A recent undercover investigation by animal rights activists from Surge has revealed yet more horrific cruelty against sensitive and intelligent animals at a UK farm. Footage taken at Willerby Wold Piggeries in North Yorkshire showed diseased, dead and dying pigs in filthy, overcrowded conditions, being kicked and dragged about by staff.
The farm supplied some of the largest supermarket chains in the country - Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's. Many of the animals, which were forced to live crowded together in their own excrement, had severe lameness, infected joints and open, fly-infested sores. Pigs were filmed shaking with sickness and multiple animals were so ill that their intestines were hanging outside their bodies. Some had even resorted to cannibalism in an attempt to survive. In the film footage, one pig which is unable to walk or even stand is repeatedly kicked by a worker. Another is kicked in the face. Veterinary surgeon, Dr Alice Brough, was quoted as saying "This is among some of the most harrowing footage I have seen captured in the UK. Crippling lameness and longstanding infections can be seen in abundance, exacerbated by the heinous conditions in which the pigs are forced to live. Tails are chewed out of stress, despite all pigs having been mutilated at birth to shorten them. “The stockpeople display a monstrous disregard for the sentient animals under their care, ignoring the sick and dying, and kicking paralysed pigs that cannot get away. "The unit is squalid, the pigs riddled with disease, and the many dead are left to rot in pens with the living; this is the sort of place that will produce our next pandemic." This is a stark contrast to the statement put out by the farm itself, which reads “The welfare of our animals has been the most important consideration for Willerby Wold Piggeries and continues to be so." How can they glibly rattle off such clearly nonsensical claptrap and expect anyone to take them seriously? Of course, this is by no means an isolated incident. Time and time again undercover investigations reveal that this kind of horrific abuse is common throughout the animal agriculture industry. Despite all efforts to hide their cruelty from the public eye, brave and determined activists have repeatedly managed to enter such horror farms all over the world and it has long ago become clear that, rather than being the exception, these sorts of conditions are the rule. Willerby Wold Piggeries was even endorsed by food standards organisation 'Red Tractor' in an attempt to reassure the public that the highest animal welfare standards were being maintained. Of course, Red Tractor have now washed their hands of the company and revoked their membership, but this is simply what they do every time in an attempt to paint the offending farm as an aberration rather than the norm. The supermarkets have been quick to attempt to distance themselves, too. Asda said it is investigating the issues and its supplier is no longer using meat from Willerby Wold Piggeries. Morrisons said: "The footage we have seen is appalling. We have suspended Willerby Wold as a supplier." But these kinds of atrocities are being exposed more and more frequently. It is no longer acceptable to turn a blind eye and make-believe that the farms supplying our major supermarkets are innocent unless proven guilty. Growing numbers of people are coming to realise that buying meat, dairy, eggs, etc. means they are directly supporting extreme cruelty. Abuse is fundamental to the industry and the only way to avoid contributing to it is to stop giving these monsters our money. It is time to says, "Enough is enough". It is time to let them know that this will no longer be tolerated. It is time to go vegan. If you would like help making the change to a more compassionate lifestyle, visit Challenge22.com Ingredients: 1 cup white flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup water 1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¾ cup cocoa powder for baking ½ cup vegetable oil ½ teaspoon baking powder Optional: ½ - 1 cup chopped nuts, ½ - 1 cup vegan chocolate chips Instructions: Spray a 9 x 13 baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine flour, water, brown sugar, and salt. (A wire whisk works best). Stir in vanilla extract, coco powder, vegetable oil, and baking powder using a wooden spoon. Spread evenly into the baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted on the sides comes out clean
Early in 2019, 200 pigs were discovered, barely surviving at an illegal slaughterhouse in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Emaciated, starving and close to death, they had survived by eating whatever they could... building debris, bits of old cars strewn around the site and the corpses of their dead brethren, those unlucky souls who had already succumbed to this hell-on-Earth in which they had been consigned to end their tragic lives.
Officials quickly rehomed many of the pigs, but 53 of them - perhaps the most desperate ones, perhaps those who had fought hardest to survive - were condemned to be slaughtered under a Government 'Destruction Order'. The reason for this was that, because they had been forced to eat the carcasses of their fellow prisoners, there was a risk they might now be diseased.
After all they'd been through, their 'rescuers' were now condemning them to be put to death! And that is where their story would have ended, but for the compassion, commitment and dedication of one woman, Sasha Bennet who was not going to sit back and watch the destruction of these 53 innocent boys and girls. After a nine-month legal battle, with help from an amazing firm of solicitors, Advocates for Animals, Sasha won the right to rehome these traumatised survivors at her animal sanctuary 'Beneath The Wood'.
