The billions of animals who pass through the farming and slaughter system each year are kept well out of view of the public. Most of us have little idea what their lives are like, the procedures and processes that they endure as a matter of routine, and how they are treated by those who are tasked with caring for them. This is why the testimony of industry insiders is so important to understanding the true cost of meat, eggs, and milk. Thankfully, there are courageous people with integrity who are willing to speak up, but they often find there is a price to pay.
Craig Watts, Chicken Farmer
In 2014, North Carolina chicken farmer Craig Watts became so disillusioned with the industrial farming process that he invited a nonprofit to come and see the poor conditions for birds on his own farm. Watts had been contracted to raise chickens for meat giant Perdue but finally broke with the industry when he said that their claims of birds being humanely raised “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
In a formal complaint to the US Department of Labor (DoL), Watts described the condition that the chicks were in when they arrived at his farm. Some were deformed, others died of apparent illness within a few days, and the survivors were forced to grow so fast that they could do little but lie on the ground, unmoving. Watts also revealed how he and other contract farmers were trapped in a cycle of debt.
Ten years on, Watts is still being punished for speaking out and, along with the DoL, is being sued by the chicken corporation. If Perdue’s legal action is successful, it could end whistleblower protections while tightening the already near-total secrecy surrounding intensive animal farming.
Tom Herok, Chicken Farm Worker
Between July and September 2022, Tom Herok documented his employment on a British chicken farm using a hidden camera. He filmed seriously sick and lame birds, which is not surprising given such suffering is found inside every industrial chicken farm. But Herok also found a criminal lack of care, with birds being run over by a forklift, some killed outright, others left to die of appalling injuries. He filmed the treatment of tiny chicks who were ailing, weak, or just not putting on weight fast enough: They were pressed against the holding bars of the drinking trough until their necks broke.
This was not a small farm that was flying under the regulatory radar. This was a large farm that supplied Two Sisters, one of the biggest chicken processors in the world, which, in turn, supplied supermarket chains including Tesco, Asda, Aldi, and Co-op. You can watch Herok’s footage here.
Dr. Alice Brough, Pig Veterinarian
Alice Brough always loved animals and had wanted to become a vet since she was a child. She studied hard, achieved her dream, and eventually went to work for a farmed animal practice where she specialized in pigs. She spent her days visiting commercial intensive pig farms and quickly realized that conditions within the industry were appalling. Her dream job became a nightmare. One day, she attended a client’s farm and walked right into a horror movie with animals in such a poor state that she had no choice but to shoot 20 pigs for their own wellbeing. It was the beginning of the end of her career. “I could not bear to shoot another pig due to someone else’s lack of care,” she says. But when she spoke out about the suffering, she was sidelined at work and effectively silenced.
Today, Brough is an advocate for animals, using her years of experience to speak out about the horrific conditions that pigs are forced to endure so that others can profit from their bodies and babies.
Dr. Lynn Simpson, Live Export Veterinarian
For ten years, Lynn Simpson worked as a senior veterinarian on board live export ships taking sheep and cows from Australia to the Middle East. In all, she worked on 57 voyages, each lasting several weeks, where she would do her best to care for the 100,000 animals who would be slaughtered on arrival at their destination.
Simpson knew that conditions on board would be challenging and the welfare of the animals compromised. How could it not be? But this, from Unbound Project, paints a vivid picture of what she faced each day.
On board, the overcrowded animals suffered heat stress, suffocation, starvation, and thirst, so tightly packed they were often unable to easily reach water as they were shipped into the heart of Middle Eastern summer. Lying down meant they were likely to be trampled by the other desperate animals beside them. Mother cows and sheep suffered miscarriages or stillbirths; still more had their babies crushed to death under the sea of hooves. Simpson describes the animals on one voyage as actually having melted, “cooking from the inside.” She spent her days seeing to their injuries, doing what she could to relieve their suffering, and euthanizing those she could not help.
Simpson made countless reports to the government about the depths of suffering endured by animals on ships, all of which were ignored. It was years later, after she had been promoted, that a private report detailing her findings was leaked to the public, and the reaction was immense. It made headlines across the country, informing the public about the appalling trade, and shaming the authorities who had failed to act. Simpson was forced from her job, but the long overdue ban on exporting live sheep, which will come into force in 2028, is in part due to her compassion and persistence.
