Animal welfare activists revealed shocking images that claim to show a sow being eaten alive by other pigs on a British Farm. The undercover investigator from the campaign group Viva! says some pigs at the farm, which supplies pork to Tesco, were suffering from 'extreme distress'. The group had first highlighted conditions at Hogwood pig farm in Oxhill, Warwickshire in 2017. However, officials found no breaches of animal welfare standards and Tesco continued using it as a supplier. After a recent revisitation, the activists captured footages that were too distressing to publish, as reported by Daily Mail.

In the unreleased footage, an image shows that a sow slumped forlornly in a narrow passage as three pigs, their snouts smeared with blood, take turns to gnaw at their hind legs. The investigator said, "My stomach began to churn as I watched...her flesh bitten from the bone. I was mortified." Viva! campaigns for veganism has reported its findings to the RSPCA but claims animal suffering on farms is widespread.

Founder and director Juliet Gellatley said, "Cannibalism is not natural behaviour for pigs and is caused by this bleak environment. I believe anyone with a heart seeing the state of the animals in today's modern farms would want factory farming to end. Hogwood Farm is not some aberrant little farm, it is large scale with 16,000 pigs and typifies large scale institutionalised cruelty, and it must end."

In a statement released by Tesco, it said, "We take all concerns extremely seriously so we have immediately launched a full and thorough investigation. Animal welfare is important to us and government-approved vets, the RSPCA, Red Tractor and Tesco colleagues all regularly inspect all our farms to ensure they meet the highest standards."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2018 09:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).