New disturbing footage this time centres on Sowerby Top Farm near Barnetby, which the firm acquired in 2023
A full investigation into all on-farm practices has been launched by Hull supermarket supplier Cranswick after fresh allegations of animal cruelty were made against the company. Earlier this year Cranswick – the UK’s largest pork producer – halted operations at Northmoor Farm, near Market Rasen, in May when undercover filming allegedly captured staff mistreating piglets at the site.
The upsetting footage appeared to show employees holding piglets by their back legs before hurling them against the ground, using a banned killing technique dubbed “piglet thumping”. The footage was gathered in 2024 by an undercover Animal Justice Project (AJP) investigator, and also included alleged extreme maltreatment, excessively cramped conditions, neglect of animals and routine mutilations.
It resulted in Cranswick committing to not selling any pigs that were reared at the farm, as well as the launch of an independent probe which, as we previously reported, it recently said was well advanced. But now fresh footage has been released by the same animal protection organisation, this time gathered at a different pig farm acquired by the company – Somerby Top farm at Barnetby – which it claims shows incidences of pigs being subjected to severe cannibalism, including being eaten alive by other pigs due to ruptured hernias, as well as alleged violent handling during loading with animals being beaten and kicked during slaughter loading.
Footage also shows piglets allegedly deemed unfit for transport – those with open hernias and open wounds, abscesses, and lameness – being loaded and removed from the site. Animal Justice Project claims workers also carried out superficial checks, by walking past pens and merely glancing at animals. One observed inspection of 1,000 pigs is said to have lasted just 90 seconds.
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Claire Palmer, director of Animal Justice Project, said: “This is the worst cannibalism we have ever documented. Pigs were literally being eaten alive, suffering ruptures, infections and horrific injuries.
“This isn’t natural behaviour – it’s the product of intense boredom, crowding and despair. Cranswick has created these conditions, not the pigs. The public should be appalled.”
Both North Moor and Somerby Top farms were acquired by Cranswick in late 2023. Since acquisition, Cranswick said it has invested significantly in the farms to improve the welfare conditions, working practices and culture, aligned to the rest of the Cranswick-operated farms.
The footage of Somerby Top was filmed between May 2024 and Jan 2025, and was shared with Cranswick this month. After viewing the footage and photos, Cranswick told us immediate action was taken, including the launch of a vet-led investigation.
The company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange on the FTSE250 market, said a number of measures have been introduced. It said the vet-led review is under way with a significant number of farm visits and staff interviews already completed, and that the findings will not be shared with Cranswick – nor on a wider basis – until the project is completed.
Employees were suspended immediately – one of whom was implicated in incidences at both of the farms – and have now left the business, and new management teams have been appointed at the firms. Cranswick has also introduced enhanced staff training, with refresher training completed and additional welfare modules added.
The business has also changed its policy relating to euthanasia, banning the use of non-mechanical manual blunt force trauma – piglet thumping – across all sites. Five new field-based welfare officers have been employed to carry out unannounced spot audits and ensure units are run in accordance with stringent operating standards.
Notably, it is also installing advanced AI-capable CCTV at all 45 indoor farms to monitor on farm activity, allowing the company to identify any concerns relating to the health of livestock whilst monitoring the behaviour of its farm-based teams. It said the move will also allow Cranswick to continually improve on farm activity.
Somerby Top, it says, was the first system installed and around 50% of these farms are now streaming live footage. Additional farms are coming on stream each week.
A Cranswick spokesman said: “The health and welfare of our pigs is our highest priority and we were horrified to see this unacceptable historic footage, filmed at Somerby Top farm. As with the North Moor Farm footage, released in May 2025, the content was recorded several months ago but has only very recently been shared with us.
“We find the treatment of the pigs in the footage distressing to watch and we apologise unreservedly for this lapse in our standards. It does not in any way reflect the operating practices at our farms today.
“Since May, we have been implementing major changes across all of our farming businesses to address the challenges raised within the footage. We have changed the management team at these farms and staff shown in the footage no longer work for the business. We have recruited five new full time welfare officers. All of our farm colleagues have been retrained in livestock handling, with a strong focus on animal health and welfare. We are currently installing AI enabled CCTV at all of our indoor farms to enable us to monitor the health of our pigs and the behaviour of our colleagues, in real time, to ensure our exacting standards are consistently met.
“Following the release of the North Moor Farm footage and as previously announced, we have commissioned a full review of our on-farm practices, which is being completed by an independent veterinarian professional. We will share the results of this investigation when it is complete.”