A new investigation by Animal Equality UK has prompted a criminal investigation after revealing a litany of horrors including piglets being killed with a hammer or slammed on concrete floors and mother pigs with severe uterine prolapses being forced to walk before being shot.

As if we needed more evidence that so-called ‘welfare standards’ were nothing more than lip service, an investigation from Animal Equality UK released today has revealed countless horrors at a farm owned by Philip Sleigh, chairman of the Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) assurance body that sets the requirements for three “premium brand” labels: Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork.

The harrowing footage shows workers at P&G Sleigh Pig Unit in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, killing young, sick pigs with a hammer, with one worker saying it was “as good as any bullet”. Unsurprisingly, the improvised method appears ineffective as some pigs were seen writhing and gasping for several minutes after receiving several blows to the head. Piglets were also seen being ‘euthanised’ by a worker slamming their heads against the hard concrete floor.

Mother pigs were found to be suffering from torn and swollen vulvas and prolapses, the result of repeated forced impregnation, it was claimed. In one particularly distressing case, a mother pig whose uterus and internal organs were protruding outside her body was forced to walk for almost two minutes to the place where she was then shot.

As reported in the Independent, Andrew Knight, veterinary professor of animal welfare and ethics at the University of Winchester, described the footage as “some of the most disturbing” he had ever seen. It would seem that Tesco and Lidl agree, suspending deliveries from the farm indefinitely after seeing the footage for themselves.

Following this embarrassment to Scotland’s leading farm assurance body, Sleigh, who himself helped set Scotland’s pig welfare standards, has since stepped down as chairman of the QMS. His farm has been removed from the list of ‘QMS Assured’ holdings.

“Rubbing shoulders with government officials and accreditation reps, Philip Sleigh was entrusted with a position of power, yet his own farm breached the very standards he helped set,” said Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, quoted in the Independent today. “QMS boasts of being proud of its standards, yet it took Animal Equality to uncover these serious breaches on its board member’s farm.”

Predictably, both Tesco and Lidl provided statements stating that they were committed to the welfare of animals from farms supplying them, but continue to stand behind welfare labels that time and time again have proved to be untrustworthy.

Philip Sleigh is also a former chairman of the National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland working group for pigs, and as part of our Dismantle Dairy campaign, Surge revealed abuse of dairy mothers and calves at the hands of workers at Wigboro Wick, a farm owned by Guy Smith, former deputy chairman of the NFU.

How can QMS, the NFU and other trusted farming bodies be relied on to reassure consumers of animal products when senior figures within these organisations can’t even adhere to their own standards? The fact is that an animal’s wellbeing can never truly be guaranteed, especially as they always die the same way. If consumers really do care anything about animals, the only way to prevent their suffering is to stop farming them completely.

Sign the petition calling for a review of animal welfare standards and legal protections for pigs. Visit Animalequality.org.uk/act/protect-pigs.

Caution: Video contains distressing footage.

Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.

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