Investigations

A cow that can no longer stand up. The cattle trader kicks her, yanks at her legs, and delivers more than forty electric shocks. When that has no effect, the cow, fully conscious, is dragged away with a shovel. Using hidden cameras, Ongehoord documented the loading and unloading of cows at five locations in the Netherlands. At these facilities, mother cows and their calves are kicked, beaten with sticks, or driven forward with electric shock devices.

Ongehoord investigated the transport of cows and calves. We installed hidden cameras in livestock collection pens, where animals are gathered for transport. We observed cows and calves being kicked, beaten with sticks, herded with stun guns, and even prodded with a pitchfork. Workers pulled cows that wouldn't get up by their tails. Freedom of Information Act documents reveal that the inspection is facilitating the movement of surplus animals from the dairy industry.

Documents released today by the research group Ongehoord show that the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) continues to approve sick and injured animals for export. In the past year, several animals with serious conditions were sent to Flemish slaughterhouses.

The abuses recorded in the inspection reports of a Frisian chicken slaughterhouse are shocking. We requested the data because the company has the Beter Leven quality mark from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming). However, the inspection revealed over a hundred violations. Chickens were slaughtered while fully conscious, torn apart, and kept in crates for hours without food or water, among other serious instances of animal suffering.

Research group Ongehoord has filed a complaint with the Advertising Code Committee against advertisements for Beter Leven products. According to Ongehoord, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals is lying about animal welfare on farms with the quality mark. For example, most Beter Leven broiler chickens do not have outdoor access, and mega-farms are granted the quality mark through an administrative trick.

Ongehoord filmed in the barns of poultry farmers Martijn Vonk and Johan Leenders. Both are members of Caring Farmers, a farmers' advocacy organization. Caring Farmers says it "starts with the needs of animals." The footage shows crippled, sick, and dead chickens.

What is the Beter Leven quality mark? This investigation examines the origins of the label, the financial transparency of the foundation, and the actual welfare consequences of the label for animals in the livestock industry.

In early 2020, Ongehoord published a comprehensive investigation on chicken slaughterhouses, after previously conducting research on the living conditions of broiler chickens (2013) and laying hens (2017).

While the Netherlands was up in arms about broiler chickens, Ongehoord demonstrated that organic and Beter Leven chickens suffer from equally serious welfare problems. For the first time, images of parent stock were released.

The research group Ongehoord filmed at the most animal-friendly turkey farm in the Netherlands. The website of Sjroete Farm in Helden states that owner Ruud Bos has an "inexhaustible love" for turkeys. Yet, he and his wife Sabrina roughly remove animals from the barns. Other footage shows Bos hanging turkeys upside down from the slaughter line and using the controversial water bath method to electrocute them. Although Bos violates legal rules, the NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) does not intervene.

The scenes that the Ongehoord Investigation Group filmed at De Weerd deer farm in Nijbroek are far from festive. Red deer run back and forth in blind panic, while being shot one by one. A deer thought to be dead suddenly raises its head again, whereupon its throat is slit. Wrestling and fully conscious, the animal bleeds to death.

Research group Ongehoord has filed a complaint with the Advertising Code Committee against advertisements for Beter Leven products. According to Ongehoord, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals is lying about animal welfare on farms with the quality mark. For example, most Beter Leven broiler chickens do not have outdoor access, and mega-farms are granted the quality mark through an administrative trick.

In Reusel (North Brabant), the research group Ongehoord installed a camera at the collection point of the C. van Roij Cattle and Pig Trade. Here, animals are gathered from various breeding farms before being taken to the slaughterhouse. Although the organization only filmed at the location for a few days, they captured several abuses.

Pigs with wounds, abscesses, respiratory problems, dead pigs, and contaminated pens. This is evident in the investigation into the Beter Leven Houbensteyn stable in Ysselsteyn, Limburg. With nearly one hundred thousand pigs and a €15 million subsidy, owner Martin Houben is a major player. The investigated location has a display barn, allowing visitors to view a small section of the pigs. When the investigation team visited other parts of the farm, they discovered the abuses.

Ongehoord has published footage of the Wroetvarken concept. The research group filmed sick and injured pigs at the homes of Wroetvarken founder Jan Broenink in Langeveen and Wroetvarken breeder Edwin Tijink in Almelo. Broenink won a Delta Plan Livestock Farming Award from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) earlier this year.

Annechien ten Have-Mellema's mega-farm was subject to unprecedented scrutiny. The Animal Protection Society awards two stars to her Hamletz meat, which is sold at Albert Heijn. As a member of the Council for Animal Affairs, Ten Have-Mellema advises the government on animal welfare.

Ongehoord has published footage of pigs filmed at Van den Oever VOF, the company owned by the Farmers Defence Force leader (Mark Van den Oever). The filming, taken in April 2020, shows "Beter Leven" pigs in bare pens on slatted floors beneath a manure pit. Several animals have red, inflamed eyes and necrotic wounds on their ears.

In 2019, Ongehoord conducted research into pig slaughter. They examined the natural behavior of pigs and the knowledge gained from previous studies. An undercover employee also filmed a slaughterhouse in Ijsselsteijn. At this large slaughterhouse for organic, Beter Leven, and regular pigs, animals were routinely beaten, pulled by their ears and tails, and bled to death while fully conscious.

The Ongehoord research team visited no fewer than 26 pig farms. The result was a huge collection of injured, sick, and dead animals. At one organic farm, stereotypical behavior and leg defects were filmed.

Around Christmas 2023, Ongehoord investigating the leader of the Belgian rabbit industry. At Konzo in Hoogstraten, the research team found many sick and dead rabbits in so-called "animal-friendly" park housing. Hidden cameras filmed rabbits being taken from the park cages by their fur, ears, and feet. Manager Yves De Bie, who regularly praises the animal welfare at his farm, was caught throwing rabbits.

Just before Christmas, Ongehoord published its investigation into Dutch rabbit breeders. Many rabbits had leg problems, brain abnormalities, and gnawed ears. The Beter Leven farmer later lost his certification.

Ongehoord filmed in the barns of poultry farmers Martijn Vonk and Johan Leenders. Both are members of Caring Farmers, a farmers' advocacy organization. Caring Farmers says it "starts with the needs of animals." The footage shows crippled, sick, and dead chickens.

What is the Beter Leven quality mark? This investigation examines the origins of the label, the financial transparency of the foundation, and the actual welfare consequences of the label for animals in the livestock industry.

Where do organic, Rondeel, Beter Leven, and regular eggs come from? The Ongehoord research team visited the barns of the Netherlands' most famous egg farmers. They saw sick, paralyzed, bald, and especially many dead laying hens.

The day before the judge ruled on the ban on mink farming, Ongehoord released gruesome images of minks with flesh wounds, bitten tails, infections, and stereotypical behavior.