Prosecute Freedom Food Pig Farmer Jeff Bailey for Pig-Farming Cruelty

Footage was filmed at a unit supplying meat to McDonald’s and supermarkets through the scheme, which guarantees animals are well-treate, These sickening scenes show semi-paralysed pigs left to suffer in their own filth – at an RSPCA-backed farm. They were secretly filmed at a unit supplying meat to McDonald’s and supermarkets through the charity’s Freedom Food scheme, which guarantees animals are well-treated.

Footage from the Cheshire holding seen by the Sunday People shows crippled pigs floundering in mud, faeces and urine in a dark barn – conditions that clearly break laws governing the rearing of livestock. A vet branded it the “worst case” of pig-farming cruelty he’d seen.

Semi-paralysed and slumped in their own waste yet these pigs live on a Freedom Food farm http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/semi-paralysed-slumped-waste-yet-pigs-2241928

The RSPCA suspended Wood Common Farm, near Congleton, from the Freedom Food scheme as soon as it was told about the case and launched its own investigation. The film was shot by investigators from Hillside Animal Sanctuary based at Frettenham, Norfolk.Founder Wendy Valentine said: “The animals suffer horrendously. You can see the distress they’re in. “They live in slurry. The law states they should have a dry place, even if it’s concrete, but they just have poo and urine – no straw or anything. “They’re clearly disabled in some way and have back injuries.

While investigating the terrible treatment of pigs at Wood Common Farm, we were appalled to find that the pigs from this RSPCA Freedom Food farm are sent off to the slaughterhouse to be gassed!
Please click here to read about barbaric gassing practice

Despite advice from scientists at Bristol University’s Department of Food Animal Science telling them that stunning using CO2 gas caused pigs,severe respiratory distress‘ and a Humane Slaughter Association’s report confirming that ‘inhalation of carbon dioxide is aversive‘, the RSPCA pressed ahead with plans to gas pigs in order to increase ‘throughput rates’

FAWC (Farm Animal Welfare Council) stated back in 2003 – ‘We conclude that the use of high concentrations of CO2 to stun and kill pigs is not acceptable and we wish to see it phased out in five years.‘ Yet, ten years after that damning report, and despite so much available evidence confirming that gassing pigs is cruel and inhumane, the RSPCA has accepted the procedure within their ‘Freedom Food’ scheme and amended their RSPCA Welfare Standards for Pigs guidelines, which now state…

‘death is usually achieved within 90 seconds of exposure at 90% CO2, provided that the pigs reach the maximum concentration within 30 seconds’

Dear RSPCA


We The Undersigned demand you contact local authorities and have Jeff Bailey's Farming license revoked. He must be prosecuted for the Crime of neglect.  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/semi-paralysed-slumped-waste-yet-pigs-2241928


Sunday Mirror Report, they promised they would prosecute the farmer.  We were disappointed (but not surprised) to see that they had not bothered to obtain any of their own evidence, instead relying totally on the footage Hillside's investigators had taken at the farm.  Finally, after a five month RSPCA 'investigation' during which an RSPCA Chief Inspector described conditions on the farm as 'totally unacceptable', they have now informed us that their vet will not support a prosecution!  We might well ask the RSPCA why they did not show the vet our footage FIVE months ago?  Surely it would have been sensible to consult a vet at the beginning of their investigation?  Of course, this is all smoke and mirrors - we don't believe that the RSPCA ever intended to successfully prosecute this farmer, or any other farmer on one of their Freedom Food accredited farms.  We believe that they simply told the press, and the public, what they wanted to hear, knowing full well, once the media interest had died down, that they would not proceed to court.  Our past experience has shown this is standard RSPCA practice for when yet another of their so called 'higher welfare' farms are found lacking.

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