Photos from Viva! Undercover Investigation At Gravel Farm
Shocking footage was released from the organization Viva! of an undercover investigation of Gravel Farm, a turkey farm which produces over 33,000 turkeys annually. The investigation has resulted in the facility losing its UK Red Tractor Certification. Gravel Farm is part of Avara Foods, one of Britain’s largest food manufacturers, which supplies to retailers such as Sainsbury’s.
Gravel Farm was investigated by Viva! Campaigns between September and November 2019, revealing appalling scenes of suffering and cruelty with a total disregard for animal welfare.
“Our team witnessed appalling conditions, documenting the systematic abuse of farmed turkeys, whose short lives are filled with nothing but misery and pain,” Lex Rigby, Viva! Campaigns Manager, said in a statement. “While some birds were ruthlessly killed with barbaric neck crushing devices, others were left to die slow, agonizing deaths from their injuries; all for the sake of Christmas dinner.”
In the footage obtained by Viva!, one worker dislocates the neck of two turkeys in a segregated pen for the sick and injured. Both birds suffer prolonged and visibly distressing deaths, struggling for several minutes.
Viva! Campaigns also found a concerning number of birds at Gravel Farm suffering from disturbing injuries, likely due to a lack of appropriate environmental enrichment. Turkeys are naturally inquisitive and explore their environment and investigate new objects by pecking. Therefore, it is recommended that turkey farms should provide suitable forms of environmental enrichment, to reduce stress and pecking of other birds. However, dying birds at Gravel Farm were found with devastatingly bloody wounds caused by other birds pecking out their feathers, which went untreated for a considerable amount of time.
Gravel Farm has since been reported to the Animal Plant and Health Agency on the basis of potential criminality.
“Although we congratulate Red Tractor on taking action against animal cruelty, we are once again left wondering why it is down to organizations like Viva! to continually expose the abhorrent conditions on factory farms,” continued Rigby in his powerful and insightful message. “Our investigation into Avara Foods reiterates the fact that regulatory bodies such as Red Tractor are nothing but a façade for the horrendous, brutal and cruel reality of intensive factory farming in this country.”
Rigby continued to call out Red Tractor as “a meaningless label, that will only terminate a farm’s membership when it is faced with yet another PR disaster, as Viva! Campaigns have shown time and time again.”
“Christmas is supposed to be a season of peace and goodwill, and we believe there is no better way to celebrate than to extend our compassion to all beings,” stated Rigby. “This is why we are calling on consumers to choose an alternative to turkey this Christmas and choose vegan.”
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