Ducks destined for Tesco and other supermarkets swung by necks and slammed into drawers in harrowing video
Secret camera footage shows ducks swung by their necks, slammed into drawers and hurled to the ground at a farm supplying the UK’s largest duck-meat producer, which sells to the UK’s biggest supermarkets.
The video was shot when birds destined for Gressingham Duck, which supplies Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op and until recently Waitrose, were being caught at a farm endorsed by farming-standards project Red Tractor.
Animal-rights activists said the “shocking and harrowing” footage revealed the brutal and inhumane treatment of nearly 10,000 intensively farmed ducks that were just 44 days old.
After The Independent showed the clips to Gressingham Foods and supermarkets, the duck giant suspended the farm, and Waitrose cut ties with it.
The RSPCA responded by banning the workers involved from catching turkeys and chickens on farms that are certified under its RSPCA Assured scheme.
Suffolk-based Gressingham, which produces most of the nine million UK ducks slaughtered every year through its contractor farms, says that as well as supermarkets, it supplies specialist butchers and top restaurants nationwide.
Animal-rights organisation Animal Justice Project (AJP), which filmed undercover in June and August at Byram Park Farm in North Yorkshire, said the footage showed “extreme abuse inflicted upon ducks”.
Director Claire Palmer said it also showed violations of welfare laws and government regulations during the crating and loading of nearly 10,000 ducks, which took just over two hours.
The “deplorable” conditions in which ducks were kept left them suffering high rates of feather loss, according to AJP.
“The footage shows numerous ducks ‘back-peddling’, unable to right themselves,” said Ms Palmer. “Catching is a secretive side of the industry, and this highlights the systemic issues in it.”
She said the video showed:
Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor of animal welfare, said the way the birds were handled was “frequently callous, and likely to result in severe suffering”.
“Treatment of the ducks in this video was likely to cause serious injuries and deaths, prior to which some ducks would have endured severe suffering. Examples were numerous.
“I was also concerned about the insanitary conditions evident… This is a welfare concern for these ducks, and also potentially risks the health of consumers later eating their meat.”
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “Ducks are sentient creatures and should never be treated like this. We have notified the government Animal Plant and Health Agency so they can carry out a full and independent investigation.
A worker kicks a duck
“We have prohibited the company from allowing the people in the footage to carry out any catches on farms that are RSPCA Assured certified.”
A Gressingham spokeswoman said: “The footage is from a contract farm, with contract catching teams, that supply some of our birds. The film contains images of some working practices that are completely unacceptable to us, in particular the handling of the birds.
“The welfare of our birds is an absolute priority and we expect all our farms to work to the highest standards of welfare and biosecurity.
“The practices shown are a very serious breach of these standards, and the farm has been suspended from our supply chain with immediate effect whilst the investigation is ongoing.”
Ducks were carried by their beaks or necks
A vet said conditions were ‘insanitary’
