Aussie Abattoirs: News Coverage

#1. Tuesday 31 Mar 2026 by Pulse Tasmania (Pulse Tasmania)

It comes over two years after the footage sparked animal cruelty allegations…

#2. Thursday 18 Sep 2025 by Jessica Klein (The Courier-Mail)

A southern Queensland animal activist group has slammed a state government minister, after a Warwick abattoir remains operating despite the release of disturbing footage showing alleged inhumane practices.

#3. Tuesday 2 Sep 2025 by Jessica Moran (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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#4. Saturday 19 Oct 2019 by Calla Wahlquist (The Guardian)

The public recoils, although sheep and cows are killed in identical fashion. But the racing industry has a serious case to answer too.

#5. Friday 18 Oct 2019 by (SBS News)

Racing Australia chief executive Barry O'Farrell says he was shocked by footage of retired racehorses being slaughtered.

#6. Friday 18 Oct 2019 by Stuart Layt (Brisbane Times)

The former racehorses killed in appalling conditions in an abattoir north of Brisbane appear to have fallen through the jurisdictional cracks, with multiple agencies claiming they were not responsible for their welfare.

#7. Friday 18 Oct 2019 by Antoinette Lattouf (10 Daily)

A Queensland abattoir at the centre of the horse slaughter scandal is now the target of an investigation after an ABC 7:30 report showed confronting footage of ex-racehorses being killed.

#8. Friday 18 Oct 2019 by John Ellicott (The Land)

The ABC has revealed many registered racehorses have been sent to slaughter in NSW after retirement even though it is against the rules of racing in the state and tens of millions of dollars has been spent on rehoming retired racehorses.

#9. Friday 18 Oct 2019 by Sarah Keoghan (Sydney Morning Herald)

Racing Australia chief executive Barry O'Farrell has said prosecutions "should, and I suspect will occur" following ABC's 7.30 investigation into the treatment of racehorses.

#10. Thursday 17 Oct 2019 by Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Amy Donaldson (ABC News)

Hundreds of registered racehorses are being discarded at slaughterhouses in Australia, in contravention of racing rules, rehoming policies and animal welfare guarantees.

#11. Friday 30 Aug 2019 by Emma Rosemurgey (Unilad)

Horrific undercover footage has emerged from a Sydney slaughterhouse, showing pigs and goats being forced into carbon dioxide gas chambers.

#12. Thursday 29 Aug 2019 by Kayla Osborne (Wollondilly Advertiser)

Animal rights activists and political parties are calling for the government to take action after 'damning' secret camera footage was captured at a Picton abattoir.

#13. Thursday 29 Aug 2019 by Summer Woolley (7 News)

Vision has emerged from inside a New South Wales abattoir, claiming to expose acts of animal cruelty.

#14. Thursday 29 Aug 2019 by Alana Mazzoni (Daily Mail Australia)

Footage shows pigs and goats being put inside carbon dioxide gas chambers. It also appears to show workers twist cows' tails to force them to walk. The video was recorded by a university student on placement at the facility.

#15. Friday 2 Aug 2019 by Mitchell Clarke (Pakenham Gazette)

An alleged illegal slaughterhouse operating in Kooweerup has been discovered, with footage emerging of reported animal cruelty.

#16. Friday 2 Aug 2019 by AAP (The Age)

An alleged illegal abattoir is being investigated following claims of sheep being slaughtered inhumanely.

#17. Friday 2 Aug 2019 by Georgie Moore and Kaitlyn Offer (News.com.au)

Distressing footage of sheep being slaughtered in a Victorian shed has sparked investigations into claims of animal cruelty.

#18. Friday 2 Aug 2019 by Lachlan Hastings (The Weekly Times)

Victorian authorities are probing allegations of illegal livestock slaughter in South Gippsland.

#19. Friday 2 Aug 2019 by Ben Knight (ABC)

Agriculture Victoria is investigating an alleged illegal abattoir operating on the outskirts of Melbourne, after receiving graphic video of sheep being slaughtered without being stunned.

