Tesco has suspended three farms in the UK within its supply chain following an animal welfare investigation carried out by Animal Justice Project.
The Animal Justice Project said that the investigation was carried out by an independent welfare expert on 16 Arla-supplying dairy farms across the UK.
It found breaches of animal welfare legislation including “serious lameness” and “violent handling”.
“We take animal welfare extremely seriously, and we expect all our farmers to adhere to our high welfare standards,” a spokesperson for Tesco told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Some elements of this footage are distressing, and the farms have been suspended while we thoroughly investigate.
“While there are a number of non-Tesco farms featured, we will always fully investigate any allegations and take immediate action against any farm failing to meet our high welfare standards.
“We are committed to working with our farmers and suppliers to drive continued improvements in animal welfare through independently auditing all our own brand suppliers against our stringent Tesco Welfare Assured standards, and working with farm assurance schemes to agree industry-wide improvements.”
