MORE HORROR AT HOGWOOD

You probably know the story – we've told it twice before. Back in June 2017 Juliet Gellatley, Founder & Director of Viva!, went inside one of Britain's largest Red Tractor-approved pig farms and supplier of Tesco – Hogwood. The horrors that her team filmed there were impossible to forget.

Worthless Assurances...

Just last month, we returned – this time armed with hidden cameras to capture round-the-clock surveillance. What we discovered was shocking: pigs ruthlessly kicked by farm workers and struck with metal riding crops and hand tools.

Juliet tells the story of what we found.

^{(warning: disturbing pictures below)}

Since our first investigation, Hogwood has been surrounded with high fencing, barbed wire, CCTV and alarms but we made a commitment to Hogwood pigs that we would not forget them.

Last year, with great trepidation, our brave investigators entered many of the same sheds, stumbled, down the same gangways and opened the same doors as I did back in 2017. In one gangway we were shocked to find 10 pigs lying in a bloodbath. One was being eaten alive. In their desperation, these animals had turned on each other – something that is exceptionally rare in the wild.

We reported our findings through to the government, Red Tractor, Trading Standards and of course, Tesco, who Hogwood supplies. Tesco simply responded with attempts to reassure its customers that they take animal welfare ‘extremely seriously’ and that they expect producers to meet ‘stringent, industry-leading requirements’.

The Pain and Suffering Continues

Dissatisfied by the lack of action taken by the government, Red Tractor and especially Tesco to protect Hogwood pigs, our team returned in July 2019 to install hidden cameras and further expose the cruelty behind closed doors .

Ill pigs were again found dumped in gangways – terrified and ruthlessly kicked out of the way by farm workers and struck with metal riding crops and hand tools. In the artificial insemination shed another farm worker was filmed slamming the front end of a metal rape rack down onto a confined sow – she screamed out as she was administered with a painful injection before being hit over the head.

Where we found acts of live cannibalism last year, we filmed one panicked pig endure an extended attack – being bitten and bullied by the others locked up with her. She was unable to escape, leaving her body covered in excruciating wounds and lacerations in need of medical attention.

Attacks such as this are unheard of in the wild but here they’re certainly not uncommon, judging by the amount of scars on the other pigs our investigators filmed. When she was finally moved to the gangway, more than 24 hours later, a worker beat the other pigs out of the way with a slap stick while she struggled to stand.

What our latest investigation shows is that Hogwood pigs are still in pain, leaving me more horrified and heart-broken than I thought possible. Enough is enough! 

Big business and the meat industry don't care about the distress and misery at Hogwood Farm. We need you to stand up and help us expose this horror.