We Exposed an Award Winning Dairy Boss for Disgusting Cruelty (non-graphic)

What that film was. >> I'm going to set up some cameras around. >> Happy, healthy cows. Hello. >> You're not invited. OFF YOU GO. >> IT'S A AWARD-WINNING DAIRY. >> Your food's farmed [music] with care. Widespread illegality. >> It's important that you come and talk to her. >> Who are you? >> Turn that off. >> Serious allegations about your staff in here abusing the animals. >> I'm filming in public. >> My name is Joey Carbstrong. My team and I investigate the lies [music] and the cover-ups of the corrupt system behind the mass farming and abuse of animals in slaughterhouses. >> Currently in a halal slaughterhouse here. >> And across the so-called [music] food sector. I've been arrested twice simply for exposing the crimes of this [music] powerful industry. >> a gas chamber. They're torturing animals in here. >> The certification bodies cover for them. The authorities protect them. But our goal as investigators is to reveal to you who the real criminals are. I know that most people care about the well-being of animals [music] and would be outraged at what's taking place in their name. And as vast and powerful as this [music] industry is, there's way more of us than there is of them, which is why they'll try [music] anything to keep the truth from getting out. In 2024, I received an email from a concerned citizen who say they witnessed animals being abused. >> I personally experienced the staff abusing animals at a big dairy supplying supermarkets. I did report it, but [music] it didn't get anywhere. No one would listen. They went on to win a gold cup for dairy. If there's anything you can do to bring this to light, I'd be forever grateful. >> He wasn't wrong. This farm had received awards and multiple. And it was situated on a crown estate and leased for three generations to the farming family. >> Children arrive [music] and it's the smells that they'll never forget. It's the sights. It's the views. >> I think we get a big kick out of children and and just seeing their faces light up. >> And it's just an explosion of joy and discovery and possibility. >> This video paints a picture of an idyllic situation, a place where children can visit and learn about farming. >> So, these are our milking [music] cows here. >> The farmer acts as a custodian of the environment and speaks of high welfare, like that was his main concern. [music] So, everything about like what we're seeing here would leave any British dairy customer with a completely clear conscience [music] at the checkout. But, the main problem here is that everything this farm portrays directly contradicts what our whistleblower [music] claimed. But, if our prior dairy expose is anything to go by, there's only one way to find out the truth. Keep checking in, manage everything okay? I made my way inside, moved slow and kept quiet. I placed the cameras where they couldn't be found, overlooking all the main areas of the dairy, then I got out of there and let them all record. >> Okay, Joey Carbstrong [music] here. We're at Albins farm. >> Albins farm is located in the Essex countryside, right next to the M25, a huge facility housing over a thousand cows. From the sky, it was clear that this is not a small operation, but a factory mega dairy. The owner proudly claims there are never any non-conformity issues, and that he is always [music] order ready. We left six cameras running, so let's see if his words ring true. >> The philosophy is here, if you've got happy, healthy cows, you will get good, nutritious milk. >> But, happy, healthy cows is not what we saw. What we saw was terrified cows, cows being stabbed with goads, punched, kicked, sworn at, tormented. Their sensitive tails twisted to breaking point, and their faces burned with cigarettes. This was definitely not happiness, more like torture in pursuit of profit, and it's the endless pursuit of profit where the violence ramps up. In the milking parlor, aggressive workers are seen repeatedly abusing the animals, trying to speed up the process to get more out of already tired, drained, unwilling cows. Sadly, this is exactly what we're used to seeing. So, the whistleblower knew this stuff was happening. We filmed them. It's still happening. So, it looks like it's been happening for a while and they've been getting away with it. But, who keeps auditing Arla's and passing them with no non-conformity issues? >> Here at Red Tractor, [music] we understand you're looking for food you can trust. >> Red Tractor, a farm assurance scheme behind the logo most well-meaning people trust. Major supermarkets won't stock dairy without it, so farmers pay to be on the scheme. Other than proving the milk is traceable