Norway Farm, Bempton, Yorkshire

Posted on the 23rd January 2009

(Filmed April 2008 and January 2009)

Norway Farm is part of Melrose Pigs Ltd. John Rowbottom is a director of Melrose Pigs Ltd and a member of the National Pig Association Producer Group, as well as sitting on the BPEX board.

April 2008:

Some sows held in the farrowing crates suffer bloody pressure sores on their shoulders from lying on the slatted floor.
One piglet lies dying next to his mother. Others – all of whom appear to have been tail docked – scamper over the top of him. Another in the same litter lies on the slats, his knee joint painfully inflamed.
Outside in the dirt lies the body of a sow who has been culled. And close by stands a metal bin, half full of dead piglets.
In another area, more than 100 pigs are kept together with little room to move. Inquisitive pigs pick their way through the thick layer of slippery filth. In this group, almost all who approached the camera bore the marks of bullying – bloody ears, and bite marks across their faces, necks, ears and shoulders. One had clearly had part of her ear bitten off, and the wound continued to bleed.
In a separate unit, pigs – probably breeding sows not ready for farrowing – are kept in a group. Here they are given straw to lie on. In this environment, the pigs appear more relaxed.

January 2009:

Despite media interest in BPEX-run units, Norway Farm continues to reveal many distressing sights.
In one farrowing crate, a blackened dead piglet lies alongside his mother while a sibling tugs at his pathetic body.
In just one crate, one piglet lies dead, another caught up in the placenta is struggling to breathe, while a third sits alone, hunched and clearly in pain.
In another crate, the face of one small victim can be seen crushed beneath his immobile mother.