• 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 of commercial pig farming to the public, has been published by animal rights organisation Farm Transparency Project.

The piggeries have been named as Markanda Piggery in Wyuna East, Girgarre Piggery in Kyabram, Sunpork's Nagambie Breeder in Bailiestown, Kia-Ora Piggery in Yarrawalla and Rivalea's Calivil Breeder in Calivil.

The footage shows sows and 'grower pigs' living in pens filled with their own waste, some bearing cuts and scrapes that indicate frequent fights between the animals. The video also shows inside farrowing sheds, where mother pigs (sows) are kept in small pens for up to six weeks while they give birth and nurse their young. Dead and dying piglets are common, with the videos showing investigators wearing biosecurity gear, carefully collecting the bodies of dead piglets, which were later laid outside the office of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, in a protest against what Farm Transparency Project describes as 'the inherent cruelty of the pig meat industry.' The piglets were later buried on a private property.

Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project, Chris Delforce, says that the Australian pig meat industry is 'entirely irredeemable,' and the government must support farmers to rapidly transition away from a business that is out of sync with Australian values.

"What we see in the footage we've published today is the reality inside every farm that raises pigs for slaughter. These animals, known to have the same level of intelligence as a three-year old child, are crammed together in rat infested sheds, living and sleeping in their own waste or else confined to tiny cages with barely enough room to lie down. Mother pigs spend hours or days surrounded by the bodies of their dead and dying piglets, unable to reach them or even to prevent themselves from crushing their tiny bodies."

"The reality is, the Australian pig farming contributes 0.029% of Australia's total employment in 2023-2024 and only 2% of Victoria's total value of agricultural production. Yet somehow, the Australian pig industry, led by lobby groups such as Australian Pork Limited, have tricked our government into believing that what they do is essential. For over 10 years, the pig industry has been shown to be one of the largest and most horrific causes of animal suffering in Australia. The time for small improvements has long since past. It needs to be shut down, and it needs to be shut down now."

Delforce says that his organisation is currently reviewing the footage from the remaining 15 places and will be releasing footage from each of them in the coming weeks. Farm Transparency Project has reported the five facilities published today to Agriculture Victoria for suspected breaches of animal welfare laws, which Delforce describes as 'woefully inadequate.'

View the footage and photos: www.farmtransparency.org/campaigns/victorian-piggeries-2025