Arla faces overdue scrutiny after shocking animal welfare revelations

An undercover investigation by Animal Justice Project has put Arla, one of the UK’s largest dairy companies, under renewed scrutiny. Footage from 15 farms supplying the company reportedly shows cows kicked or hit with metal bars, cattle dragged by machinery or made to walk in shackles, and animals kept in filthy conditions. An independent expert identified up to 360 possible breaches of welfare laws and farm-assurance standards. The farms supply products and businesses connected to Tesco, Morrisons and Starbucks. Arla says it has opened an urgent investigation; Tesco suspended farms in its supply chain while investigating, and Morrisons and Starbucks called the footage deeply concerning. The revelations follow an earlier undercover probe that led Arla to suspend a Yorkshire supplier.

The investigation also places the allegations within the growth of industrial dairy farming in Britain. The number of farms keeping some or all cattle indoors has more than doubled in a decade, as has the number of “megadairies,” which can house up to 2,600 cows. Arla sources from such farms, including a Cornwall operation previously linked to slurry pollution. Large cattle units are also associated with substantial waste: nearly one in five of the largest intensive farms had been linked to pollution incidents, according to the investigation’s analysis. The environmental concerns extend overseas, where demand for soya feed connects British dairy to deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado regions. The findings argue that Arla’s welfare record and supply-chain oversight deserve closer public attention, alongside scrutiny of the wider industry’s impacts.