Supermarkets halt orders from farm where pig kicking filmed

Three of the UK's biggest supermarkets have suspended supplies from a pig farm after footage filmed covertly by an animal rights organisation appeared to show workers kicking piglets and hitting them with boards and paddles.

- Donna Ferguson

Footage suggested the injured pigs with open wounds were packed into pens covered in faeces, with some left lame and writhing in pain at Somerby Top Farm in Lincolnshire.

Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's said they had immediately suspended supplies from the farm, which also reportedly supplies Morrisons, after becoming aware of the footage.

The farm was bought by Cranswick, Britain's largest pork supplier, in 2023 and was audited and certified by the welfare and food assurance scheme Red Tractor in October 2024.

The Animal Justice Project (AJP) said it filmed the abuse between May 2024 and January this year.

It claimed cameras hidden across the farm over this 10-month period showed legally required welfare checks often ignored, visible injuries and suffering, such as a pig who was bleeding from a ruptured hernia, with official inspections of 1,000 pigs taking as little as 90 seconds.