Photo credit: Justine Auvrignon EEB
On March 25th, I walked into the European Parliament with jittery excitement. I was invited there by the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy and the European Environmental Bureau to speak on a topic I feel so passionately about: ending the suffering of animals in factory farms. Large printed photographs depicting cruelty and hidden exploitation, shot by me and several other photojournalists, flanked the walls.
Throughout the three-day exhibit, the faces looking out from the photographs would be hard to ignore. Thousands of people would see the brutality of modern farming that is imposed upon billions of animals in the EU each year.
Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
The echelons of the European Parliament (EP) are most definitely where we want animal photojournalism to be. Policy-makers and changemakers need the power of these photographs to counter the influence and pressure of agricultural lobbying.
Photo credit: Justine Auvrignon EEB
Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur
Those of us who continue to scream that animals are someone and not something are a minority, and so the photos – of the animals themselves – must shout alongside us. We bring them forth from farms, trucks, and slaughterhouses. Through their gaze and body language, they make their statements clear.
Interestingly, an image of a piglet mid-castration—screaming, restrained—was quietly removed from the exhibition ahead of its launch. Polish right-wing MEP Kosma Złotowski, a senior official who approves internal events, flagged the photo as ‘exceptionally drastic,’ according to this Politico article.
Surgical castration without anesthesia is still legal and common across EU farms. It is used to prevent a smell in pork known as “boar taint” and to curb pigs’ sexual and aggressive behaviour. The European Commission has promised to phase out the procedure, but no proposal has appeared as of yet.
For a while, MEP Anja Hazekamp boldly stood in the hallway, holding the rejected print, as seen in this photograph. Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur
Photo credit: Justine Auvrignon EEB
Photo credit: Justine Auvrignon EEB
I shared stories about my first intimidating and shocking visits to farms. I talked about what we do to the bodies and minds of animals like pigs, cows, calves, laying hens and “broiler” chickens, rabbits, and fish; how we transport and slaughter them; and how we fail to evacuate them in fires and floods. I talked about the suffering of farm workers, too. Behind me was the exhibit of photographs as proof of my words, and of the animals’ experiences.
An excerpt from my closing remarks to the European Parliament:
Factory farms are neither immutable nor inevitable. We built them, and we can dismantle them. They don’t belong in an age where we know about the inner lives of animals. It’s time to evolve and leave factory farms behind.
Photo credit: Vienna Leigh EIALP
Photo credit: Justine Auvrignon EEB
Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur
Photojournalists go to difficult places to tell important stories. Their photos should then reach the media, shock and inspire regular folks, and be used by campaigners, litigators, and policy-makers. This trajectory of efforts changes culture, law, and history.
What I mean is: We are all in this together. The photojournalists, the public, the campaigners, and the policy-makers. We do nothing alone. I was thrilled to be amongst the changemakers at Parliament, representing animals and photojournalists. It was exactly where I needed to be.
It’s time to transform our global food system and end factory farming. Join We Animals to END.IT.