Show your support for the pig farm investigators!

Karry and Saila explain why the investigation was carried out

Finnish animal rights organization Oikeutta eläimille (Justice for animals) published an investigation into pig farms in 2009. Pig farmers started a lawsuit against two investigators, who publicly admitted having filmed some of the material.

Karry Hedberg and Saila Kivelä were charged with "aggravated defamation" of the pig farmers and "disturbing the peace". Also, two other Oikeutta eläimille -activists were charged with aggravated defamation, for having a link to the sikatehtaat.fi -website on the organization's own site. Never mind the fact that every national newspaper and TV-channel had the same link on their sites too in 2009.

In 2011, the court abandoned all charges of aggravated defamation, and also all claims for compensation of almost 200 000 euros.

For three of the activists, the "disturbing the peace" charge was abandoned. One of the activists was convicted of one count of disturbing the peace at one pig farm. He received 20 day suspended prison sentence and was ordered to pay 1500 euros court costs for the farmer. The farm in Mustasaari was the most shocking of the whole material, and it was filmed twice. You can watch the video here.

However, some of the pig farmers and the prosecutor decided to appeal, so the court case will continue at the court of appeals on 16.-17.4.2013. The charges and the claims for compensation remain the same, including a demand for a prison sentence for all of the defendants.

We think Oikeutta eläimille has not only a right, but a duty to publish the other side of animal production: the side which the industry would like to keep secret.

Oikeutta eläimille published a new investigation into pig farms again at the end of 2011. None of the pig farmers have been charged with animal cruelty.

You can show your support to the defendants by printing the sign below, taking a picture of yourself with the sign, and sending the picture to sikatehtaat@oikeuttaelaimille.net .

We will publish the pictures on our Facebook-page. You can also just hold your laptop/ phone next to you, showing the sign, and then take a picture. Thank you for your support!

The link for the sign:
I support investigations on pig farms

If you want to further support the campaign, please share this page. You can contact us on info (at) oikeuttaelaimille.net

Background information:

Oikeutta Eläimille published an investigation into pig farms in November 2011. The images and videos from pig factories proved that nothing had changed within the previous four years. Intelligent animals such as pigs are still in filthy and cramped conditions, sows are kept in farrowing crates where they can't even turn around, and many animals have sores, bites, wounds, hernias and injured legs.

Among these videos there was a pig farm which is owned by the head of the Pig farmers association. The video shows wounds, sores, dead animals, mice running around the place, sows in farrowing crates and missing tails. See the video and pictures from the leading figure of the pig industry in Finland.

Another farm belongs to a board member of Atria, a big meat company. This farm was in awful state. One pig had a hernia so large, that it was bloody from rubbing against the floor. There was tails that had been bitten off and one pig had a swollen ear. See the video and pictures here.

The material shows that animals are still suffering and continue to suffer as long as they are treated as production machines and not sentient beings and individuals with their own right. We need to take responsibility of how animals are treated in our society.

Similar images from pig farms were published already in 2007 and 2009. All in all over 100 Finnish pig farms have been investigated, so these are not individual cases. These problems are an inherent part of the industrial pig production.