned and ready for dinner tables across Britain.

Deformed: Chickens gather around one of the corpses

These distressing scenes of chicken factory farming at its worst were secretly filmed by an undercover investigator after a tip-off from an outraged member of the public.

The footage was shot over four days at a farm where birds are bred from chicks to broilers in “rearing sheds” that boost their growth to twice the normal rate.

Many of the birds had lost half their feathers and clearly had painful leg deformities. The filthy shed floor was littered with corpses, some in an advanced state of decomposition.

In one shot the birds are shown being roughly shoved into stacked drawers, the doors slammed against their ­desperately flapping wings.

Even the RSPCA, used to scenes of sickening cruelty, were shocked by the birds’ treatment at Green Acres Farm, in Southrepps, ­Norfolk. They are launching an immediate investigation.

The film was shot by a worker from the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, where TV actor Martin Shaw is patron. The destination of the birds after slaughter is not known.

Sanctuary boss Wendy ­Valentine said: “Broiler chickens lead a life of misery.

“Their excessive and unnatural growth rate has come about as a result of genetic engineering and makes them pile on weight three times as fast as they should.

“Their bones simply cannot handle this and as a result they suffer awful, painful leg ­deformities that leave many of them unable to walk at all.

“If dogs, cats or horses were kept in these conditions people would be prosecuted.”

Wendy said the UK had some of the best animal welfare laws in the world, but they were “rarely enforced”.

She added: “Hillside has brought similar cruelty cases to the attention of the authorities, who have taken no action to improve life for farmed animals and birds.

“Farmers keep these animals in huge windowless sheds, locked away from public view and generally the only people to see the miserable lives they lead are government officials.

“Staggeringly it appears, from their point of view, that keeping ­animals in these ­appalling conditions is legal.”

Inspector George Gently star Martin told us: “I’ve seen the footage and can hardly find words to describe my outrage and sadness for the cynical cruelty and lack of humanity displayed by those responsible.

“I hope and trust those shopping outlets that make use of these animal concentration camps will rethink their buying policy. If not, public outrage will make the decision for them.”

An RSPCA spokesman said: “We were disturbed to see this unnecessary rough treatment of birds being put into transport containers, the birds that ­appeared to be sick and those decomposing among live ones.

“There is no excuse for this kind of practice and we will be carrying out an investigation.

“Farms that just use minimum legal standards, in some cases referred to as ‘factory farms’, don’t do enough to address the welfare needs of the animals.

“They don’t give them enough space, bedding, perches to roost on or appropriate lighting”.

When the Sunday Mirror called the farm for a comment, a man answering the phone said “We rent the barns out” before hanging up.

Viewer Discretion Advised 

 

Uploaded by HillsideAdoptAnimals on 23 Sep 2012

To find more about Hillside Animal Sanctuary, please seehttp://www.hillside.org.uk/
Hillside’s latest Farm Animal Investigation looks at the cruelty and neglect that takes place every day behind the closed doors of the farming industry…

Record Heat Wave Kills Over 830,000 Farm Animals

 

SOUTH KOREA – Hundreds of thousands of animals have died in South Korea, the government said Wednesday, due to a heat wave that is heading for a three-week streak.

Over 830,000 farm animals, including 786,512 chickens, have been killed since 20 July, when midday temperatures began hovering above 33 C in most parts of the country, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, reports YonhapNewsAgency.

The dead animals include 40,780 ducks and 336 pigs. Such damages are often caused by power outages that can halt the ventilation and cooling systems at farms.

The country was forced to issue power shortage warnings for two consecutive days this week as the sweltering weather pushed up its energy consumption to new highs, driving down its electricity levels to what officials called “dangerous levels” of less than three million kilowatts.

“The number of animals killed may actually be greater, pending on a more thorough survey,” a ministry official said, noting damages may also grow from the continuing heat wave.

The country is also experiencing its longest streak of so-called tropical nights, where overnight temperatures stay above 25 C.

NewsLink:-http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/26494/record-heat-wave-kills-over-830000-farm-animals

 

Olympic opening ceremony sparks ‘animal cruelty’ row

JUST A day after Danny Boyle revealed details of the Olympic opening ceremony and the backlash has already begun, with an animal rights group slamming his plans to use sheep and other farmyard animals in the show.

