Media Releases and Statements

Animal activists involved in exposing pig farms and slaughterhouses across Australia disrupt Australian Pork Limited's delegates forum and AGM, showing footage of animal cruelty and suffering.  The protestors presented awards for 'Outstanding Cruelty to Pigs', highlighting cruelty exposed in Australian pig farms over the past two years.  Prominent pork industry leaders, including APL's CEO, Margo Andrae, were in attendance at the event in South Wharf, Melbourne.  Animal rights activists from Farm Transparency Project (FTP) have disrupted a Delegates Forum and Annual General Meeting for Australian Pork Limited, the government-funded industry lobby group for Australian pig farming and slaughter. Activists attempted to enter the conference room where the Delegates foru... Read more >

Interactive online map pinpointing the locations of thousands of slaughterhouses and factory farms across Australia launched in 2019 The 'Farm Transparency Map' triggered widespread outrage and hysteria amongst conservative politicians and media outlets, who labelled it an "attack map" The crowdsourced tool has now expanded worldwide, with over 76,000 facilities already identified The Farm Transparency Map, an interactive online map identifying the locations of thousands of factory farms, slaughterhouses and other animal exploitation facilities across Australia, has now expanded globally with over 76,000 facilities already marked.  When it was launched in January 2019 by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (then Aussie Farms), the map sparked unprecedent... Read more >

Over 500 pigs are being burnt alive as a fire rages at Andgar Piggery in Dublin, South Australia.  At 2.05pm, Farm Transparency Project received word from a local resident that a fire had broken out at Dublin Piggery in South Australia. The resident had noticed the blaze while driving past the piggery on Long Plains Road, where he was able to see the blaze and smell "burning pigs." Current reports indicate that two eco sheds are currently on fire, each holding 250 pigs who are trapped in the flames. This piggery is currently under investigation by the RSPCA after investigators from Farm Transparency Project documented extreme cruelty inside the sheds, including a pile of corpses with living pigs still trapped inside, cannibalism and pigs with necrotic wounds. In July, the  R... Read more >

A large open grave filled with rubbish and dead pigs is amongst new footage captured at four South Australian piggeries owned by Andgar Proprietors or its representatives.  The footage has been released one day before SA Pork's 'Industry Day', which is being held on Friday 22nd August at Barossa Park, Lyndoch.  Until recently, the committee of SA Pork included Garry Tiss, a co-owner of three of the four piggeries investigated.  Video of a 'mass grave' of pigs has been published by Farm Transparency Project (FTP), filmed at Brownlow Piggery, one of four South Australian pig farms owned by or affiliated with Andgar Proprietors. The footage, captured by unknown investigators and provided anonymously to FTP, comes just two months after shocking footage was captured at ... Read more >

The Full Court of the Federal Court has allowed an appeal from the Game Meats Company slaughterhouse, ordering a permanent restraint on the publication of footage depicting animal cruelty and illegal activity at the company's facility in Eurobin, Victoria, which was illegally obtained by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project last year. The court granted copyright of the footage to the slaughterhouse, setting a new legal precedent likely to have wide-reaching ramifications for press freedom and political discourse over public interest matters. Farm Transparency Project has been ordered to destroy all copies of the footage.  The appeal was launched by the slaughterhouse after the primary decision, delivered in December, elected not to grant a permanent injunction ... Read more >

The founding director of animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP), Chris Delforce, has been raided by Victoria Police at his Melbourne home this morning, in relation to footage of animal cruelty captured earlier this year at twenty piggeries in the state's north. Delforce's electronic devices including phones and laptops have been seized. The footage, captured by a large number of anonymous activists and provided to FTP, revealed widespread suffering, neglect, and potential breaches of animal welfare legislation, including:  Pigs living in extreme confinement in their own waste, including in "sow stalls" claimed by the industry to have been phased out 8 years ago Piglets surgically mutilated  Fighting and cannibalism in barren "group housing" pe... Read more >

Farm Transparency Project has released a guided video tour of a major Victorian piggery using footage they captured while trespassing in the facility in late 2023.  The tour was originally published last year as part of an interactive virtual-reality tour and led to charges being laid against two investigators from the organisation. Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project, Chris Delforce, speaks to camera during the tour, while showing the audience around sheds at Sunpork's Gowanbrae Piggery in Central Victoria.  Chris Delforce in a farrowing shed at Gowanbrae Piggery in Central Victoria.  Animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project has published a full, guided video tour of a Victorian piggery using footage that led to charges being laid against two... Read more >

