SADISTIC CRUELTY AT ‘AWARD-WINNING' UK DAIRY EXPOSED (WARNING GRAPHIC)

251 at Albion's farm. Case Joey Armstrong here. I'm in dairy farming Romford. Received a tip off. Got a lot of these reports here. I'm going to set up some cameras, all right? >> Albion's farm is a multi-award-winning dairy farm in Essex. It's celebrated for their high milk yields, fertility rates, and animal [music] welfare. >> The philosophy is here, if you've got happy, healthy cows, you will get good, nutritious milk. >> The farm is situated on a Crown Estate and supplies major food brands, >> [music] >> providing milk to Muller and calves to Warrendale Wagyu, as endorsed by Gordon Ramsay. >> So, here's your Wagyu burger. Mouth-watering. I should know. >> Wait, did you actually make this, mate? >> No. >> But what Gordon doesn't know is that behind [music] the prestige and promises of animal welfare by the farm's proud owners, there's a darker reality taking place. >> I've come here to talk to you about some serious allegations about your staff in here abusing the animals. >> Over a period of 18 months, our hidden cameras recorded shocking scenes of animal cruelty. This is all the graphic footage that we couldn't show you in the main documentary. >> Get up. >> What does a cow need to have to start producing milk? It needs to have a baby cow. >> After years of conditioning, it can be easy to forget that cows produce milk for the same reason all mammals do. For their young. Having enjoyed 9 months of pregnancy and hours of difficult labor, finally, her new calf is born. Immediately, her maternal [music] instincts kick in. She begins cleaning and caring for her baby with gentleness and affection. It's clear there's a strong bond between mother and calf. But, the time they have together is brief. Soon, this tender beginning is abruptly brought to an end. Within a matter of hours, the worker arrives, begins to kick this new mother in the face to separate her from her calf who is barely able to stand. Confused and scared, the new calves are dragged by their fragile limbs as distressed mothers give chase. The maternal instincts of this mother cow is on display as her anxiety and concern for her calf grows stronger. She attempts to protect her calf from the worker, but is punished for it. The newborn is carelessly dragged across the cold, feces-ridden concrete and is slammed into the wall on the way. Separation of calves prevents them drinking the milk meant for sale. This newborn has struggled to adjust to artificial feeding methods, and the worker dangerously force-feeds them formula. These calves could face one of many fates. Some killed at 2 weeks old, others at 6 months old for veal. Or at Alvins, some are taken away to be grown and killed for the Wagyu beef trade to supply award-winning [music] Audi steaks or Wagyu burgers at Burger King. >> So, here's your [music] Wagyu burger. >> Albany farm erupts with the haunting sounds of the broken-hearted mothers who will never have contact with their babies again. You know each cow inside out, who its mother was, who its grandmother was, what daughters it's got on the ground. Selected females will make up the milk herd. And like their mothers before them, will be forcibly impregnated to start the milk production cycle. At Albany farm, they follow standard practice. This means being forced into a cattle crush. To perform artificial insemination, a worker inserts an entire gloved arm into the cow's rectum to hold the cervix. And a pipette of semen is then inserted into the cow's vaginal passage to impregnate her. Our footage shows how uncomfortable this is for cows. They can be seen struggling against the restraint. The abuse we uncovered during this process was disturbing. >> [screaming] >> The workers dominate and terrorize the unwilling cows. Making perverted jokes as they violate them. >> You prick her. You prick her. >> This cow was injured and can no longer stand. The worker appears uninterested but finds an opportunity to punch another cow in the face. This young cow appears visibly distressed as they left unattended in the restraint waiting for their turn. The cattle crusher Albers is also used for ear tagging and other procedures. The pain here is palpable as the young cows flinch and struggle in agony. Others are restrained in order to put magnets into their stomach, supposed to be for the cows' benefit. Instead, the cow's beaten with the instrument. It's treatment like this. It's no wonder the cows apprehensive. These cows sustained a prolonged attack, hit, whipped, and poked with the insemination device. >> What the [ __ ] is that civilian [ __ ] cow? Get up. >> Hillman's farm is celebrated for their breeding using semen from the genetics company called Genus ABS. They've selectively bred their cows to give more and more milk on less and less feed. But the results of selective breeding are disturbing. With miserable cows carrying udders so heavy they can barely walk. Contributing to injuries like lameness. They also suffer foot problems from walking in feces. This cattle [music] crush here is used to treat foot injuries. A man is seen scraping the infection from the hoof without anesthetic. The cow writhes in agony. Whether injured or not, the cows are forced to continue down the production line. >> So these are our milking cows here. >> This area is the milking parlor. A central part of the dairy farm. The cows are milked here multiple times a day. The milk is then supplied