During their time in the Government holding facility, however, some of the pigs had given birth so the herd had grown to 74 and soon after they arrived at Beneath The Wood Sanctuary, more piglets were born, bringing their total number to 91. This unexpected influx of extra piggies was not going to stop Sasha, however, who along with a small and dedicated team of helpers, set about starting to raise funds for the feeding, care and intensive upkeep of the new guests.
Thus was born the Pigoneer 2000 Club, a Global Vegan Crowdfunder campaign to help ensure the pigs would never go hungry again. Now that the piglets are grown and each weighs up to half a tonne, they each cost £1.80 a day to feed. Although this might not sound like very much, when you multiply that by 91 the total cost is around £5000 per month. The aim of the Club is to find 2,000 volunteers (or Pigoneers, as we are called) to each commit to donating just £2.50 a month to cover these costs.
It wasn't just the feeding, housing and mucking-out that needed attending to. These pigs had been through Hell and come out the other side, but it had left them scarred and traumatised by the experience and they had to be shown love. They had be shown that not all humans are monsters.
If you can spare just £2.50 a month and would like to become a Pigoneer, then please visit the Fundraiser page here. With your help, we can do this.
But let's not sit on our laurels. These pigs were the lucky ones. There are many, many more who are suffering untold torture, misery and death every single day. So before I go, I want to share another message from Sasha Bennet:
"There's so many pigs that need help! I rescued 91 from one cruelty case. There are lots more 91 pigs out there to be rescued. Anyone can rescue them. It just takes some commitment, but anyone could do it." Please help show your support by hitting the Tweet button below and sharing the story of the 91 Pigs. Lentils make a delicious, nutritious and cruelty-free substitute for the traditional beef that usually goes in tacos.
Ingredients: 1 cup dried, brown lentils 1, 8 ounce can of tomato sauce 1 packet taco seasoning mix (vegan) Corn tortillas or taco shells Shredded romaine lettuce Cucumber slices Chopped, fresh tomatoes Soy sour cream Salsa Guacamole Instructions: Soak the lentils in a large bowl until soft, about one hour. Transfer to a saucepan and mix with tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Add about ¼ cup of water. Simmer on low until heated through. Spoon into taco shells or tortillas and top with things like sour cream, salsa, lettuce, cucumber, and tomato. Animal Rebellion deserve a medal. Very early this morning activists under the Animal Rebellion banner turned up at all four McDonald's UK distribution centres, set up blockades and shut them down, thereby preventing any potential deliveries to all 1300 McdDonald's restaurants in the UK.
It's no secret that McDonald's are one of the world's largest abusers of animals, directly responsible for the slaughter of billions of innocent individuals every year. The environmental destruction funded by this company is also well documented, with huge swathes of rainforest being destroyed to feed cattle destined for Big Macs and greenhouse gases created by the cattle a major contributor to climate change. Opposition to McDonald's has been gathering momentum for decades. You may remember the Mclibel trial during the 1990s when McDonald's sued Helen Steel and Dave Morris of London Greenpeace for handing out leaflets informing the public of the truth about McDonald's practices and the impact on animals, the environment, human health and human rights. It became the longest ever UK libel case and McDonald's threw everything they had at the two unemployed activists for many years but failed to suppress the truth. In fact, attempts to silence the activists only served to draw even more attention to the atrocities with campaigners all over the UK distributing leaflets every week and a huge amount of media coverage as a result of the many blockades, occupations, marches and protests by activistsall over the world. But thirty years later very little has changed. Despite McDonalds introducing a rather sorry handful of vegan options, they are still one of the world's largest players in the animal agriculture industry. In the current climate this kind of destruction on such a large-scale is simply unacceptable. Consuming such huge quantities of meat and dairy is quite simply unsustainable and so Animal Rebellion are demanding that the company commit to going 100% plant-based by 2025. As I write this, ten hours after the blockades began, they are still ongoing and activists plan on remaining in place for at least 24 hours, not only disrupting McDonald's entire UK network but also highlighting the frailty of the company's distribution chain and sending a clear message that these kinds of practices will no longer be tolerated. It turns out that those who threaten life on Earth are in many ways just as vulnerable as the ecosystems they destroy. Best of luck to all the brave activists involved. Update: I asked my vegan Twitter followers whether they'd eat at McDonalds... you can read the results here |