A Victorian slaughterhouse is appearing before the Federal Court to appeal a decision which allowed the publication of footage of the slaughter of animals, which was illegally obtained by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project last year at the Game Meats Company slaughterhouse in Eurobin, Victoria.  The slaughterhouse claims that the court erred in its decision to not grant a permanent injunction to block the footage, which contains evidence of animal cruelty and illegal activity.  The appeal follows a five-day trial in August 2024, where FTP admitted to trespassing at the facility and installing hidden cameras to capture footage of the slaughter of goats. A landmark case challenging the Australian public's right to know what happens to animals in slaughter... Read more >

Up to 100 protestors are currently gathered outside Andgar Piggery in Dublin, north of Adelaide The protestors are demanding the closure of the facility, following the release of footage captured by Farm Transparency Project which revealed extreme suffering and neglect at the facility A large protest has formed outside the gates of Andgar Piggery north of Adelaide, following the release of footage earlier this month by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP). The footage, captured across two nights in June, showed pigs living in deep pools of their own waste, others with large untreated injuries, and a pile of dead rotting pigs left in a shed amongst which numerous live pigs were trapped. The footage has led to a formal investigation by the RSPCA and the Sou... Read more >

Peter Walsh MP, the Nationals representative for Victoria's Murray Plains electorate, has published a formal correction and apology after labelling animal advocacy charity Farm Transparency Project (FTP) "a known terrorist group". In the statement, which comes after FTP indicated its intention to commence defamation proceedings, Mr Walsh states:"I accept that the language I used in the media release was inappropriate... I accept that they are animal rights activists who employ non-violent tactics, to advocate for an end to practices that they are passionate about."Mr Walsh has also agreed to pay the legal costs incurred by FTP in the matter, and undertaken to never in the future suggest "in any form to anyone" that FTP or its Executive Director, Chris Delforce, "are terrorists or a te... Read more >

Animal activists have released footage showing living pigs struggling to escape a pile of the rotting corpses of up to 100 dead pigs inside a South Australian piggery. Pigs are seen living alongside and cannibalising the decomposing bodies of dead pigs, who have been left to rot inside the piggery's sheds. Other footage from the same facility shows pigs drowning in mud and waste in outdoor sheds and others with infected and necrotic wounds.  Animal cruelty investigators from Farm Transparency Project have released shocking new images and footage from Dublin Piggery in South Australia. The footage, which was captured across two dates in June this year, shows pigs living alongside the decomposing bodies of hundreds of dead pigs, with some becoming stuck in a giant pile of corpses. ... Read more >

Farm Transparency Project has published hidden camera footage captured late last year at the Cowra slaughterhouse in NSW The footage reveals workers throwing, kicking, smacking and aggressively electrocuting animals to move them to the kill floor, where many are then ineffectively 'stunned' and killed while conscious  This is the 30th slaughterhouse investigated and exposed by the group across NSW, VIC, QLD, TAS and SA in the last two years, completing a pledge made in mid 2023 Farm Transparency Project (FTP) has completed its pledge to investigate and expose 30 slaughterhouses across Australia over two years, with Cowra Meat Processors in central west NSW the latest facility to come under fire for animal cruelty. Hidden cameras installed by FTP in November 2024 reveal the a... Read more >

A new campaign uses a combination of drone, handheld and hidden camera footage to document the conditions inside four intensive dairy farms across Australia. The new footage shows cows living in excrement-covered concrete in zero-graze 'freestall' sheds, where cows have no access to the outdoors for the majority of their lives. Campaigners are calling on the public to boycott dairy products to protest the rise of US-style dairy factory farms, which are becoming more common in Australia.  US-style 'zero-graze' dairy factory farming has come under fire in a new campaign from animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP).  The organisation has released footage from four intensive dairy factory farms in Victoria and NSW, which confine cows to metal... Read more >

Hidden cameras installed at a slaughterhouse in the town of Edenhope have captured workers kicking and striking sheep and pigs while driving them towards the kill floor, as well as animals being ineffectively stunned, and slaughtered while fully conscious. In one instance shown in the footage, a pig is kicked in the face and body 10 times, while on another day a sheep is seen having their throat slit without stunning after escaping onto the kill floor. The footage has been released by animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project; this is the 29th slaughterhouse investigated by the group since May 2023.      Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project, Chris Delforce, says that what was captured at Edenhope is the reality of animal slaughter facilities... Read more >

New footage captured at a Sydney poultry slaughterhouse shows chickens and ducks being killed while fully conscious and able to feel pain. The video showed workers placing ducks on the shackle line after the electrified stun bath, then slitting their throats. Other birds lifted their heads out of the bath, avoiding the water and remaining conscious. The footage was published by Farm Transparency Project and was captured in November 2024 when hidden cameras were installed inside two NSW poultry slaughterhouses.  Footage captured at Tinder Creek duck slaughterhouse in the western Sydney suburb of Tennyson shows chickens and ducks having their throats slit while fully conscious. Video released by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project shows workers at the slaugh... Read more >

Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project has released footage captured inside seven QLD slaughterhouses over a six-week period in August-September 2024.  The footage, obtained through the use of covert cameras installed by the group, shows multiple breaches of state and federal animal welfare legislation, including ineffective stunning, abusive handling of animals, and animals being slaughtered while conscious and aware. At one facility, a sheep is stabbed multiple times and decapitated while still conscious, while pigs are seen drowning in the scalding tank.  Farm Transparency Project is calling for the immediate closure of all seven facilities, which have been reported to the state regulators for illegal, dangerous activity and animal cruelty. The Queens... Read more >

Footage showing pigs suffering from the infectious disease mange, sporting pus-filled abscesses, being cannibalised, and preyed upon by cats and rats, with others confined to 'sow stall' cages, has been released by animal advocacy group Farm Transparency Project. The footage was filmed at five Victorian piggeries, which were visited by unknown investigators who filmed inside 20 piggeries across the weekend of the 18th & 19th January, before anonymously providing video and photos to Farm Transparency Project. The latest footage to be released is from piggeries in Whroo, Yarrawalla, Woodstock West, Macorna and Rushworth. Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency has published footage from five more Victorian pig slaughterhouses, bringing the total up to 20 facilities exp... Read more >

Footage from five more Victorian piggeries has been released by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project. The footage was taken by unknown investigators who filmed inside 20 piggeries across the weekend of the 18th & 19th January, before anonymously providing video and photos to Farm Transparency Project. The latest footage to be released is from piggeries in Leitchville, Bagshot North, St Arnaud and Tragowel. Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency has published footage from five more Victorian pig slaughterhouses, bringing the total up to 15 facilities exposed since the 21st January.  The latest piggeries to be exposed by the group are Hancock Piggery and Macorna Piggery in Leitchville, AJ & NM Carr in Bagshot North, Rivalea's St Arnaud Pi... Read more >

Footage from five more Victorian piggeries has been released by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project. The footage was taken by unknown investigators who filmed inside 20 piggeries across the weekend of the 18th & 19th January, before anonymously providing video and photos to Farm Transparency Project. The latest footage to be released shows pigs in filthy conditions, covered in their own waste; high numbers of dead and dying piglets; pigs living in rat infested sheds; and sow stalls, which the Australian pork industry promised to phase out almost 10 years ago.  Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency has published footage from five more Victorian pig slaughterhouses, bringing the total up to 10 facilities exposed since last week.  Like ... Read more >

Footage from five Victorian piggeries has been released by animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project, who say that a further 15 will be exposed in the coming weeks. Video taken inside the piggery shows dead and dying piglets, dirty conditions, pigs living in their own waste and sows with large pressure sores, cuts and scratches, evidence of fighting between pigs. The footage was gathered by anonymous, civilian investigators over two nights earlier this month. The investigators then provided the footage, and evidence of the date and location of its capture to Farm Transparency Project to review and publish. Footage from the first 5 of 20 commercial pig farms, covertly investigated by animal activists over one weekend earlier this month in an effort to reveal the reality... Read more >

Animal rights campaigners have laid dozens of dead piglets at the offices of Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, in a protest against the government's refusal to address "urgent" animal welfare issues. Advocacy group Farm Transparency Project (FTP) organised the protest after receiving footage showing shocking, filthy and cruel conditions at twenty Victorian piggeries, filmed covertly by dozens of activists over the weekend. Further footage and the names of all twenty facilities will be released by FTP in the coming weeks. Animal rights campaigners have gathered outside the ministerial office of Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, in a protest against the government's continued support of the pig slaughter industry. The group of around 50 protestors laid the bodies of dead piglets ou... Read more >

For more than 10 years, Farm Transparency Project has been a leading force in the exposure of brutal, systemic cruelty in the Australian pig slaughter industry. Our investigations have spanned the entire process of these pigs' lives, from the filthy intensive farms where they are subjected to extreme and prolonged confinement, sexual abuse, surgical mutilations without pain relief, and for those too small or weak to be worth the trouble of raising, a violent end as their heads are smashed onto the concrete floor; to the slaughterhouses where they scream and thrash as they are slowly suffocated by painful carbon dioxide gas, or poorly 'stunned' by bolt guns, rifles or electric prongs, their throats cut while conscious, and their hanging bodies used as punching bags. This industry has rece... Read more >

