- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Tesco has suspended one of its pork suppliers and launched an investigation into the farm after footage emerged of piglets being raised in 'wretched' conditions.
Videos obtained with hidden cameras by Animal Equality activists in October last year and January and June this year revealed employees at Cross Farm in Holsworthy Beacon, Devon, murdering the piglets by swinging them against concrete walls.
The practice is a form of euthanasia known as 'thumping' and is legal in Britain as long as the pigs are under four weeks old and are suffering after all other treatments have failed.
The Cross Farm workers were also caught cutting the baby pig's tails, allegedly without anaesthetic, which is legal to prevent tail biting only if all other methods have been exhausted.
It was also unveiled that dead piglets were being left to decompose just inches away from their mothers. Other clips showed workers rounding up baby pigs and throwing them around.
Pictures from another undercover investigation by Advocates for Animals of Cross Farm in March show piglets being kept in filthy flooded conditions
Another picture from the undercover investigation in March show pigs unable to move in their pen due to overcrowding
A farmhand was caught throwing straw into the face of a piglet's mother after she became agitated.
Abigail Penny, the Animal Equality activist group's executive director, said: 'Pigs on Cross Farm struggle and suffer in the most abysmal conditions.
'Our footage shows the wretched reality that so many mother pigs face on British farms today.'
Tesco said it has temporarily suspended supply from Cross Farm while it conducts an investigation after being sent the shocking footage.
Cross Farm is owned by WJ Watkins and Son and holds around 12,000 pigs.
An image from the investigation in March shows a mother pig being kept in a cage in a farrowing unit
The investigation in March revealed that pigs were suffering from untreated wounds. Pictured: a piglet with an untreated hernia
This is not the first instance of poor treatment on the farm, despite it being Red Tractor-certified.
In March, an undercover investigation found pigs cannibalising each other and suffering from untreated wounds.
Another exposé by Animal Equality in 2017, published by The Times, found animals living in dirty flooded buildings with no dry areas for them to rest.
A spokesman for Red Tractor, founded by the National Farmers' Union in 2000 to certify food produced to a 'high standard', said it had temporarily suspended the farm's certificate but a surprise spot check found 'the farm had already implemented some measures to address issues raised in the footage'.
The spokesman told The Times: 'The farm's certificate has therefore been reinstated but the business will remain under close scrutiny.'
The National Pig Association, said the farm had implemented 'urgent remediate action' to improve standards.
The full statement said: 'The welfare of our animals and how they are cared for on our farm is absolutely paramount to our staff and business.
'Indeed, in the instances we have been made aware of examples which fall below the standard we would expect, urgent remediate action has been taken and we have cooperated with numerous and comprehensive independent inspections including farm assurance, APHA and the supply chain, and will continue to do so.'
A statement from Red Tractor said: 'Animal welfare standards are a top priority for Red Tractor and we take allegations of this type very seriously.
'The undercover footage raised some concerns about compliance so the farm's Red Tractor certificate was temporarily suspended while we investigated.
'An independent assessor has been on farm to conduct an unannounced spot check, which found the farm had already implemented some measures to address issues raised in the footage.
'The farm's certificate has therefore been reinstated but the business will remain under close scrutiny, receiving additional unannounced spot checks to monitor ongoing compliance.'
Tesco and Cross Farm have been approached by MailOnline for further comment.