and British, they claim welfare for their farming members is a top priority and that it's dairy farm assessments are a combination of routine surveillance visits every 18 months supplemented by more frequent spot checks [music] and unannounced inspections. So, assuming Red Tractor are keeping to their promise that their animals are well cared for, they should be sorting out the bad guys at Arla's in no time. Which made me think of our original tip-off. He said he reported it to someone, but it didn't get anywhere. But, if instead he reported it to Red Tractor, would the outcome be different? Someone recently came forward who made that question painfully clear. >> I've been milking cows 30 years. >> Another whistleblower came forward with shocking allegations against a prestigious farming college. >> Which is college in Buckinghamshire? >> He explained how this is also a Red Tractor assured working farm that supplies milk to Arla, who send it to Asda. >> These are the farmers of the future. >> The college claims its focus is setting a high standard and training the farmers of tomorrow, but that's not what he saw. >> Cows are on the floor 12 hours or more without food. >> He had leaked CCTV from the college which showed how a cow had fallen ill and gone down, and instead of getting immediate vet care, the higher-up staff had their own way of dealing with it. >> That cow was dragged out alive. >> Dragging cows by a hip lift like this is distressing for the cow and can lead to worse injuries, which is why it's illegal. >> He got a 24-hour ASBO. >> He'd said he'd reported this, but there's been no accountability, which is why in the end he came to me. >> I informed Red Tractor. We have heard nothing from Red Tractor. We have heard nothing since tomorrow. >> This new whistleblower's story is one I'm all too used to. No action, even after direct reports. Too often our exposés are dismissed as isolated incidents, and the animals will continue to be trapped unless we expose this entire broken system properly and for good. That's why we need to gather long-term evidence and prove whether Alvans farm is just another bad apple or a symptom of a countrywide systemic failure. While we had our hands full at another slaughterhouse in Manchester, my investigations team had Alvans farm covered. With 18 months passed and Red Tractor's claims of vigorous audits, something should have changed. Almost immediately we'd notice the main culprits were still working there, and something had changed. It appeared it had gotten worse. I'd seen enough. >> It's bad. We need a professional opinion on this. >> It was time to get this footage over to our expert, document the crimes, and start the only audit this corrupt industry listens to, exposing them to the public. [music] >> The excess use of force was by far the most prevalent form of illegality. This included the targeting or manipulation of a cow's sensitive [music] body areas, such as head, face, other head areas, their udders, and their anal regions. The other main forms of excessive use [music] of force were general hits, slaps, kicks, and shoves, dangerous practices surrounding the tube feeding of calves, dragging and pushing calves, and use of a pointed goad, [music] which Defra expressly forbids. And alarmingly, one severe injury case. In total, I detected at least 281 cases of illegality in the first and 360 in the second. This is significant as it suggests there have been no improvements and if anything has worsened. >> When the red tractor's there, your [music] food's farmed with care. >> So, it appears the Red Tractor promise is false advertising at best and at worst, failing the animals on a countrywide scale while the business at Arla's is thriving. After hearing the litany of crimes tallied by our expert, it was time to confront the man with the ultimate responsibility for those animals. >> Hello. >> No one's here. Is the guy just coming out? >> Ah. Hello. >> All right. >> What's this all about? >> What do you want? >> We're fine. >> I don't I don't want people just coming on here taking photographs of us. >> Oh, really? Uh well, I thought it's a award-winning dairy and uh you don't mind uh as we see media here before, so >> That was by invitation. >> Yeah, but you know, unannounced audit so what uh is always always ready for. Where's all the uh staff that work here in the um milking parlor? Are they here? >> They won't be back for a bit. >> They won't be back for a bit? >> What What's your interest in? >> We're making a We're making a story here. But uh when your staff come back, we'll we'll we'll uh we'll just wait a minute and chat to them. >> not invited, so just There's a Yeah, >> Of course. I really think should come and chat with