RSPCA orders pigs to die in disturbing new SA pig farm development
The Andgar Piggery, located near the small regional town of Dublin, SA, has become the centre of widespread controversy since a dossier of photos, videos and documents revealed the shocking conditions being experienced by pigs at the farm.
Pigs were observed in various states of decay when activists broke in and began recording. Picture: Supplied
Released in June by the Farm Transparency Project (FTP), a Melbourne-based activist group, the huge catalogue of photos depicts animals living – and dying – in squalor.
Footage shows animals consuming the remains of their dead littermates as other exhausted creatures wade through thick muck, which FTP chief executive Chris Delforce said was 'up to their stomachs, at least, if not higher'.
'Just seeing the pigs wading through their own filth … I've been investigating piggeries for 13 years or so now, and it's always a pretty horrific experience … but this place in particular, I think, was kind of on another level,' he said.
RSPCA South Australia released a statement on Tuesday that said its investigation into the Andgar piggery was 'progressing'.
'RSPCA inspectorate officers accompanied by PIRSA veterinary staff have conducted two raids of the piggery and 14 pigs have been euthanised,' a spokesman said.
Some of the more distressing pictures featured an animal with a severe, necrotic wound about 10cm wide and deep enough to hold a pile of dirt. Picture: Supplied
'The RSPCA has issued 21 animal welfare notices instructing the owners and manager to take immediate action regarding conditions and maintenance. They must maintain compliance and the inspectorate is monitoring the operation with spot inspections.'
The RSPCA said the farm's owners had been formally interviewed as part of a 'large and highly complex' investigation, and it is 'now preparing a comprehensive brief of evidence with a view to instigate court proceedings'.
'The RSPCA South Australia is empowered to investigate animal cruelty and enforce animal welfare legislation in our state. In addition to issuing animal welfare notices, we can also lay criminal charges,' the spokesman said.
'We acknowledge the distress and concern these images have caused and we want to assure the community that we take any allegation of animal cruelty extremely seriously.'
Despite these comments, Mr Delforce claimed the RSPCA was approached by a whistleblower well before the FTP infiltrated the property.
Protesters turned up to the piggery on Saturday in their dozens to condemn the conditions and call for change. Picture: Supplied
In screenshots shared to Facebook on Thursday, FTP advertised segments of the anonymous whistleblower's claims that their partner – somebody who regularly attended the pig farm – 'would come home traumatised by some of the cruelty and lack of maintenance and care of animals'.
Mr Delforce said the RSPCA was alerted 'a month before' activists arrived at the farm and accused it of allowing 'unchecked, unmonitored, unaddressed' cruelty to proliferate.
'It seems the RSPCA is not adequately resourced or funded or motivated to go and inspect these places on their own,' he said
'They are the authority that has been legally assigned to investigate and prosecute cruelty issues in animal farms, and if they're not doing it, nobody else is doing it.'
FTP chief executive Chris Delforce said the Andgar Piggery had already been flagged to the RSPCA by a whistleblower, but he said no action was taken in the first instance. Picture: Supplied
One of Andgar's co-owners spoke to NewsWire earlier this month, saying the piggery was struggling because it 'went from four workers to one' and 'no one wants to work'.
'Of course the piggery's never been like that. For all the years we've run pigs, they've never been like that. It's just all of a sudden, you've got no workers,' he said.
Mr Delforce believes the state and federal government have failed to provide 'any support for farmers who want to get out of this industry'.
'I think he should have made the decision to shut down … it's not an excuse to have pigs drowning in their own waste just because you can't get employees, so stop breeding them,' he said.
The South Australian government declined to comment on the ongoing RSPCA investigation.
In South Australia, those found guilty of animal cruelty offences can be fined up to $250,000 and/or receive a maximum 10 years in jail.
Read related topics: Adelaide
Jack Nivison
Cadet Journalist
Jack began his journalism career as a freelancer for the New England Times, a small community paper based in Armidale, regional New South Wales. He is currently a Sydney-based Cadet Journalist at News Corp.