Scottish Salmon Farm Worker
In 2023, an anonymous worker at Mowi, a leading salmon farming corporation, made public a film they had taken at the company’s hatchery facility. Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, who campaigns against industrial salmon farms, said: “Countless videos have emerged from other farms this year showing deformed, sickly fish being eaten alive by lice, while continued exposés reveal that millions of fish are dying on farms due to disease, predation and unnatural conditions. Now we’re watching on in horror as workers trudge through slurry up to their ankles.”
The Inchmore on-shore hatchery produces up to 12 million young salmon a year for Mowi, which is the UK’s biggest salmon farming company, supplying supermarket chains Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Tesco, as well as online grocery stores, Ocado and Amazon Fresh.
Official figures reveal that a shocking 4.5 million fish died at the same site between 2018 and 2023. Continues Penny: “For decades, people have mistakenly viewed Scottish salmon as a ‘luxury’ product; footage like this, shared by concerned whistleblowers, shows the reality is far from luxurious. Whether at sea or on land, salmon farming is truly revolting.”
UK Government Veterinarian
A government veterinarian speaking anonymously to The Guardian in 2021 revealed that chickens are “dying like flies” while being transported from farms to slaughterhouses because of poorly ventilated lorries.
The veterinarian explained: “In the summer months they can be sat in the cages with temperatures getting to 40C (104F) in some parts of the truck. They would be panting and die from heat stress in a pretty rough way. In the winter, they are being taken out of temperature-controlled sheds where they have been kept at 21C (70F) and can quickly get cold stress from the sudden temperature drop, especially if transported in the middle of the night.”
Around one million chickens die during transportation to slaughterhouses in England and Wales every year. “There’s no excuse for it,” said the whistleblower, “except the priorities of those involved to maximize the through flow of birds and financial returns.”
Dr. Dean Wyatt, Slaughterhouse Veterinarian
Dr. Wyatt was working as a Public Health Veterinarian for the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). While monitoring and enforcing health and hygiene standards, he witnessed appalling suffering, including animals being trampled and crushed and workers deliberately and needlessly beating them. Wyatt reported the abuses to his office but, shockingly, he was told to cut back on his welfare enforcement and was punished with a two-week demotion.
Wyatt would not be deterred. He continued to speak up, butinstead of acting on his reports, the FSIS transferred him to a different slaughterhouse. Unsurprisingly, things were just as bad there and Wyatt continued to file reports about the animal suffering he witnessed and was paid to stop. Once again, his reports were ignored or downplayed until an undercover investigation at the same slaughterhouse showed the world just how bad things were and vindicated him. From being seen as a troublemaking whistleblower Wyatt came to be a highly respected expert and his testimony helped to secure prosecutions against the perpetrators of violence to animals.
Ostrich Farm Worker
In 2024, PETA received a whistleblower tip alleging horrific abuse and suffering at American Ostrich Farms in Kuna, Idaho. The whistleblower reported that the farm workers frequently hit and kicked ostriches violently and even inserted their boots into the birds’ vents, all while taunting them. In a desperate attempt to escape the violence, the frightened birds would run full speed into fences, sometimes breaking their toes or wings, skinning their legs, and ripping open their chests.
According to the whistleblower, workers neglected to care for injured and underweight ostriches, often causing the birds to endure prolonged, painful deaths. They also poured food for at least half the birds straight into mud or into broken, leaky feeders, resulting in wet feed that the animals wouldn’t eat. In late 2023, many underweight birds reportedly froze to death as the weather grew cold. It is clear that, no matter the species, animals suffer horrific abuses on farms.
Why Aren’t There More Whistleblowers?
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have been willing to speak up about the conditions for animals inside factory farms, and in the trucks, ships, and slaughterhouses where they spend their final days and hours. But, this is just the tiniest fraction of people who work in this industry.o why are there not more whistleblowers?
- Whistleblowers get punished. Those who do speak up are often ostracized, demoted, or forced from their jobs altogether. This sends a powerful message which prevents others from speaking out.
- Ag gag laws are enacted in some US states and in other countries, which make it illegal for people to speak out against the animal farming industry. The abuse is condoned, while those who try to stop it through legal, peaceful means are criminalized. Such is the power of the animal farming industry.
- The cruelty is normalized. When taking a job at a farm or slaughterhouse, workers who stay tend to just fit in with the existing culture and simply do what they are asked to do. If they see others behaving violently, they assume it is normal behavior, and just the way things are.
- There are many workers who cannot stomach the cruelty but they leave without saying anything at all. Sometimes, the abuse is so traumatizing that people wish to put it behind them and never speak of it.