me. I think I think that he would want to. >> What about? >> About the workers and about the cows. >> Yeah, but he's busy. >> Yeah, I don't think he's too busy for this. >> I'm his boss. I'm I'm the original. Uh you can talk to me. I'll >> Do Do the company? >> No, I work here. >> Okay, we can go. It'd be great to speak to >> People down here filming in the car and they want to see you. You're not allowed to be here. This is officer guy. >> I'd advise he comes and chats to me about this. It'd be >> He seems to think it's important that you come and talk to him. >> Yeah, think he would really want to talk to me about this situation. Do you know the staff here? >> We've got We've got the whole team. >> Yeah, you got the whole team here. There he is. Hi. To understand why a farmer like this gets awards instead of prosecutions, you have to follow the money. This farm is celebrated for its breeding using semen from a genetics company called Genus ABS. They have selectively bred their own cows to give more and more milk on less and less feed. The results are disturbing with miserable cows carrying around udders so heavy they can barely walk. Along with spending their lives on cold, wet, concrete floors covered in feces, all contributes to foot injuries like lameness. But, the story of these animals is even more heartbreaking than that. >> What does a cow or a heifer 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 these cows are mothers producing milk for the same reason all mammals do. For their young. Milk production starts with pregnancy. At Albion's farm, they follow standard practice. Men force cows into a cattle crush. Their bodies are violated. The workers are abusive and perverted. After 9 months, her calf is born. The bond between mother and calf is evident, but within a matter of hours they're torn away dragged by their legs as distressed mothers give chase. If you have never heard a a mother calling for her calf, It's a haunting sound you'll never forget. >> [groaning] >> She'll never see her baby again. Calves in the dairy industry are either killed at 2 weeks old or at 6 months old for veal, or selected females make up the milk herd. Like their [music] mothers before them, are forcibly impregnated, abused by Arla's workers, and enslaved for the milk that fills up the shelves in major supermarkets. Once the farm has enough milking cows, the dairy breed semen is swapped for beef through the Genus ABS and Warrendale Wagyu program. Cow stays pregnant to produce milk, but the calf inside her is now a beef calf. He'll be taken, grown, and slaughtered for award-winning steaks in Aldi and Wagyu burgers in Burger King. >> Now, in there you've got 100% British [music] Wagyu beef. Mouthwatering. >> Wait, did you actually make this, mate? >> No. >> A tragedy for the animals, but a booming, lucrative trade for dairy farms like [music] Arla's. Keep the cows pregnant, take the milk meant for her calves, take the calves from their moms, then kill them to take the flesh from their bodies. All to maximize profits at the expense of these gentle mother cows. So, these things are pretty concerning, and I'm I'm sure you'd be quite interested about them. Here he is. Hi, J. >> Who are you? Can you turn that off? >> Owner of Curtis Miller Holsteins Limited has been elected to various high positions in the dairy industry. The 2020 Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group Farmer of the Year also took home the Master Breeder Award. And the most prestigious award in the dairy industry, the RABDF Solid Gold Cup. >> Look, turn it off. You're on our land. >> We're in there, Phil. >> I'll phone in, please. >> You you can, no, but we're on public land here. >> What are you doing? >> I come here to talk to some serious allegations about your staff in here abusing the animals. >> Can I have all these >> Pretty serious criminal allegations actually taking place here. So, maybe the police might be people to talk to. Calling the police isn't going to Is it because you have some guilt about what's going on here? >> Not at all. >> No? >> Not at all. Our staff are very, very good. >> They're good? >> Excellent. >> I thought he's always ordered ready, willing to speak to media, you know, he's acting quite defensive here. And immediately called the police. Says he has a love for cows, then he would want to know what's happened to the cows, right? Who's responsible, who's done it. Can I have a chat? >> For health and safety reasons, you're not allowed on farm. You've been in on the farm. >> You deal with the Ed, mate. >> The Aussie Ed. You know who I am, yeah? >> Yeah. >> So, you know what I'm here for, right? >> funded by all the um >> Funded by the what? The What am I funded by? >> Anyway, >> What