Just when you thought the horrors inside pig farms couldn’t get any worse, today’s investigation release reveals a new level of fright. In a joint investigation with AGtivist, we went undercover inside four Northern Irish pig farms, and found grotesque filth, widespread abuses and an abundance of life-saving antibiotics strewn across the sites.

A major data leak led us to the farms. It revealed the prevalence of deadly ‘superbugs’ on pig farms and in supermarket ‘meat’. We didn’t have to look far to understand precisely why this ‘superbug’ pandemic is happening.

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Squalid, crowded conditions on farms create the perfect storm for ‘superbugs’ to thrive – dangerous bacteria resistant to life-saving drugs. Across the four farms, many antibiotics were found, including those classified as ‘Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HPCIA)’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Some were given via food and water to large groups of animals.

The data leak revealed ‘pork’ sausages contaminated with antibiotic-resistant microbes, were found throughout major supply chains linked to Cranswick, Karro and Finnebrogue, along with supermarkets including Tesco, M&S and Asda. It outlined ‘products’ containing resistant strains of Salmonella typhimurium, a dangerous cause of food poisoning, including a massive 51% of the samples linked to Cranswick and Karro. 

This deadly pandemic is unfolding behind closed doors. In 2023, there were 66,730 serious antibiotic-resistant infections in humans in the UK. Of which, 2,200 proved fatal. Thousands of families have been torn apart, and millions of pigs slaughtered, yet this could have all been prevented if we weren’t farming, killing and eating animals.

The lives of the pigs at these farms were hellish. The sheds were thick with what appeared to be years of grime and dirt. Pigs had no option but to lie down in their own filth in the small, barren pens. Mother pigs were trapped in farrowing crates, unable even to turn around. Several had sores on their bodies where they constantly rubbed against the restrictive cages.

Dead bodies littered the walkways, pens and rubbish heaps. Others, who hadn’t yet died, were left to perish slowly. One such pig, who was reduced to skin and bones, took her final laboured breaths on camera; she was beyond help – left by the farmers to leave this world in such a painful, cruel way that it’s unfathomable for us to comprehend.

The deadly combination of critically-important antibiotics being used across pig farms, coupled with the foul conditions, creates a massive threat to society – one that must be tackled immediately.

Our relentless investigations are lifting the veil on the grim reality of pig farming – an industry that proudly flaunts ‘higher welfare’ labels while hiding behind concrete walls and glossy marketing.

We’ve made it our mission to hold this hideous, abusive industry accountable. Pigs deserve justice – and we won’t stop until they get it. Will you stand with us? Your support powers every investigation. Your donations allow us to work day in, day out, to expose the truth and bring this sector to its knees.

We are tackling a goliath industry. We cannot end it overnight, but we are determined to be as unabating as we can. The pigs need us. The pigs need you.

As always,

For the animals.