Smashed head first against the concrete floor, castrated alive… The list of mistreatment suffered by pigs from a farm in Corbeil, in Marne, throughout the video broadcast by the L214 association is chilling in the back. The 18-minute film published on the website of the collective specializing in this type of revelation about the meat industry is the result of four months of investigation. The breeding in question has 4,000 animals and depends on a cooperative working for the industrialist Herta as well as artisan butchers.

Some images broadcast are unbearable. We thus see a cat feeding on a piglet just killed by “slamming” (violent projection to the ground), a method which is nevertheless prohibited, and left dying on the ground. Sows are beaten with trowels to force them to stand up, allowing staff to retrieve their deceased offspring from the pen. Sick animals, some clearly victims of organ damage, do not seem to be treated. Once dead, they rot in the rendering tanks where they are devoured by worms.

The practice of casting has been prohibited for more than 25 years, and live castration since January 2022. “This is the first report that we have received since the legislation came into force,” indicates Bérénice Riaux, from the L214 association. “Unfortunately, squeezing is a commonly used practice when piglets are weak or in excess,” says the animal rights activist.

In response, the prefect of Marne ordered an inspection on the breeding farm in question this Thursday. The procedure must “verify the operating conditions provided for by the regulations in force for this type of breeding”, according to the prefecture. The department’s veterinary services will also conduct an inspection by the end of the week. Contacted, INAPORC, the national pork inter-professional association which brings together the different professions in the sector, wishes to await the conclusions of the specialists before making a decision. “These images are shocking of course, but they are taken out of context,” replies Anne Richard, the director of the organization. According to her, “this video is produced and distributed by activists, with the aim of distancing the public from meat consumption”.

The Marne prefecture ensures that nearly 13,000 animal welfare checks were carried out by the State last year, giving rise to 230 reports and 1,440 formal notices. In its press release, L214 calls on the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, to demand “an end to the beating of piglets and all forms of castration”. A petition with identical demands and highlighted on the association’s website has already collected more than 44,000 signatures.