Shocking Conditions Revealed at UK Pig Farm Despite High-Welfare Label.

New undercover footage from a Herefordshire pig-rearing site has raised questions about welfare standards and the meaning of high-welfare labels in the UK pig sector. The material, filmed in November 2025 at Bage Court Farm in Dorstone and collected by Animal Justice Project (AJP), shows pigs kept indoors in crowded pens with minimal enrichment, including animals with visible injuries and mobility problems.

Photo Credit: AJP.

AJP says the footage is inconsistent with the “outdoor bred” label and the RSPCA Assured certification under which the farm operates. In so-called “outdoor bred” systems, piglets are born outside but typically moved indoors after weaning, meaning they spend more than 80 per cent of their lives inside conventional units. Fully outdoor-reared pigs make up only an estimated 3 to 4 per cent of the UK population.

Investigators recorded several pigs in hospital pens with untreated injuries, including one observed over 38 days whose limb swelling appeared linked to tail-biting. Crowded pens had limited bedding and minimal enrichment, sometimes just a single plastic bottle for dozens of pigs. AJP says these conditions raise concerns about whether RSPCA Assured standards are being consistently applied.

Bage Court Farm rears pigs under contract to Stockcroft Ltd, one of Britain’s largest “outdoor bred” suppliers. The company works with more than 80 farms and supplies major retailers and foodservice firms, including Co-Op, Marks & Spencer and McDonald’s.

Dr Alice Brough, a former pig veterinarian who reviewed the footage, said the pigs showed clear signs of untreated tail-biting injuries and advanced infection, adding that animals in such pain should have been euthanised promptly.

AJP is calling for a suspension of Stockcroft’s RSPCA Assured certification, a government review of welfare labelling, and a shift toward plant-based alternatives to reduce animal suffering.

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