An investigation by World Animal Protection has uncovered "appalling" but completely legal abuse in UK factory farms. The charity discovered piglets with their tails cut, pigs in metal cages and chickens bred to be so deformed that they were struggling to breathe.
Investigators visited two pig farms, housing farrowing pigs and finishing pigs, where these intelligent creatures were overcrowded in pens filled with excrement, or confined to tiny metal cages in which they are unable even to turn around.
They also visited two chicken farms, where birds had been bred with such large chests that many couldn't stand or walk, and struggled to take a breath. Around 90% of the 1-billion factory farmed chickens in the UK are so-called "frankenchickens" that are specifically bred to maximise the amount of meat on the birds.
Vegan Conservatives have been calling on the government to outlaw factory farms in favour of vertically-farmed fruit production.
