exclusive
Employees who torture and beat piglets. Contrasts There are pictures from a breeding farm that apparently show massive violations of animal welfare. Why do scandals keep occurring in these mega-farms?
A worker sits on a piglet and beats its head with his bare fist. Apparently, animals are thrown through corridors at random, kicked and painted, probably for amusement. These are disturbing images that ARD-Political magazine Contrasts were leaked. For over four months, an activist from the animal rights organization “Animal Equality” worked and filmed undercover at a piglet breeding facility in Saxony-Anhalt. This resulted in images of everyday life in piglet production that reveal the depths of an industry that is difficult to control.
Disturbing images of killings
The breeding facility, where piglets are produced on an assembly line, has 6,000 sows. If animals become sick or injured, they must be killed professionally. To do this, they are usually first stunned before bleeding through a cut in the throat. The videos from the piglet breeding facility clearly show that piglets are not completely stunned when they are bled – they writhe. Another video shows a worker twisting the neck of a suckling piglet with his bare hands. It is not clear from the footage whether the animal was still alive at this point.
Demva GmbH is responsible for operations at the time of recording. Contrasts confronted the company with the images. It explained in writing that, from Demva’s point of view, these were staged images, produced especially for the camera. The piglet, which bled to death after its throat was cut, had been anaesthetized beforehand and the animal whose neck was twisted had been dead for some time, as could be seen from rigor mortis.
It continues: “We have a zero-tolerance policy and therefore we will file criminal charges against (…) persons who have now been identified.” However, Demva GmbH also announced that one person had already been dismissed in 2023.
Until the end of July 2023, shortly before “Animal Equality” documented alleged abuses, Demva was subordinate to LFD Holding GmbH – Germany’s largest piglet producer and market leader. According to its own information, the group produces 4,000 piglets a day. LFD Holding emerged from the Straathof empire. Adrianus Straathof – the so-called “pig baron” – ignored animal protection law so massively that he was finally banned from keeping animals ten years ago. This was unique nationwide at the time.
The ban on keeping animals was enforced by the Jerichower Land veterinary office. The breeding facility where the Animal Equality footage was shot is also located there. The veterinary office was not available for an interview with Contrasts available.
The SPD agricultural politician Franziska Kersten is a member of the Bundestag for this constituency. The veterinarian is shocked by the images. “The images of obviously massive animal cruelty in the piglet rearing barn in Saxony-Anhalt make me angry and stunned at the same time. I am deeply shocked by the brutality with which the employees there treat the animals and demand that criminal investigations be initiated immediately,” she explains to Contrasts.
Big stables, small offices
How can it be that serious violations keep occurring in large pig farms? The state veterinary offices are responsible for risk-related controls. A nationwide Contrasts-A survey showed that the inspection rate varies greatly. In 2022, only six percent of the companies subject to inspection in Lower Saxony were actually inspected. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the figure was 14 percent and in Saxony, almost 42 percent. Saxony-Anhalt ranks in the upper middle range with 30 percent.
Inspections are not frequent and effective enough, says Dorothea Frederking. She is a Green MP in Saxony-Anhalt and has been dealing with animal welfare violations for years. One reason for the inadequate inspections is an unequal balance of power between understaffed authorities and huge animal factories, “which come with a whole horde of lawyers and defy the orders,” says Frederking.
Kai Braunmiller from the Bavarian State Working Group on Meat Hygiene and Animal Welfare also admits that huge farms are difficult to inspect. He heads the Bayreuth Veterinary Office and says that in a large operation, 20 people are actually needed for a proper inspection, but an office only has five or six.
Tail cutting allowed
In Germany, inadequate controls and understaffed veterinary offices are accompanied by lax political guidelines. Pigs tend to nibble on each other’s tails – as a stress reaction or out of boredom. This is why many farms cut off the piglets’ tails. The routine so-called tail docking can also be seen in the footage from the piglet farm in Saxony-Anhalt. The farm explains that this is done in accordance with legal regulations.
In fact, it is still permitted in Germany with special permission – although an EU directive has banned it for 30 years. Other countries, such as Finland and Sweden, have already completely banned the routine cutting of curly tails. A new animal protection law currently being negotiated in Berlin is expected to tighten up the law, but will not outright prohibit it.
Public prosecutor determined
“Animal Equality” has now filed criminal charges against those responsible for the company and some employees for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The Stendal public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation. According to a study, charges are only brought in six percent of cases of animal welfare violations in agriculture.