to Muller. Where it's used to make [music] a range of dairy products for major supermarkets including Tesco. >> Come on. >> Moving cows in and out of the milking parlor is supposed to be done with care. But our footage reveals the opposite. Here a worker is seen twisting a cow's sensitive tail. The goal is to inflict pain to control the animal. This illegal practice can cause serious injuries and was not isolated but widespread. Because of this, many cows appeared to have broken tails. This was only a fraction of the abuse captured by our hidden cameras. Cows are routinely slapped and kicked in the head and other sensitive areas. They are visibly terrified of the workers. One worker is seen burning a cow's face with a lit cigarette. Others are caught violating cows with keys and broom handles. >> [music] >> We sent footage from two separate years to an independent welfare specialist to assess the scale of the abuse documented at Albans farm. >> The footage demonstrated widespread illegality of at least nine types. In total, I detected [music] at least 281 cases of illegality in the first and 360 [music] cases in the second. This is significant as it suggests that there have been no improvements since 2024 regarding animal welfare management on this farm. And if anything, the situation has worsened. >> So it looks like it's been happening for a while and they've been getting away with it. But who keeps auditing Albans and passing them with no non-conformity issues? >> Here at Red Tractor, [music] we understand you're looking to food you can trust. >> Red Tractor. They claim welfare for the farming members is a top priority and that they work with independent [music] inspectors to make sure their standards are being met year-round. But despite all these supposed checks and safeguards, nothing appears to have changed at Adams. In fact, they got worse. Just so you can see how bad it was here, I'm going to play a compilation of clips without speaking and let the footage speak for itself. >> Oh, smell my guts for bacon. Oh, you [ __ ] ass. [ __ ] Oh, you [ __ ] ass. Smell my [ __ ] dick. Hey. [ __ ] face. Yeah, grab my Oh, [ __ ] Smell my dick. [ __ ] Get off your [ __ ] ass. Oh, [ __ ] [ __ ] SMELL MY DICK. YEAH. YEAH. COME ON, YOU [ __ ] YEAH. >> [music] >> SMELL MY [ __ ] dick. [ __ ] face. >> [music] [music] >> Say it again, you twatty little [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] ass. Come on. Hey. Come on. COME ON. HEY. COME ON. HEY. >> IT'S TIME TO CONFRONT THE man with the ultimate responsibility for these animals. >> Can you turn that off? >> Owner of Curtis N. Hollstein Limited has been elected to various high positions in the dairy industry and has won multiple prestigious awards in the sector. The workers committing the criminal cruelty were hired by the owner, operate under his authority, and still work there, which means the responsibility for what happened to those cows lies squarely on him. >> You don't want to know what's happened here? >> Um >> You'll find out. You're going to find out. >> Right. >> Yeah, and you're going to be in a lot of heat. >> Until I know what you've got and >> Okay. I'll Do you want me to Do you want me to rattle rattle it out to you? Tail twisting? Kicking udders? Cigarette burning cows in the face? Smashing gates on cows? Uh sharp instruments, goads? Huh? >> very strong. >> Attacking cows with insemination tubes? Huh? >> Insemination tubes? >> Yeah. >> I'm not speaking anyway. >> Yeah, you know what an insemination tube is. You're a master breeder of the year, aren't you? >> Well. >> Yeah? >> We've got a good herd. >> Yeah, you've got a good herd. You've got a Crown Estate. >> agree with that. Yeah. >> Yeah, you You've won multiple awards here. These people are in images of you uh when when you won the Gold Cup. >> Can you please >> But but how do you respond to allegations of criminal animal cruelty taking place here? After meeting the owner, I found it hard to believe that he just didn't know. So, I scoured [music] back through the 2024 footage and then I saw him and this happened. Where a worker recklessly swings a gate which hits a calf and then he laughs. He appeared comfortable acting like this in front of the owner. So, I had the team keep digging and then we found it. The owner hitting, kicking, swearing at, and chasing terrified cows surrounded by his staff who were doing the same. We had him. The award-winning dairy boss at the center of the cruelty at Albans farm. >> You either love it or you hate it and I love it. >> Once again, our covertly filmed investigations continue to reveal what the certification bodies and government can never seem to find on their own. But the core problem is the exploitative system, a system that views living animals as units of production, a system that rewards faster and faster throughput. And this system is why frustration and abuse is inevitable. And the victim, sucked of everything, a life of misery, is taken for her final walk down a production line to suffer one last tragic fate. Powerless and forgotten, but we are not powerless. All we need to do is wake up to the real villains. No more fake audits and no more fake labels. Just a decision that we will no longer allow ourselves to be treated like fools by a rotten empire built on deception, torture, and blood. But an empire propped up by us can be taken down by us. We just need to stop falling for that [ __ ] and filling their pockets. >> [music]