The bodies of pigs left to decay between the pens, animals fighting each other due to stress, rats, and horrific hygiene conditions. The footage collected by Food for Profit and Animal Rising NL doesn’t come from just any farm, but from two facilities run by Henk Meerdink, a Dutch livestock entrepreneur and politician, founder of the HMV party, and an ally of the BBB – the movement that officially represents the agribusiness lobby in Europe.
https://www.instagram.com/foodforprofit.en/reel/DHsk-UqCknR/
This is a country that prides itself on having strict animal welfare standards, as journalist Giulia Innocenzi highlights – but the images reveal a completely different reality.
The videos released by the investigation show animals forced to live in filthy, overcrowded pens, with clear signs of illness and infection: hernias, swollen eyes, and wounds. Some pigs are so immobile that they are shocked with electric prods, while others are violently dragged. The stress is so severe that pigs often attack one another, while the sick are left to share the same space as healthy animals.
And that’s not all: the footage shows dead bodies abandoned outdoors or in corridors, accessible to other wildlife. Surrounded by spider webs and dead rats, the conditions are a stark contrast to any animal welfare standards. Yet one of the farms carries the "Beter Leven" label, a certification that is supposed to guarantee quality and respect for animals.
The contradiction is clear: certified facilities that, in practice, exemplify a flawed production model. But the issue goes beyond ethics. Factory farms in the Netherlands also contribute to one of the largest sources of nitrogen pollution in Europe. Ammonia from waste contaminates the air, water, and soil, threatening biodiversity.
It’s no surprise then that just days ago, a landmark ruling supported Greenpeace: the Dutch government will be forced to cut emissions drastically and reduce the number of animals raised by a third by 2030. This decision marks an important milestone, but it follows years of silence and complicity between the political establishment and the sector’s lobby groups.