A message from Kirsty Gallacher

Hi, I’m Kirsty Gallacher, a British TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. You might recognise me from my time on Gladiators, Saturday Night Takeaway, Smooth Radio or as a presenter on Sky Sports News.

What you might not know is that I’m also a committed animal advocate. Over the years, I’ve joined animal protection charities to call on the Government to ban fur, end live exports and ban cages on farms.

If my career as a broadcaster has taught me one thing, it’s this:

News stories are a powerful tool for change.

News stories expose injustice and spur people to act.

And it’s one such story that prompted me to write to you today.

Last month, Animal Equality published a powerful investigation… I’m sure you’ve seen it too.

I was flicking through the pages of the Times when I came across these words:

I took a deep breath and read on…

“Baby piglets [killed] by swinging them against concrete walls”

“Dead pigs… left to rot lying inches away from their mothers”

“Workers… gathering up piglets and tossing them around’

“Cannibalism”

“Untreated wounds”

I couldn’t believe the words I was reading.

Honestly, it was like something out of one of Stephen King’s gory horror novels!

You see, I knew conditions on farms were horrific in other countries and had heard of workers killing piglets by swinging them against concrete floors before. But I had no idea this sort of horror happened on UK farms too. I mean, the UK is supposed to be a nation of animal lovers, right?

I thought: how did we end up in a world where innocent animals are treated like this? And how do farms get away with this? I looked at my dogs sleeping beside me and hugged them tight – just imagine the outrage and scandal it would cause if someone treated a dog like that!

I knew I had to do something. That’s why I am writing to you today.

Sadly, I’ve come to realise recently that life is a real struggle for pigs and other farmed animals.

It seems to me that companies like Cross Farm basically couldn’t give a monkey’s about protecting animals from a life of misery.

And, sadly, I’ve learned that the failures do not end at farm level.

Animal Equality’s team has spoken with me in depth about the issues and I’ve come to realise that the Government doesn’t do anything nearly enough to enforce the limited laws in place to protect farmed animals. I was shocked to learn that this is actually the third time Cross Farm in Devon has been in the news and that no meaningful legal action appears to have been taken on previous occasions. It’s outrageous!

Voluntary certification schemes do little to help animals too. Whilst Cross Farm’s Red Tractor certification was withdrawn following Animal Equality’s expose, it’s already been reinstated!?

Big supermarkets also continue to buy and sell products from Cross Farm. Tesco temporarily suspended its supply from the company but has already started buying from them again. The proof is in the pudding – these pigs have been failed at every level: by farmers, by Government, by certification schemes, by supermarkets. Their last hope is us.

I know that if the news gets out and more people know the truth, they will think twice about buying pig meat and switch to plant-based alternatives…

I know, because that’s the impact it’s had on me. Every time I go into the supermarket now I can’t help but have flashbacks to images of sorrowful pigs and lifeless piglets. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

That’s why I’m supporting Animal Equality’s critical work in exposing cruelty, and helping their brave team get the coverage that this kind of footage deserves.

I want to make sure investigations like this continue to make headlines. This kind of suffering can’t be allowed to fly under the radar, not at Cross Farm in Devon, not anywhere.

Consumers need to have stories like this front and centre of their mind when they see the neatly packaged pig flesh on supermarket shelves.

Each time they think about putting bacon or sausage in our shopping baskets, they need to see the individual staring out from behind bars. They need to hear the cries of piglets as they are crushed by their mothers. They need to feel the pain of sick or injured piglets brutally killed by being thrown against hard walls or floors.

That is why I support Animal Equality.

Because their team is making sure this happens.

Government officials, voluntary certification schemes, and supermarkets might ignore such animal cruelty, but Animal Equality won’t.

Right now, their team is busy bravely exposing factory farms and slaughterhouses, securing media coverage and spreading the word to millions of people.

They are debunking the lies the industry feeds us and shattering the marketing claims that paint animals as being happy.

But to do more of this life-saving work, they need the support of kind people like you.

Without you, the cries of pigs will go unheard.

Please support their efforts. Let’s get animals out of these nasty places.

With warmth,

Kirsty Gallacher