Shocking cruelties at Italian slaughterhouse

Disturbing footage documenting multiple violations of animal welfare laws by a leading company in Italy's meat distribution sector.

The investigation reveals brutalities against pigs at an industrial slaughterhouse in Lombardy. The footage shows mistreatment and systematic violations of animal welfare regulations.

The slaughterhouse is owned by Zema SRL, a company in the province of Cremona that has been involved in the slaughter and processing of pork since 1987 and is one of the many «Made in Italy» labels.

Of the more than 800’000 pigs raised annually in the Cremona area, approximately 150’000 are killed at this slaughterhouse.

Although the company markets itself as animal welfare-conscious, the investigation by Animal Equality at its facility reveals a very different reality.

The footage shows numerous instances of animal mistreatment, including:

• Animals mutilated prior to stunning through ineffective or inefficient methods
• Animals slaughtered insufficiently or while still conscious
• Multiple animals housed simultaneously in stunning cages, in violation of animal welfare regulations
• Animals falling from trucks or being pushed off by workers, with no ramps available for unloading the animals
• Workers mistreating animals (shoving, hitting with rods, dragging animals by their ears or feet), systematic violations and cruelty
• An operator repeatedly striking a pig on the head with an iron bar, hurling the animal against a wall, and throwing the dying animal's body over a fence

The analysis of these images by veterinarians and legal experts in animal welfare reveals a lack of oversight and compliance by operators at every stage of meat production (from the arrival of the animals to their death).

Although Animal Equality has already filed two complaints with the public prosecutor's office and one complaint for misleading advertising with the AGCM against Zema SRL since April 2020, nothing appears to have changed and there has been no response from the authorities.

This investigation has once again exposed the mistreatment and brutality inflicted on animals in the agricultural and food chain, as well as the complete absence of adequate oversight and compliance with animal welfare laws. We cannot accept that this situation remains unchanged, and we will continue to fight to ensure that animal rights are genuinely protected.

Alice Trombetta, Director of Animal Equality Italia

In December 2017, Animal Equality launched a petition addressed to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture to put an end to a series of systematic cruelties that occur every day in Italian slaughterhouses. The campaign, supported by the findings of investigations in Italian slaughterhouses, has so far received over 200’000 signatures from Italian citizens calling for stricter controls, the installation of surveillance systems such as CCTV, and the mandatory stunning of animals without exception.