A young female calf lying in straw with a cast around her broken leg makes eye contact with the camera at a dairy farm. The cause of her injury is unknown. Gloucestershire, England, UK, 2025.
Jo-Anne McArthur / For All Animals Coalition / We Animals
In collaboration with For All Animals, a coalition of UK animal protection organizations, We Animals founder Jo-Anne McArthur visited two dairy farms in November 2025 to document the experiences of the animals within. These photographs form part of a larger investigation into an RSPCA Assured dairy farm that supplies major British retailers and has won industry awards for its welfare standards.
“Without the opportunity to look closely at dairy farming, people assume that no one is hurt. What I’ve documented in the dairy industry globally, which was also evident at these UK farms, is that separation, physical injury, psychological suffering, and early deaths are inherent in dairy production. The calves in these photographs will become meat or dairy cows. All of them will end up at slaughter.” — Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals founder and photojournalist
A new For All Animals investigation reveals what the dairy industry’s so-called “gold standard” looks like in practice.
Watch the investigation
Content warning: disturbing and graphic video footage
Learn More & Take Action: www.forallanimals.uk
Over three days in November 2025, For All Animals investigators recorded more than 700 incidents of physical and verbal abuse of calves.
Investigators documented calves:
- Being repeatedly kicked, dragged, thrown, and struck with objects
- Left without food for prolonged periods, including newborn calves not fed for over 19 hours
- Crying, circling and attempting to suckle objects and other calves
- Being castrated without local anesthesia
- Showing signs of illness, weakness, and diarrhea
- Being force-fed with tubes while visibly distressed
- Being verbally abused and shouted at by workers
A follow-up visit in February 2026 showed similar abuse continuing. By then, the farm was no longer RSPCA Assured, following M&S’s removal of all its milk from the RSPCA Assured scheme after the RSPCA introduced updated dairy standards.
“The RSPCA Assured scheme isn’t preventing cruelty, it’s legitimizing factory farming and sustaining the myth that there’s a kind way to farm animals. The RSPCA has the power to bring factory farming to an end. This is a vital step towards a world where animals are free to live life on their own terms.” — Dr. Laila Kassam, For All Animals
This footage—along with over 170 other investigations into RSPCA Assured farms and slaughterhouses—shows this is not an isolated failure of one farm, but a reflection of how the industrial system approved by the RSPCA operates in practice.
What we documented
At one of the farms we visited in Gloucestershire, England, Jo-Anne documented calves ranging from newborn to several months old. Some cows were fitted with spiked weaning rings―devices designed to prevent calves from suckling by causing discomfort to the cow’s udders when they attempt to nurse. The farm houses 240 pedigree Holstein cows, and, at the time of our documentation, supplied milk to major British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) through the German dairy company Müller.
At the second farm, Jo-Anne documented heifers, cows, and calves. In the barns, calves ranged from just days old, some with dried umbilical cords still attached, to several months of age. Most were housed in group enclosures with straw bedding, protective jackets, and heat lamps.
The calves had recently undergone disbudding (the burning of horn buds to prevent horn growth) and had multiple identification tags punched through their ears. Some exhibited behaviours such as chewing on bars, buckets, and other calves, often attempting to suckle.
A young female calf with a tagged ear looks out from a single, straw-lined pen at a dairy farm. Gloucestershire, England, UK, 2025.
Jo-Anne McArthur / For All Animals Coalition / We Animals
A calf looks out from a small hutch at a dairy farm. In this area of the farm, calves are kept together in small enclosures. Gloucestershire, England, UK, 2025.
Jo-Anne McArthur / For All Animals Coalition / We Animals
Gloucestershire, England, UK, 2025.
Jo-Anne McArthur / For All Animals Coalition / We Animals
“No matter how many farms I visit, it never gets easier to walk away from the animals who suffer so deeply and so needlessly. That’s why I keep going back—to expose the cruelty that is so often hidden.” — Jo-Anne McArthur
Take Action
For over 200 years, the RSPCA has helped Britain move beyond cruelty once treated as normal—from dog fighting to live exports. Factory farming is the greatest cause of animal suffering today. In the UK alone, at least 85 percent of farmed animals are kept in factory farms, and a majority of the public supports ending these practices. The RSPCA has the legacy, influence, and public trust to lead that change.
Alongside For All Animals, we’re calling on the RSPCA to stand for all animals by standing against factory farming. Will you join us?
Sign and share the petition urging the RSPCA to end its support for factory farming through the RSPCA Assured scheme, and to use its influence to help end factory farming for good.
Visit our stock platform to view and download these images.