In late 2022, Animal Equality’s investigators carried out an extensive two-month investigation of the Scottish salmon and trout farming industry using drones, revealing the realities of life and death for farmed fish. Our footage reveals a number of concerning incidents, including overcrowding in the fish farms, as well as fish being violently thrown, arriving on the slaughter boats battered and bloody, being left to suffocate and being killed while conscious.

Animal Equality captures footage inside a large pig farm in Lombardy, Italy. This is part of a series of investigations since 2019 that reveal the suffering of animals on a farm that supplies products labeled “made-in-Italy excellence.” Footage shows pigs with sores, cysts and wounds, and dying pigs left lying on the floor in their feces and urine without care. The bodies of some dead piglets were torn apart with heads, legs and other body parts scattered around the farm. Investigators also found buckets of rotting animal remains. Animal Equality is calling for prompt action by the authorities to press charges against the farm.

For the first time, Animal Equality has investigated the live transport of animals in Mexico. The images captured by undercover investigators were obtained between 2016 and 2018, showing the inhumane conditions in which pigs, chickens and cows are transported to farms and slaughterhouses. Among the findings were serious violations of the Official Mexican Standard that regulates the transport of animals. These guidelines are meant to reduce the suffering of animals. But as Animal Equality investigators found, these mandates are rarely enforced and animals suffer abuse and cruelty.

In a two-part investigation by Animal Equality, undercover investigators show American horses at the Cárnicas de Jerez slaughterhouse in Zacatecas, Mexico. The horses are identified as coming from the United States by the yellow USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) tag stuck to their bodies. In the second part, Animal Equality releases new images of what happens inside Mexican slaughterhouses. Tired and injured horses are hung by their necks by chains and forced to move with electric shocks after workers wet them. Animals were also found to be killed while conscious.

Animal Equality’s investigation of a dairy farm in India revealed workers abusing a female buffalo as they attempt to load her onto a transport truck headed for the slaughterhouse. Investigators captured images of workers beating and twisting her tail, repeatedly pushing a stick into her genitals to induce pain, causing her to bleed, and pouring water over her nose and mouth to make her feel like she is drowning. Animal Equality has denounced these crimes and provided all the evidence to the Animal Welfare Board of India, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, and the Calcutta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ensure the abusers are brought to justice.

Animal Equality documented lamb transportation during the Easter holiday this April from Eastern Europe to Italian slaughterhouses. Our investigation revealed the suffering of lambs that were unable to stand due to insufficient space, non-functioning watering systems, damaged temperature monitoring systems, and lack of appropriate dividers between animals with horns.

Animal Equality has investigated 34 slaughterhouses across Mexico over the past 6 years. The images collected show that cows, pigs, and other animals experience pain, stress, and anguish. Our investigators exposed workers hitting, kicking, and shocking animals with electrical devices. Investigators also found that cows and pigs were still conscious at the time of slaughter due to ineffective stunning. Animal Equality is promoting a historic amendment to the constitution that will legally recognise animals as sentient beings whose interests must be protected in Mexico.

Animal Equality releases a new investigation, showing the problematic living conditions of thousands of fast-growing chickens on a large Italian farm. The investigation was carried out on several occasions from 2019 to 2022 by Animal Equality’s investigative team in Italy. The images show piles of dead animals among living chickens, and chickens forced to grow so large they are unable to reach their food or water.

In Brazil, legislation aimed at reducing government oversight inside slaughterhouses. This initiative, also known as the “Self-Control” bill, will give slaughterhouses the power to conduct their own inspections. Animal Equality conducted an investigation showing what happens in Brazilian slaughterhouses with limited government inspectors. The main problems documented were: Workers beating, kicking, and shocking the cows; Cows that were fully conscious were slaughtered after being ineffectively stunned; And, cows being skinned and their legs cut while still alive. After the launch of the investigation, more than 40 organisations, including Animal Equality, have united to ask the senators not to approve this law.

Animal Equality investigated several pig farms in Jalisco, Mexico, documenting the mutilations piglets endure within days of being born. The farmers cut their tails and teeth and castrate the piglets without anaesthesia. The investigation also uncovered pigs suffering from injuries without veterinary care and showing signs of severe stress like chewing on metal bars and aggression toward one another due to filthy conditions and overcrowding.

Animal Equality collected the bodies of 7 chickens from an Italian factory farm and brought them to a team of specialised veterinarians who analysed them. The genetic selection toward faster and bigger growth had significant consequences on the health of the animals, including severe bone damage, poor blood circulation and breathing, and damage to internal organs. Animal Equality in Italy is demanding that the Italian Government, the Minister of Health, and the Minister for Agricultural Policies prohibit breeding animals genetically selected to grow so large and so fast that they spend their entire lives suffering.

Animal Equality’s investigator covertly filmed disturbing scenes of violence and suffering on Madox Farm in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. The footage, spanning several months, reveals workers kicking and punching cows in the face and stomach, twisting their tails, and hitting them with sharp, metal shovels. Managers on Madox Farm were also found on several occasions to leave cows to suffer in severe, prolonged pain knowingly. On one occasion, a cow was left in excruciating pain after her unborn calf had died inside of her. Madox Farm supplies milk to Freshways, the UK’s largest independent dairy processor. Footage from the investigation was broadcast to millions of people on BBC’s Panorama.