The Federal Court has refused to block the publication of footage of the slaughter of animals, which was illegally obtained by animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project earlier this year at the Game Meats Company slaughterhouse in Eurobin, Victoria. The organisation will be allowed to publish the footage - which contains evidence of animal cruelty and illegal activity - once the month-long appeal window has passed.  The judgment follows a five-day trial in July where FTP admitted to trespassing at the facility and installing hidden cameras to capture footage of the slaughter of goats. In its judgment handed down today, the Federal Court of Australia has refused to grant an injunction to block the publication of illegally obtained animal slaughter footage, in a lan... Read more >

The South Australian government has confirmed to animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP) that it will not be prosecuting the illegally operating slaughterhouse in Snowtown. The Snowtown Meat Service abattoir, 150km north of Adelaide, was formally reported in July 2023, after hidden cameras placed inside the facility by FTP revealed a complete absence of 'stunning' for goats and sheep, in clear violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Animals are pinned down and their throats cut while fully conscious, before they are shackled and left to slowly bleed out. While the facility has an exemption permitting them to 'stick' animals without prior stunning for Halal meat, they are required to immediately stun animals after sticking to ensure unconsciousness before sha... Read more >

Dear Mr Albanese, I am writing on behalf of Farm Transparency Project, a non-profit animal protection organisation focused on raising public awareness about commercial animal farming and slaughter practices through comprehensive investigations into Australian animal use facilities. Over the past decade, our organisation has investigated a number of facilities and practices, catalysing significant animal welfare reforms. In recent years, this has included: Publishing footage of the foothold trapping and killing of native dingoes in Victoria by government contractors, stimulating debate and likely contributing to the Victorian government ending the practice in parts of the state. Investigating the failed phase-out of sow stalls by the pig farming industry in Victoria, leading to ... Read more >

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Cassy O’Connor and Abigail Boyd join state MPs to call for independent oversight of Australian slaughterhouses Farm Transparency Project, who wrote the letter, says that the government has failed to appropriately investigate hundreds of cases of alleged animal cruelty. The organisation is accusing the government department of corruption, claiming that their actions have raised doubts about their integrity and suitability to monitor and regulate animal welfare. Read the open letter View photos and footage An open letter, signed by a senator, several state MPs and animal protection organisations, is calling on the Prime Minister's office to initiate and support the development of an independent office of animal welfare, which would replace the federal ... Read more >

Hidden camera footage showing the ‘shocking' treatment of animals at a major Melbourne slaughterhouse has been released by animal advocacy group Farm Transparency Project. The footage, which was captured in June this year, depicts workers writing and drawing on the bodies of sheep and goats with blood, animals appearing to have their throats slit while fully conscious, goats and sheep struggling while soaked in the blood of others and even one mother goat giving birth in the stunning restraint, seconds before her throat is slit. The footage was captured at Cedar Meats, which has been rocked by scandals over the last five years, including being previously investigated for animal cruelty (2019) and worker safety breaches (2021). It was also the location of the largest cluster of ... Read more >

New hidden camera footage has been captured at a Victorian slaughterhouse, which has been previously exposed twice for animal cruelty. The footage, captured this year by Farm Transparency Project, shows sheep and goats being beaten and thrown by workers, as well as having their throats slit while fully conscious. MD Foods (formerly Riverside Meats) reopened in 2021, three years after shutting down. A 2016 investigation revealing significant animal cruelty had led to a mandated installation of CCTV to monitor slaughter. View photos and footage Animal advocacy organisation Farm Transparency Project has released new hidden camera footage, taken during a covert investigation by the group earlier this year.  The footage was captured at MD Foods Australia, an export-accredited, ... Read more >

A landmark legal trial has begun this week in the Federal Court of Australia, to determine whether animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project will be restricted from publishing footage from a Victorian slaughterhouse operated by the Game Meats Company. In May, The Game Meats Company sought an urgent court order against Farm Transparency Project to censor the publication of hidden camera footage showing the slaughter of hundreds of goats at their slaughterhouse in northeast Victoria. Farm Transparency Project says that this lawsuit is an attempt by the slaughterhouse to hide its practices from the public, and that Farm Transparency will be defending consumers' right to know what happens to animals killed for food in Australia. A landmark trial has begun this week in t... Read more >

Animal rights advocates are demanding that the survivors from a horrific cattle truck crash that happened last night in South Yarra be released into the care of an animal sanctuary. The truck crashed into the Cremorne Railway Bridge over Alexandra Avenue, South Yarra at around 8.30pm last night. It was carrying dairy cows and calves, presumably on their way to be slaughtered. Advocacy group Farm Transparency Project attended the site to document the crash and are now calling for the surviving cows to be released to an animal sanctuary.  Animal rights campaigners from Farm Transparency Project are calling for the survivors of a horrific cattle truck crash in South Yarra last night to be released to an animal sanctuary, rather than sent to slaughter.  Investigators from... Read more >