#20. Sunday 9 Dec 2018 by Sophie Tanno (Daily Mail Australia)

Vegan vigilantes broke into an abattoir and stole nearly 20 ducklings set for the slaughter. The rogue activists carried inflatable pools to Luv-A-Duck abattoir in Nhill, Victoria, on November 29, so the ducklings could swim for the first time in their...

#21. Tuesday 4 Dec 2018 by Jade Bate (The Wimmera Mail-Times)

NHILL Police are continuing investigations into a protest at Nhill's Luv-a-Duck processing plant on Thursday. About 55 activists from six states representing Bear Witness Australia and Aussie Farms entered the site about 6am to protest what the...

#22. Friday 21 Sep 2018 by (Stock Journal)

ANIMAL activists have stormed a Strathalbyn abattoir, spending several hours on the roof of the building protesting the treatment of livestock processed at the facility.

#23. Friday 21 Sep 2018 by Natarjsha Kramer (9 News)

More than 20 animal rights activists remain in a stand-off with police more than twelve hours after they climbed onto the roof of an abattoir south of Adelaide.

#24. Friday 21 Sep 2018 by (ABC News)

An all-day protest has ended with the transaction of a single sheep surrendered to animal rights activists who sat on the roof of a South Australian abattoir.

#25. Friday 21 Sep 2018 by Benjamin Weir (The Advertiser)

A GROUP of animal welfare activists who forced a Strathalbyn abattoir into shutdown by climbing on to its roof have ended their peaceful protest.

#26. Friday 21 Sep 2018 by September 21, 20186:00pm (News.com.au)

A stand-off at a South Australian abattoir has ended and 23 protesters reported, as the RSPCA confirmed the business is the subject of an investigation.

#27. Tuesday 18 Sep 2018 by Brittany Chain (Daily Mail Australia)

Two young slaughterhouse workers were captured playing swing ball with a decapitated pigs head attached to a chain, after watching it writhe in agony as it endured a slow death.

#28. Saturday 25 Aug 2018 by Ben Harvy (The Advertiser)

HORRIFIC video filmed inside a South Australian slaughterhouse has revealed evid­ence of animal cruelty, including pigs drowning in scalding water and sheep being slammed into the ground.

#29. Friday 24 Aug 2018 by Zoe Zaczek (Daily Mail Australia)

Horrific footage from inside an abattoir shows the brutal and bloody measures workers use to kill the animals. The shocking video footage filmed at Strath Meats near Adelaide shows the electrical stunning of pigs and sheep, live cows hanging from...

#30. Monday 11 Jun 2018 by Chris Graham (New Matilda)

Shocking footage of duck farming in Australia has emerged showing day-old ducklings being dropped into an industrial shredder, adult ducks being kicked and thrown around a barn by workers, and ducks which should have been stunned before slaughter...

#31. Thursday 16 Nov 2017 by Pat McGrath (ABC News)

A Melbourne abattoir has been allowed to continue operating despite being investigated for possible animal cruelty, after secretly recorded footage showed it boiling chickens alive in its slaughter process.

#32. Wednesday 5 Jul 2017 by Harriet Aird (ABC)

Animal rights groups are furious a cruelty investigation into two Tasmanian abattoirs is still ongoing, eight months after it was launched.

#33. Thursday 4 May 2017 by (ABC)

The boss of an award-winning Tasmanian abattoir has admitted calves were ill-treated at his Cressy site.

#34. Thursday 4 May 2017 by Matthew Denholm (The Australian)

Disturbing footage of calves being tossed and struck at a Tasmanian abattoir has been released by animal rights activists, who say authorities have failed to act on the evidence for six months. Animal Liberation released the footage this morning, alleging

#35. Wednesday 3 May 2017 by Nic White (Daily Mail Australia)

Abattoir workers could be charged with animal cruelty after disturbing footage emerged of calves being beaten before they were slaughtered. Video shot at Tasmanian Quality Meats in Cressy, Tasmania, allegedly showed calves being beaten until they collapsed

#36. Thursday 24 Nov 2016 by (Riverine Herald)

Riverside Meats has been sanctioned and directed to remove four staff members from their roles following allegations of animal mistreatment.

