Photos: Piglets Left to Rot on Farms Linked to Parma Ham Supplier
18 Oct 2024
Photos: Piglets Left to Rot on Farms Linked to Parma Ham Supplier
Milan – Shocking new eyewitness images released by Italian animal protection group Essere Animali reveal pigs languishing in deplorable conditions on 11 intensive farms located in Lombardy and Veneto, which according to the group, are linked to Levoni’s slaughterhouse, one of Italy’s biggest producers of cured meats. Levoni’s Parma ham and other branded meat products are exported to many countries, including the UK, where they are sold in restaurants and delis. The images (available here. Credit: Essere Animali) show mother pigs confined to cages and bloody piglet corpses left to rot in enclosures containing live piglets. The images also show pigs with painful and untreated abdominal hernias, lesions, ulcers, or abscesses. A worm and cockroach infestation was also seen in close proximity to the animals’ enclosures, including near their feeders.
“These photos should shock any decent person who sees them. They’re proof that behind every slice of Parma ham or other meat product was a sensitive individual who endured appalling neglect and abuse in today’s industrialised meat industry,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “The only way for consumers to avoid contributing to the systemic suffering of animals on farms is to leave animals off their plates and instead choose from the vegan options widely available today.”
Official cruelty reports have been submitted by Essere Animali to local authorities. PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that on today’s factory farms, workers often clip or grind down piglets’ teeth and cut off their tails without using painkillers. Before they give birth, mother pigs like those seen in the photos are confined to farrowing crates so small they can’t even turn around, let alone fulfil their strong urge to build a nest as they would naturally do. They’re forcibly impregnated over and over again, and each litter of piglets is torn away from them after only a few weeks and transported to fattening pens before eventually being sent for slaughter.
PETA offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) for those wishing to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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