Metro reported the concerns of vegetarian organisation Viva, which described Boyle’s vision as “wrong on so many levels”.

The group said: “Why would anyone think it was a good idea to subject farmed animals to the pandemonium of an Olympic opening ceremony? It smacks of the Roman gladiatorial arena. Many of those animals, especially the sheep, are likely to be terrified.”

Viva campaigns director Justin Kerswell also took Boyle to task over his depiction of the English countryside. He said most farm animals were intensively farmed and described the pastoral scenes as “about as believable as the set of Teletubbies“.

However, Metro reported that the RSPCA would be on hand throughout the rehearsals and the ceremony to look after the animals. Games organiser, Locog, told the paper: “The welfare of the animals in the opening ceremony is of the utmost importance.”

Boyle was also quick to defend his plans, telling The Independent, “[The animals will] be treated very well… Far better than the volunteers.”

The ceremony has also attracted criticism for its £27m budget, but today it was revealed that the Olympics will come in at under their £9.3bn budget. Government figures show that there is £476m left in the contingency fund that will now be returned to the Treasury.

But as the BBC reports the Games have not come cheap. “The £9.3bn budget, which included a £2bn contingency, was set in 2007 and was almost four times the estimated cost at the time London bid in 2005,” it says. The original budget did not cover VAT, security costs and regeneration plans for the area around the Olympic park. ·

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/olympics/london-2012/47399/olympic-opening-ceremony-sparks-animal-cruelty-row#ixzz1xgIlDch9

Livestock Auction Atrocities – Under Cover Investigation

California Livestock Market Abuse Exposed

Livestock auctions across America often serve as the way stations between farms and slaughterhouses for millions of cows, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep and other animals who are raised, bought and sold for slaughter. But how are these animals treated as they await their fate?

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation at a livestock auction in California has revealed an ongoing pattern of cruelty, egregious violence, and severe neglect.

 

Published on 30 May 2012 by mercyforanimals

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation at a livestock
auction in California has revealed an ongoing pattern of cruelty,
egregious violence, and severe neglect.

Hidden-camera footage secretly recorded by an MFA undercover investigator working at Ontario Livestock Sales outside of Los Angeles, California, reveals:

• “downed” animals – those too sick or injured to even stand or walk on their own – being left to slowly suffer and die without food, water or veterinary care;
• sick, injured and dying animals being kicked, pushed and dragged into transport trucks to be sold and slaughtered for human consumption;
• workers throwing, beating, stomping on and kicking animals in the face and body;
• baby goats being carelessly picked up by their necks and then kicked or tossed around;
• workers grabbing, dragging and throwing animals by their heads, necks, ears, horns, tails, and legs; and
• birds stuffed into bags and goats, sheep and other animals overcrowded into small pens, forcing animals to stand on and even trample each other.

California law prohibits auctions from selling or holding “downed” animals who are too sick or injured to walk. Yet, at this auction, these animals were sold, transported and left to suffer and die for extended periods of time. Downed animals are more likely to carry diseases that threaten public health if allowed to enter the human food supply.

Management at this auction witnessed downed animals and even participated in routine violence and cruelty to animals at this facility in clear violation of California law.

Upon reviewing the undercover footage, Temple Grandin, PhD, animal welfare advisor to the USDA, wrote: “The handling was very rough and kicking animals is not acceptable. If this auction had been a federally inspected meat packing plant, they would have suspended inspection and shut them down.”

Dr. Bernard Rollin, Distinguished Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, also condemned the operation, stating: “The workers shown kicking, beating, dragging, pummeling, throwing, choking the animals are either totally ignorant of proper animal handling, or, what is more likely the case, are gratuitously unconcerned with the suffering of the animals.”

Following the undercover investigation, MFA immediately alerted law enforcement authorities to violations of California’s anti-cruelty laws at Ontario Livestock Sales and presented a detailed legal complaint and meticulously compiled evidence of such violations to the San Bernardino County District Attorney. The evidence demonstrated an ongoing pattern of cruelty, neglect and needless suffering.

As a result of MFA’s investigation, and a follow up investigation by law enforcement, seven employees and the auction’s owner have been charged with a total of 21 counts of animal cruelty. The case is ongoing.

