Action Centre / How PETA Helps Animals on Australian Farms (and How You Can Get Involved)

The meat, egg, and dairy industries are responsible for the suffering and deaths of more than half a billion animals in Australia every year. PETA works to end this cruelty in many ways, including objecting to proposals for new factory farms, releasing eyewitness footage of animal abuse in existing facilities, and promoting vegan living.

Opposing Factory Farms

We regularly support local people by objecting to plans for new factory farms in their communities. For every megafarm that gets rejected, countless animals are spared a life of misery and a cruel death.

Have you heard about plans for a new factory farm or animal-breeding facility in your area? Contact us with the details as soon as you can so we can lodge an objection.

Pig in farrowing crate at WA farm

Ongoing Cases

The planning application process often goes on for several months before a decision is announced by the authorities. Here are some ongoing cases which we are involved in:

  • Harden piggery: More than 13,000 people signed our petition to Hilltops Council, urging it to reject plans for an intensive piggery near Harden in New South Wales. No decision has yet been announced by the council.
  • Beremboke feedlot: Nearly 8,000 supporters joined us in opposing a proposed cattle feedlot at Beremboke in Victoria. The Moorabool Shire Council has not yet announced its decision.
  • Goulburn poultry abattoir: When plans were submitted to the New South Wales government for an enormous chicken abattoir in Goulburn in New South Wales, PETA made a submission with more than 8,000 other supporting signatures to oppose the development. The government has yet to make a decision.
  • Inverleigh sheep dairy: After plans were submitted to Surf Coast Shire Council for a sheep dairy factory farm in Inverleigh, west of Geelong, we submitted a petition with more than 10,000 signatures opposing the project. No decision has yet been announced by the council.
  • Tamworth Baiada expansion: After our exposé of Baiada found widespread cruelty in its abattoir and breeding facility (read more about that below), we submitted an objection to the company’s plan to expand its Tamworth facility and triple the number of birds slaughtered. The state government has yet to make a decision on the project.

Baiada Worker killing a chicken

Eyewitness Investigations

PETA releases eyewitness exposés of farms in Australia, documenting the suffering of animals who are abused for their flesh, milk, or eggs. This helps people make the connection between what’s on their plate and living, feeling animals who endure a lifetime of exploitation and suffering. It also demonstrates that going vegan is the only truly ethical option. Here are some of our recent investigations:

  • Australia’s oldest dairy cooperative: In 2018, we released footage of a company that supplies Norco, Australia’s oldest and second-largest dairy cooperative, whose products are sold in supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi. The footage aired on Seven News, reaching millions of people with information about how cows have their babies repeatedly taken from them to be bludgeoned to death hammers in the dairy industry.
  • Australia’s largest chicken producer: In 2019, we exposed what happens at Baiada, Australia’s largest chicken producer and the supplier of Steggles and Lilydale Free Range. The footage, which aired on the prime-time national television showThe Project, showed that even if a label says “humane” or “free-range”, animals are still subjected to cruel standard industry practices, including severe crowding and a terrifying death.
  • Farm “fresh” eggs: In 2020, we released whistle-blower footage from a Queensland egg farm, resulting in a wave of media articles that showed the reality of the egg industry to Australian consumers. The farm markets its eggs as “fresh”, but the footage showed cramped cages with dead birds and mounting faeces.

A chicken at Williams Eggs in Queensland.

Promoting Vegan Living

PETA works to reduce the demand for meat, eggs, and dairy by promoting healthy vegan eating. This is achieved in a wide variety of ways, including the following:

  • Providing free vegan starter kits
  • Sharing vegan recipes
  • Placing vegan advertisements in public places
  • Organising demonstrations and handouts of vegan product samples
  • Collaborating with vegan celebrities and athletes
  • Providing activists with vegan leaflets
  • Working with restaurants and other businesses to offer vegan options
  • Contributing to discussions on vegan living in print and online publications, on TV, and on the radio

If you’d like to be the first to hear about any new investigations and help us share and promote them, please join our Activist Network today:

Activist Network