These pigs were crammed into this truck for more than 30 hours straight in sweltering heat without food or water.
In the first investigation of 2022, which was featured in an article by The Guardian, we documented pigs transported by truck more than 1,200 miles over more than 30 hours in temperatures up to 91 degrees with no stops for the pigs to eat, drink, or rest. The pigs were screaming at night while they were crammed together in the trailer.
We determined what the undercover investigators documented violates the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, which prohibits the transport of animals for more than 28 consecutive hours without unloading them for at least five hours of rest and to provide water and food. These pigs, scared and overcrowded on a noisy highway, suffered for over a day in the grueling heat without a break. This cruelty is clearly against the law and, with your help, we’re calling on the USDA and the Department of Justice to take action to protect these animals.
This year we obtained video through public records requests of experiments conducted by North Carolina State University (NCSU), studying the effects of ventilation shutdown (VSD) on chickens. VSD is a cruel method of mass-killing farmed animals whereby barns are sealed and airflow is cut off. The animals slowly suffocate or die of heat stress. VSD+ adds heat or carbon dioxide to aid in killing the animals.
Each bird, enclosed in a small box, can be seen writhing, gasping, panting, staggering and throwing themselves against the walls of their confinement in a desperate attempt to escape. Eventually the birds die from heat and suffocation.
This torturous method of killing is being used every day across the country. Millions of animals have been killed in this fashion due to avian flu outbreaks.
Multiple birds were killed by intense heat and suffocation in cruel VSD experiments.
We need your help to send a clear message - VSD is cruel and can’t be accepted as a widescale practice in the animal agriculture industry.
This year, undercover investigators also visited 18 live markets in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. They documented shocking cruelty including a live turtle having their head chopped off, fish being bludgeoned before being dismembered, frogs kept in tubs with no water, and animals being put into plastic bags while still alive, prolonging their suffering.
A dead fish upside down in a tank at a
live market.
Also documented were fish swimming weakly upside down in small, shallow plastic containers, fish surrounded by dead and dying animals, fish left to suffocate out of water, and fish with visible wounds. We notified law enforcement of our findings and to date one market has been cited for animal cruelty.
These investigations are critical to exposing the truth about the animal agriculture industry. This industry fights hard to hide the truth, but we all have the power to fight back and refuse to buy the cruelty they are selling, by choosing to eat vegan today.
I'd also like to share with you our 2022 year-in-review video, which not only highlights the above investigations, but all of the achievements which were made possible with your support this year.
Thank you. Together we will build a better tomorrow for all animals.
With gratitude,
Cheryl Leahy
Executive Director
P.S. For a donation of $100 or more, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocence, published by We Animals Media.
Thank you to Dr. Bronner’s for their ongoing support of Animal Outlook’s undercover investigations.
As a non-profit organization, Animal Outlook relies on donations from caring, generous people like you. Every dollar matters. Your support makes a world of difference to farmed animals.