Sadly, these types of abuses are commonplace at auction houses nationwide. As MFA continues to expose the unconscionable cruelties inherent in animal agriculture, and to diligently pursue justice by aiding prosecutions of animal abusers, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to end the needless suffering and death of farmed animals by adopting a compassionate, vegetarian diet.

Learn more at:
http://www.mercyforanimals.org

See Link:–http://www.mercyforanimals.org/auction/video.aspx

Farm Bill Contributes to Health Hazards of Factory Farms

A recent PCRM Capitol Hill discussion highlighted public health and environmental hazards created by factory farm facilities and the need to address these problems in the upcoming Farm Bill.

Speakers included Dan Imhoff, author of the book Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill, Don Webb, a former hog farmer turned environmentalist who now works for the Waterkeeper Alliance, PCRM president Neal Barnard, M.D., and PCRM director of government affairs Elizabeth Kucinich.

“Factory farms pose a serious public health hazard, so why are they subsidized by public money?” Dr. Barnard says. “These facilities pump out high-fat, high-cholesterol meat products and often pollute waterways—yet they also receive generous subsidies under the Farm Bill. We want Congress to stop rewarding facilities that endanger public health.”

Animal waste runoff from factory farms, where chickens, pigs, and cows raised for food are confined in small spaces, has contaminated waterways and even drinking water supplies and led to disease outbreaks among humans and aquatic life. Waste from hog farms, for example, has been implicated in the contamination of North Carolina waters with the microorganism pfiesteria, killing more than 1 billion fish. The widespread use of antibiotics on factory farms has led to a proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making it harder to treat infections among humans.

Sixty-three percent of the government’s agricultural subsidies for domestic food products in recent history have directly and indirectly supported meat and dairy production. Less than 1 percent of these subsidies have gone to fruits and vegetables. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines say eating more healthful plant-based foods and less saturated fat and cholesterol helps prevent heart problems and other life-threatening medical conditions.

To learn more about the Farm Bill, visit PCRM.org/Subsidies.

Animal cruelty pair jailed after being caught stubbing out cigarettes on pigs’ faces and hitting them with baton

• One pig was beaten 30 times in just a minute
• Defendent claimed abuse was part of the slaughterhouse ‘culture’
• Animal rights groups say abuse is widespread

Two slaughtermen who were filmed beating pigs and stubbing cigarettes out their faces were today jailed.Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta, 30 and Kelly Smith, 40, were secretly filmed by animal rights group Animal Aid, who hid cameras in pig pens at Cheale Meats in Brentwood, Essex.

Kelly Smith

Members of the charity group wept today as the pair admitted cruelty charges and were sentenced to a total of 10 weeks behind bars at Westminster Magistrates Court.

In the distressing video, Wasiuta can be seen pushing a lit cigarette onto the forehead and snout of three different pigs and forcing hot ash into one of the animals’ faces as it squirms to get away.

Abuse: Wasiuta will spend six weeks behind bars after admitting stubbing cigarettes out in a number of pigs in his care

His actions earned him a six-week jail sentence.

In another clip, Smith, an experienced slaughterman of 14 years, is seen beating the animals with the edge of a ‘slapper’ used to move the pigs around the pens before slaughter.

He is later filmed hitting one pig 30 times in a minute – forcing the animal to sit down and pant heavily during the tirade of blows.

The 40-year-old father-of-three was jailed for four weeks.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny explained to the court how the footage was obtained by a contractor at the slaughterhouse who had ties to Animal Aid.

Stress: Smith claimed he was under intense pressure when he carried out the abuse

The filmed abuse took place in March and April 2011.

Describing abuse carried out by Smith, he said:’These acts were pointless, served no purpose and demonstrated to his colleagues his contempt for the animals he was dealing with

Jeremy Sirrell, defending Smith, said the beatings happened when he was under ‘extreme pressure’ at work.

‘They were expected to slaughter 1500 animals, or units as the company would call it,’ he said.

‘It is a matter of some irony, that this extreme pressure bore out of more animals being taken from another slaughter house in proximity having been closed down as a result, quite rightly, of activity by Animal Aid.’