#37. Thursday 24 Nov 2016 by (Sky News)

One of Victoria's oldest abattoirs is under investigation after workers were secretly filmed mistreating animals for the second time in three years.

#38. Wednesday 23 Nov 2016 by Marika Dobbin Thomas (The Age)

One of Victoria's oldest abattoirs has been sanctioned and four staff moved after a secret video revealed the mistreatment of animals, including pigs and newborn calves.

#39. Wednesday 23 Nov 2016 by Sarah Farnsworth (ABC News)

One of Victoria's oldest abattoirs, Riverside Meats Abattoir, has been sanctioned and four staff sacked over poor animal welfare, after secret video revealed mistreatment of animals.

#40. Wednesday 23 Nov 2016 by Kath Sullivan (The Weekly Times)

A VICTORIAN abattoir has been slammed by the State Government over allegations it mistreated animals.

#41. Wednesday 23 Nov 2016 by Angus Livingston (Daily Telegraph)

Animals at an Echuca slaughterhouse have been tortured in shocking videos that Victoria's chief vet says are the worst he's seen in his career.

#42. Sunday 16 Oct 2016 by Duncan Abey (Mercury)

THE owner of a Derwent Valley abattoir depicted in leaked video has rejected RSPCA calls for the facility to close, and confirmed a planned slaughter will go ahead tomorrow.

#43. Saturday 15 Oct 2016 by (RSPCA Australia)

RSPCA Australia has been provided with access to a series of excerpts from footage taken in September 2016 at the Gretna Meatworks in Tasmania. The footage shows the stunning and slaughter of several cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The excerpts document a s

#44. Saturday 15 Oct 2016 by Peta Carlyon (ABC News)

Tasmanian authorities are investigating allegations of severe animal cruelty at an abattoir in the Derwent valley, north of Hobart.

#45. Friday 15 Jan 2016 by Elle Hunt (The Guardian)

An animal rights organisation has defended using a clip from Meat & Livestock Australia’s controversial Australia Day lamb advertisement in its own video, which shows graphic footage of a slaughterhouse.

#46. Friday 15 Jan 2016 by Alex Druce (The Land)

Meat and Livestock Australia has threatened to sue an animal rights organisation if it does not take down a graphic parody video that splices footage from the 'Operation Boomerang' lamb ad with scenes from an abattoir.

#47. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by Liam Quinn (Daily Mail Australia)

Confronting footage of pigs apparently being forced into 'gas chambers' as they scream and try to escape before they are gutted and drained of blood has been captured by a group of animal activists.

#48. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by Andrea Hamblin (Herald Sun)

A two-year undercover investigation by animal activists reveals shocking footage on the widespread practice of killing pigs by carbon dioxide.

#49. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by Debra Killalea (News.com.au)

THEY are pictured thrashing about, desperately trying to escape and their death is slow and excruciating.

#50. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by Daniella Miletic and Rania Spooner (The Age)

Animal rights activists chained themselves to a Victorian pig slaughterhouse 'gas chamber' on Monday morning to protest against carbon dioxide stunning in the pork industry.

#51. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by Christopher Talbot and Jamie Duncan (The Australian)

Pigs suffer distress and struggle to breath and escape when gassed with carbon dioxide at abattoirs, RSPCA Australia says.

#52. Monday 7 Dec 2015 by (The Guardian)

"From their first lungful of gas, these pigs are burning from the inside out," Animal Liberation Victoria says of carbon dioxide stunning technique.

#53. Monday 26 Jan 2015 by Colin Bettles (Stock & Land)

Animal rights activists have targeted the successful Australia Day lamb promotion through video footage allegedly taken at Victorian abattoirs about nine months ago.

#54. Friday 31 May 2013 by AAP (The Australian)

A SYDNEY abattoir has been hit with a $60,000 fine for treating animals in a sickening and grossly inhumane manner.

#55. Tuesday 23 Apr 2013 by Fiona O'Doherty (Herald Sun)

A Laverton knackery recently under investigation for animal cruelty by the RSPCA claimed last week it had been slaughtering horses for the RSPCA for the past 40 years.

