In East Sussex, UK there will be one less slaughterhouse cruelly taking the lives of animals thanks to a combination of brave activists and economics.
Broad Oak Abattoir at Tottingworth Farm has had to end their pig killing factory in part due to the lower demand they’ve been getting and the fervor activists have whipped up over the last 18 months on their doorstep.
Heathfield a spokesperson for the farm told the Farmers Guardian that they would no longer be serving pig farmers and that when the news was first announced many local businesses placed the blame on the animal rights activists.
Of course, activists had a hand in the closure but so did the decrease in demand that created a situation for the business where they weren’t making enough money to stay open.
It’s very likely the large crowds of protestors constantly blocking trucks didn’t help business much despite what their spokesperson had to say.
“It is not just because of vegan protestors who have been coming for a while but pig numbers have gone down considerably over the years. We used to do more than 150 pigs a week but this last week it was only 58. It is not financially viable.” said the farm’s spokesperson
A local farmer in the area who used the slaughterhouse wished to remain anonymous when commenting to the Farmers Guardian saying now local farmers had “nowhere to go” and he went on to say that it would be “very hard to start a new abattoir in the southeast.”
“I would say it is right that it is not just protesters. It is a complicated issue but farmers are very nervous about losing vital infrastructure,” he continued
“They have had a great deal of trouble for years from protesters and people will see this as a consequence of the intimidation.”
Sussex Animal Save who had held continuing protests over the years but intensely over the last 18 months posted to Facebook about the slaughterhouses closing:
“Tottingworth Farm has stopped killing pigs at their slaughterhouse. For the last 18 months, Sussex Animal Save have been attending vigils outside of Tottingworth Farm, to bear witness to mostly pigs, before they are forcibly taken to the killing floor to have their lives needlessly taken.
We have recently seen a significant drop from the number of pigs going through to be slaughtered, and we have every reason to believe that our work is having a big impact on the demand of animal products.
By turning up once a month, showing the public that Tottingworth Farm operates as a slaughterhouse when closing their café, which sits a short distance away from where we hear the screams of hundreds of animals every Monday.
Our aims have always been to bear witness to the animal’s plight and acknowledge, honour and expose their stories.
Two months ago we a pig covered in blood, sitting in a truck, before being killed for food.
When Sussex Animal Save approached the farmers about this pig, members of SAS were told that the pigs had “probably fighting or playing”.
We also asked if the Pig could seek veterinary assistance, however, our concerns were shrugged off and the farmers claimed that this was normal, which highlights how conditioned this business is towards the systematic abuse these animals have to face.
We are pleased to hear that Tottingworth Farm will no longer be killing pigs on their farm, around 90% of the animals we see at the vigil are pigs.
We are aware that this means that TF will continue to slaughter cows and sheep; we will continue to show up on a Monday and bear witness to these animals, to expose their plight, and underline the unnecessary suffering until they stop profiting from the lives of beautiful and innocent beings.”
The slaughterhouse was well known by activists for supplying the so-called “ethical supermarket” Hisbe in Brighton. This is also a reason they targeted this slaughterhouse since it helped perpetuate the “humane lie” in an attempt to ease consumer’s minds about eating animals.
In the picture above linked to the animal rights organization’s Facebook post you can see the graphic picture of a bloodied pig the activists pleaded with the farm to help.
“Meet your organic bacon. We were appalled with what we had saw, the pig looked anxious and distressed.” a comment from the group reads
“We told the owner of Tottingworth Farm about the condition of the pig and they said ‘the pig was probably fighting or playing’.”
Sussex Animal Save said they tried to get the farmer to call out a veterinarian to assess the pig but they were ignored and the farmer insisted the pig was going to slaughter.
These activists stood their ground for months on end as they bore witness to the horrors these innocents go through and in the end they succeeded.
As the years roll on we will see far more of these victories as a combination of plant-based substitutes and animal rights makes harming animals for profit financially impossible.
Retraction: We have been contacted by Sussex Animal Save members who let us know that our story was not accurate. It turns out that only the pig murdering has ended at the facility and other animals are still being murdered there.
We apologize for the misinformation. We should not have trusted an industry publication who was obviously being hyperbolic and alarmist in an attempt to whip up their base of farmers.
Help Vegan News continue to get the news that matters to our community and help us move forward in these hard times.
You can help us continue creating and telling the stories of animals and activists by becoming a Patreon supporter at: https://www.patreon.com/vegannews
Or with a one time donation through:
Venmo: @VeganNews
CashApp: @VeganNews
Paypal: PayPal.Me/vegannews
Vegan News 