Sundeep Pahkhania, defending Wasiuta, said he had been working in the slaughter house for under two months, and the abuse was part of a wider culture and couldn’t explain he behaviour.

‘In the CCTV, you can see another operative walking by, and he mentions nothing,’ he said.

WARNING: This film contains scenes that viewers may find disturbing.

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_slaughter/ALL/2525

‘I suggest there was an established culture of this kind of behaviour. ‘He walks into it as very much a newbie. ‘He realises now it was unacceptable, unlawful and is disgusted with himself.’

As he sentenced them both, Magistrate John Newgas told Wasiuta and Smith: ‘You have both seen the pictures of what took place. ‘They show clear animal cruelty no doubt about it.

‘You should have known what you were doing was wrong, and must have known it was wrong.’

Both men have since been sacked from their jobs at the slaughterhouse.

Animal Aid’s Head of Campaigns, Kate Fowler said the organisation was pleased with the result of the case – but urged the government to investigate two further slaughterhouses, claiming animals abuse is widespread across the industry.

She said: ‘We are satisfied that Wasiuta and Smith have now been brought to justice.

‘Their acts of cruelty were inexcusable and caused untold suffering to animals who were already scared and vulnerable.

‘However, many other slaughterhouse workers, who also caused serious and deliberate suffering to animals, have escaped justice because this government refused to act.

‘We are now calling on the Food Standards Agency to look again at two other cases to see whether charges may be brought under the Animal Welfare Act.

‘Our detailed investigations have found illegality in eight of the nine slaughterhouses we visited, despite government-appointed vets being present in all of them.

‘The current regulatory system does not work.

‘It does not catch those who abuse animals. But this case proves that properly placed and independently-monitored cameras do work, and we renew our call for Defra to make CCTV mandatory to catch those who abuse animals and to act as a disincentive to those who might consider it.’

Cheale Meats have not commented on the case.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135083/Animal-cruelty-pair-jailed-caught-stubbing-cigarettes-pigs-faces-hitting-baton.html#ixzz1t9qB4c2G

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• Ex-slaughtermen admit pig cruelty at Essex abattoir (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)
• Two charged with pig cruelty (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)

How To Identify And Report Animal Cruelty

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.  What does that mean to those of us who lovingly care for every aspect of our pet’s health and happiness?  It means that this month we remind ourselves of our responsibility to help those pets and farm animals who are not cared for properly.

Be Their Voice

This month theAmerican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) gives us a refresher course in identifying cruelty and ways to report it to the proper authorities.

ASPCA, which has lots of experience identifying signs of animal cruelty, suggests that any of the following signs may be suspicious:

• Tick or flea infestations. Such a condition, if left untreated by a veterinarian, can lead to an animal’s death.
• Wounds on the body.
• Patches of missing hair.
• Extremely thin, starving animals.
• Limping.
• An owner striking or otherwise physically abusing an animal.
• Dogs who are repeatedly left alone without food and water, often chained up in a yard.
• Dogs who have been hit by cars-or are showing any of the signs listed above-and have not been taken to a veterinarian.
• Dogs who are kept outside without shelter in extreme weather conditions.
• Animals who cower in fear or act aggressively when approached by their owners.

You can report anonymously!

All of us have probably seen instances of one or all of these acts of cruelty, but have we called the appropriate authorities to report it?  Perhaps because we are fearful of owner reprisal, we don’t.  But you should know that you can report what you have witnessed totally anonymously.  Just report it.

• Learn the appropriate agency in your community that investigate reports of animal cruelty.
• Look out for the animals in your neighborhood and dog parks.
• Report instances.  Make the call.  Protection of innocent animals begins with you.
• Also, call the police. Animal cruelty is against the law.
• Become an advocate through the ASPCA or through other animal welfare organizations.
• Teach your children and their friends how to approach and treat animals.
• Adopt an abused animal if you can. Give the animal a new chance for a good life.

We have all witnessed instances of animal abuse and the images of those animals will never leave us. We will always feel the guilt of not having reported them.  Don’t let the opportunity to save any animal from abuse go by again.

The ASPCA has a wealth of information on the topic of animal abuse.  Please visit the site to get many answers to specific questions you may have.

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