are you funded by? So, you don't want to 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. This is your opportunity to >> I'm not until I know what you've got and >> Okay. I'll Do you want to Do you want to rattle it rattle it out to you? Tail twisting, kicking udders, cigarette burning cows in the face, smashing gates on cows, >> Well, if people have been doing that, then >> uh sharp sharp uh sharp instruments goads using to goad the animals. Huh? >> Be very surprised. >> Attacking cows with insemination tubes. Huh? >> Insemination tubes? Look, I'm not speaking to anyone. >> 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. >> Yeah, we got that. Yeah. >> Yeah, you you won multiple awards here. Th- These people are in images of you uh wh- when you won the gold cup. >> film me? >> What How do you How do you respond to allegations of criminal animal cruelty taking place here? >> Um we will deal with that when we see all the footage. >> Look, we can talk without the cameras on if you want to give me a response. >> Can you please leave? >> That's cops. Yeah. You might be a sergeant. >> You all right? >> Yeah, not bad. I'm Joe. I'm filming Joe. I'm a filmmaker investigator and we're here to get his right to reply on 600 acts of uh criminal animal cruelty. Unfortunately for there are crimes taking place here and not from us. This is how someone of uh stature acts when we come to him with allegations of serious criminal animal cruelty. I don't know what he expects here for the police to do. We're here for legitimate purpose. Pulled you out the office for this. >> Yeah. >> After meeting the owner, I found it hard to believe that he just didn't know. So, I scoured 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 Alvin's farm. >> You either love it or you hate it and I love it. >> The next question is what would it take for Red Tractor to drop Alvin's farm from their scheme for good? Well, not much apparently. You see, when Red Tractor members are in breach, suspensions are handled internally with ample opportunities to rectify and recertify. The most extreme cases are removed, but with over 30,000 animal farms under Red Tractor assurance, only 13 were removed last quarter. And even they are only for a set period. I sent the footage to Red Tractor and [music] part of their response was telling. >> It's extremely disappointing that you seem to be have been in possession of footage since 2024 but have held onto it, thus allowing this behavior to continue. >> It's the industry playbook. Blame the investigators, not the culprits or themselves. Blame the whistleblowers. But the whistleblowing service they provide comes with explicit instructions. Don't involve the media. They say it's to protect animals, but appear more focused on protecting the reputation of the industry who they say are one of the biggest defenses against activists and vilifying campaigns. Ask yourself, why silence the press or block investigators? [music] Maybe it's this. Red Tractor is joint owned by five of the biggest farming, trade, and lobby groups whose function is to protect the commercial interests of their farming members, [music] alongside the sixth owner, the BRC, whose job essentially is to maximize the sales for supermarkets. You see, investigators reveal the truth behind the industries these groups prop up, and that's exactly what they don't want. Here's the reality. Albans is a long-term Red Tractor member who [music] claims they passed every audit perfectly. It's clear to me that if we didn't expose them, Red Tractor would never have. So, we needed to get to the root of the problem because there are millions of animals under Red Tractor's scheme, and how many of them are being abused? >> Everything is always a PR cleanup, isn't it? >> Yep. >> But shallow PR statements won't stop the cruelty. >> So, what did you think about the staff abusing the animals? >> I don't believe a word of it. >> You don't believe it? Why not? >> I don't believe it. >> You know that I don't come usually empty-handed. >> Well, there you are. >> You know who I am? >> I know who you are. >> You seen the other dairy farmers I've exposed? >> I know you love it, don't you? >> 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 a 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 their [ __ ] and filling their pockets. Once again, the truth has come to light and now it's up to you. It's never been a more important time to put our differences aside and to stand together to defend the animals. Remember, there's way more of us than there is of them and that's exactly what they're terrified of. >> I'm so grateful that you investigated this farm. It's been years since I worked there and it's haunted me ever since.