Secret film obtained by Ecostorm in conjunction with campaign group Compassion In World Farming has resulted in several leading UK retailers – including top London department store Selfridges – to cease selling speciality veal meat from Holland.
The footage, obtained at contract farms supplying ESA and imported by Smithfield Market-based JF Edwards and Son, revealed Dutch calves being kept in barren and narrow cages that campaigners have claimed may have breached EU legislation banning veal crates, which keep the meat tender by preventing the animals developing muscle. They were banned in the UK in 1990.
CIWF’s chief policy adviser, Peter Stevenson, commented on the findings: “Apart from the legal aspects, I feel the systems shown are desperately impoverished. They represent a cynical ‘what’s the least we can get away with’ attitude rather than a genuine attempt to provide good animal welfare.”
External Links
The Independent’s (UK) coverage of the investigation
Footage from the investigation featured on the BBC Six O’Clock News
Ecostorm: the world's leading ethical investigative agency 