Shocking Cruelty At Blantyre Piggeries Exposed By Animal Activists

After much anticipation, graphic vision is released from Edwina Beveridge’s Blantyre Farms.

Two intensive piggeries near Young NSW owned by Edwina Beveridge have been exposed by Animal Liberation ACT and NSW. In May this year, Edwina found hidden cameras in the farrowing crates of one of her piggeries, and set a trap for activists, sending eight men out to “hunt” them when they came to investigate the conditions at her facility, and destroyed their car. Despite this display of violence, Edwina talked publicly about how violated she felt and how firmly she believes in the welfare standards at her piggeries.

Footage taken by handheld and hidden cameras shows large numbers of dead and dying piglets; sows with injuries or less than two inches to move within their farrowing crates; the manager and other employees abusing sows by beating and jabbing them in the face, eyes and side with poles and other abusive implements; employees carelessly throwing live piglets into trolleys; cannibalism in overcrowded growing-out sheds; piglets crushed by their mothers who have great difficulty standing or lying down; and evidence of forceful artificial insemination in a “rape shed”.

Clare Atkinson, spokesperson for Animal Liberation ACT, said: “This is some of the worst cruelty and abuse we’ve seen since our investigation into Wally’s Piggery last year. The manager is seen hitting these pigs day after day, and nobody stops him or seems to care. The pigs see him coming and are terrified, trying to stand up in time but can’t due to their weakness and the slippery metal floor. This is the same guy who claimed that activists caused the deaths of piglets by ‘scaring and spooking’ the sows, when in the handheld footage, sows are clearly very calm around activists.”

Mark Pearson, spokesperson for Animal Liberation NSW, has recently had an Apprehended Violence Order sought on him by Edwina Beveridge, despite never seeing her or stepping foot on her property. Mr Pearson said, “Ms Beveridge has proven here the sort of violence she feels is acceptable, while trying desperately to prevent this footage from reaching the Australian public. She knows most people would be horrified if they knew what she and her employees do every day to the pigs in her care.”

The footage was released on Tuesday night, 5 November 2013, and can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/78524078. Photos and further information can be found on the campaign website, www.aussiepigs.com/piggeries/golden-grove and www.aussiepigs.com/piggeries/dhg. Further information about the incident in May, including the damage by employees to the activists’ car, can be seen at:
www.aussiepigs.com/abusers/blantyre-edwina-beveridge.