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Do you have a childcare or other story to share? Contact But we aren't moving fast enough, and our most vulnerable citizens are at risk. Ms Hollonds said she wasn't downplaying the 'horrifying' and 'dark' issues coming out of the childcare industry, but pointed out change didn't even occur when one of Australia's worst pedophiles pleaded guilty last year to 307 charges related to the abuse of children in his care. Ashley Griffith was sentenced to life in prison for his offending during his time as a childcare worker in Queensland and overseas, which was described as 'abhorrent' and 'depraved' by the judge. Regulatory failures and a lack of accountability were key to the overall crisis as child safety issues are handled across both federal and state governments, added Ms Hollonds. 'I think until we address that core issue of making child safety and wellbeing a national priority then there's just going to be these breakouts of tragic stories happening all over the place,' she warned. 'Unlike women's safety, which is a priority for national cabinet, which is where the PM and the state and territory leaders work on issues of national significance. You won't see the word children anywhere on that list of priorities. 'You need that kind of national co-ordination and accountability for action and we have none of that for children.' It's why is calling for national changes and an inquiry into the childcare sector. University of Sydney academic Dr Erin Harper agrees there must be action. Dr Harper spent years working in the early childhood education but the heavy workload and quality decline saw her leave, although she vividly remembers desperate mums ringing in tears looking for a different centre after witnessing an 'atrocious situation' at their current provider. In March a NSW parliamentary inquiry was announced into the troubled childcare sector after an ABC investigation with reforms such as the installation of CCTV cameras in centres, a new independent regulator and tougher penalties for offenders. Victoria is also set to release a report in August after a rapid review but has already announced its own childcare worker registration system, while its inquiry is sure to add to the piles of recommendations already made, Dr Harper acknowledged. But she believes a national review could critically look beyond just child safety in early education. 'Because it is not isolated. Child safety is impacted and influenced by the quality of our educators' training, the provider management type, educators workload and their experiences of work and other working conditions, including increasing casualisation of the workforce,' she said. Dr Harper recently led a study, which included a national survey of 570 early childhood educators, which she said painted 'a stark picture of a sector in crisis'. It found educators spend just 2.5 hours a day of uninterrupted time with children, perform nine unpaid hours of work per week on average and a majority said their workload demands reduce the quality of care they can provide to children. She said the sector had been 'neglected' despite the government pouring billions into it via childcare subsidies. 'Unfortunately, what that means is that in some instances, services will essentially turn that funding into profit,' she said. 'That funding hasn't been tied in the past to things relating to quality or previously even employing quality educators. It's great that they're talking about removing childcare subsidy eligibility from services that have known concerns or breaches. 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It's easy to get a job in an early childhood service because we're generally understaffed and looking for workers,' she said. 'It's maybe easier to sort of bounce around across different services and get away with things more easily because of that regular turnover and that inconsistency of staff.' She also cautioned there was no quick fix for the industry, although some things could be implemented quickly. 'It's not going to be one simple small thing that we can tick a box and do and then it's all better now,' she said. 'We need a whole string of action to be able to really make a meaningful, impactful change.' This includes clarity and transparency from regulatory authorities on how they are rating and assessing services, as well as what compliance action they are taking and a national working with children check which was recommended years ago, she said. 'Clearer and nationally consistent guidelines for not just sharing when someone has been convicted of a crime but also sharing red flags perhaps prior to that professional misconduct too,' she added. Auditing the quality of training programs, examining the privatisation of the industry and pay parity for educators alongside primary and high school teachers were also crucial, she added. CCTV has also been touted as a fix by some with major providers such as Affinity Education and G8 Education announcing they would accelerate the rollout of cameras in their centres, but others have warned there are risks of images falling into the wrong hands and the measure doesn't address understaffing and inadequate training. Last year, revealed a major childcare chain had backflipped on a decision to 'cease the recording of CCTV footage' after a backlash from parents, some of whom, were 'furious' after being told they would no longer be able to view the footage. Meanwhile, the government still hasn't responded to the The Australian Child Maltreatment Study, which found physical, emotional and sexual abuse and exposure to domestic violence were widespread in Australia and was released in 2023, Ms Hollonds added. She said some of the reporting on the early childhood sector tended to focus on alleged sexual abuse but the issue was broader, with two Sydney childcare workers recently charged with assaulting a 17-month-old boy in their care. While piecemeal change has been announced so far for the childcare sector and Ms Hollonds applauds the ministers looking to speed up the implementation of recommendations from a decade ago, she warned it needed to go beyond early childhood education. 'This new term of parliament is an opportunity to really send a strong signal to the public. In relation to the early childhood industry, public confidence has taken a big hit. There's people who are outraged at what's happened who aren't even parents,' she said. 'There's been lots of commentary from people right across the country about how could we have ended up in this situation that our children are so unsafe. I urge the government to take that opportunity to elevate child safety and wellbeing to be a national priority.' An Attorney-General Department spokesperson said the government wants to make sure children are protected from child sexual abuse and that Australia sets the global standard for child safety. They said multiple frameworks, including the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 has been provided and implements about 100 other Royal Commission recommendations. 'Importantly, the National Strategy is broader than the Royal Commission and seeks to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in all settings, including in institutions, in families, and online,' they said. 'The government and the states and territories are working closely to deliver outcomes under the National Strategy, informed by the Australian Child Maltreatment Study, to reduce the risk, extent and impact of sexual abuse in Australia and to support and empower survivors.' The Attorney-General has added working with children check reform is top of the agenda of the next meeting of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General, the spokesperson added. A Department of Education spokesperson said 'governments have to do more and providers that aren't up to scratch have to do more'. 'The National Quality Framework was strengthened in 2023 by embedding National Child Safe Principles and improved record keeping requirements in response to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which were handed down in 2017,' they added. 'The upcoming Education Ministers Meeting in August will consider further measures to strengthen quality and safety in the ECEC sector, including a national educator register.'
