In the crate: Chris Packham joins Michelle Farnham for her protest in the square [Photos: Animal Rising]

WILDLIFE presenter Chris Packham came to Trafalgar Square to support an animal rights activist who has confined herself in a pig crate 24/7 for the past week.

Animal Rising campaigner Michelle Farnham is calling on the government to commit to the end of factory farming by 2040.

The suffering of animals caused by intensive farming systems can no longer be ignored, she says, and her stay in the crate aims to replicate what sows are routinely put through on farms during pregnancy.

At the crate on Wednesday, Mr Packham said: “Any animal being subjected to this level of confinement is horrific. And we have to remember that farrowing crates are not some fringe practice, they are routinely used across the British pig industry. This crate shows us what happens when animals are reduced to units of production rather than recognised as individuals with needs of their own. The problems with factory farming extend far beyond what happens inside these crates. We’ve built a system that confines huge numbers of sentient animals in intensive conditions, while placing enormous pressures on our land, climate and wildlife. We need to look honestly at the true cost of farming in this way, both to animals and to the natural world.

“Factory farming has become deeply embedded in the way we produce food, causing immense suffering to the animals on these farms and taking a devastating toll on our environment. We urgently need to move away from these animal factories and towards a more sustainable future. We can’t keep accepting this as normal. It’s a broken system, and it needs to end.”

Chris Packham stepped down as president of the RSPCA in December 2024 following Animal Rising investigations revealed RSPCA-approved slaughterhouses.

Michelle Farnham has spent years investigating conditions inside British animal farms and obtaining undercover footage. Farrowing crates can confine mother pigs for four to five weeks at a time, around giving birth and nursing their piglets, leaving them unable to turn around or take more than a step forward or back. The campaigners say sows are put through this cycle repeatedly, returning to the crates with successive litters until they are eventually culled.

Ms Farnham said: “I entered this crate for Luna, a mother pig we met on a Suffolk factory farm. We documented her life in a crate just like this for a month. This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever put myself through, but when my time is up, I can walk away for good. Around 200,000 mother pigs go into farrowing crates in the UK every year, and they don’t have that choice. The response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive. So many people have stopped to talk, and they’re shocked when they realise that this is happening to pigs on British farms today. Seeing people engage with something that is normally hidden from view has made every day in here worthwhile.”

She added: “We need to bring what happens to farmed animals out into the open. This is about Luna, but it’s also about all the animals living inside factory farms whose lives we rarely see. We’re urging the government to end factory farming, because no animal should be forced to live like this.”
Animal Rising released its investigation into the factory farm last week.
Hidden-camera footage shows Luna giving birth and nursing her piglets while unable to move freely or interact with her piglets.

Animal Rising is calling for Luna to be released to a sanctuary home that has been offered to her, alongside its wider call for the government to commit to ending factory farming by 2040.

More than 19,000 people have signed their petition since Luna’s story was released.