#56. Thursday 21 Mar 2013 by Megan Levy (Sydney Morning Herald)

An animal rights group is calling for mandatory CCTV monitoring at all Australian abattoirs after distressing footage emerged of turkeys being bashed, kicked and stomped on at a major poultry processing plant in Sydney’s south-west. Read more: http://www.

#57. Thursday 21 Mar 2013 by Michael Vincent (ABC)

New South Wales Police have been asked to investigate more than 100 acts of animal cruelty at an Inghams turkey abattoir south-west of Sydney, which animals activists have described as "torture".

#58. Friday 15 Mar 2013 by Saffron Howden (Sydney Morning Herald)

A knackery accused of the brutal treatment and inhumane slaughter of former racehorses will escape prosecution after the RSPCA decided covert footage was not sufficient evidence to lay charges.

#59. Wednesday 6 Feb 2013 by Kathleen Tonini (Riverine Herald)

Animals Australia say a formal warning issued to an Echuca abattoir found to be mistreating dairy calves is not enough.

#60. Friday 1 Feb 2013 by Hamish Fitzsimmons (Lateline)

Video obtained by Lateline from the lobby group Animals Australia appears to show cruel treatment of unwanted dairy claves being sent for slaughter.

#61. Tuesday 22 Jan 2013 by Kate Carey (Aus Food News)

The Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors in western Sydney and one of its former employees have been charged with animal cruelty following heinous footage revealed recently.

#62. Thursday 13 Dec 2012 by Richard Willingham (The Age)

Allegations of inhumane slaughter of horses at a western suburbs knackery have sparked outrage and prompted the Melbourne and Werribee Open Range zoos to source horsemeat from other knackeries.

#63. Thursday 13 Dec 2012 by Goya Dmytryshchak and Nick Toscano (Wyndham Star Weekly)

A WORKER at a Laverton knackery accused of inhumane treatment of animals says the horses are either ‘‘unwanted or dangerous’’ and are being ‘‘killed the best way we can’’.

#64. Friday 18 May 2012 by Kelly Burke (Sydney Morning Herald)

Animal welfare breaches have been uncovered in all 10 of the state's red meat abattoirs, a government review has found.

#65. Thursday 22 Mar 2012 by Sue Neales (The Australian)

Colin Giles is adamant he has done nothing wrong. Nor does the 71-year-old Gippsland abattoir owner think he is cruel or inhumane. But that is how he and his 79-year-old brother, Ray Giles, have been portrayed since Victorian meat authorities shut down the

#66. Friday 9 Mar 2012 by NSW Food Authority (Department of Primary Industries)

The suspension on Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors' licence has been lifted by the NSW Food Authority, allowing it to recommence operations at its facility in Wilberforce from Monday March 12, 2012, subject to strict conditions being met.

#67. Friday 10 Feb 2012 by Josephine Tovey (Sydney Morning Herald)

The Hawkesbury abattoir shut down following the release of shocking animal cruelty footage had been checked by the government regulator four times last year but no breaches had been detected.

#68. Friday 10 Feb 2012 by Jen Rosenberg and Ben Cubby (Sydney Morning Herald)

A Sydney abattoir has stopped slaughtering and faces closure and prosecution after hidden-camera footage of chilling animal cruelty emerged.

#69. Friday 10 Feb 2012 by Tim Vollmer (The Daily Telegraph)

ALL abattoirs in NSW will have their operations reviewed by the state government after a video revealed shocking animal cruelty at a western Sydney slaughterhouse.

#70. Friday 10 Feb 2012 by Steve Cannane (ABC)

A northern Sydney abattoir has been forced to close after footage emerged showing animals being beaten before their slaughter.

#71. Saturday 26 Nov 2011 by (The Age)

An abattoir in Gippsland has been shut down after allegations of cruelty to pigs was upheld by the state's slaughterhouse regulator.

#72. Friday 25 Nov 2011 by Peter Mickelburough (News.com.au)

A Gippsland abattoir has been shut by state authorities following a shocking video of alleged animal cruelty.