The Tameside slaughterhouse facing down a global army of activists

Dear readers — for nearly four weeks now, an eclectic group of protestors has gathered atop the rolling hills of Mossley. Nestled in the far edge of Tameside, come rain or shine, these activists trade jeers with the employees of Hartshead Meats, an abattoir at the foot of the Pennines. The site has catapulted the quiet town to the centre of a global furore. When vegan activist Joey Carbstrong published undercover footage alleging horrific animal abuse at the slaughterhouse, his videos ripped through the town and sparked international anger — though not always for the same reasons, leading one local councillor to air concerns that this could even become a "race war."

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The Tameside slaughterhouse facing down a global army of activists

At the closed gates of Hartshead Meats, a Mossley business which, for the past three weeks, has been the target of thousands of online activists, I trail two people in cow costumes up a public footpath towards the abattoir. One of the inflatable costumes becomes stuck on the stiles, but eventually we get close enough to hear shouts coming from inside the building. 

Though the lorries in which Hartshead transport their meat are decorated in bucolic scenes, depicting the pastoral idyll of the English countryside with accompanying lines from the poet William Blake, things here are less serene. A recent investigative documentary claiming to expose the company’s use of law-breaking and barbaric practices in its slaughterhouse has prompted an enormous global reaction. 

Animal activists around the world have been calling for the business to be closed down, and many have shown up at its gates, frequently clashing with Hartshead’s owners and workers outside. Complicating the story, these animal lovers have been occasionally accompanied by online right-wing activists and more militant vegan activists, focusing on the apparent use of halal and kosher slaughter methods and calling for their outright ban. In both the international online vegan community and fringe pockets of the far-right, this provincial Tameside business has become a target of intense ire.

During my own short visit, I witness the febrility first hand. When the gates of the abattoir finally opened, a car pulled out and came down the path towards where the activists had gathered — I was told the driver was connected to the Mullaney family who own the site. The car accelerated as it came in my direction, at first directly towards me and the group, before it swerved dramatically into a puddle, and left me soaked through on the roadside.

The ‘secret’ slaughterhouse

All this began with a video. Joey Carbstrong (real name Joseph Armstrong), a vegan activist from Australia whose videos are watched around the world, paid a visit to Mossley earlier this year with the suspicion that Hartshead Meats was performing “secret” kosher slaughter. Carbstrong is an ex-gang member, and prior to his fame he spent time in prison. An epiphany while incarcerated led to him becoming vegan, leaving behind gang life and dedicating a career to exposing animal cruelty. Much of his work involves installing hidden cameras in abattoirs across the UK, and earlier this year he repeated this practice at Hartshead Meats, capturing footage that formed a multi-part documentary released three weeks ago.

The immediate reaction was huge. The most graphic of Carbstrong’s videos, which remains on YouTube (another was taken down following a defamation complaint), shows cows thrashing in pain as their heads become stuck in machines by the open cuts in their neck. Other cows appear to be dismembered while showing signs of consciousness, and workers are seen forcefully prodding animals with electric goads in sensitive areas — sometimes when they have nowhere else to move. 

Hartshead Meats says the footage “has been edited in a way that lacks essential context and presents a misleading and inaccurate portrayal of our facility.” They claim Carbstrong is generating “sensationalised content for financial gain” and asks the public to consider his “history”, adding that the videos are an attempt to target “a local business that supports dozens of families.” 

The statement continues: “We maintain the highest industry standards and operate under the constant supervision of the Food Standards Agency. A government veterinary surgeon and two meat inspectors are present during all animal handling to ensure welfare standards are strictly upheld.” 

The protesters gathered outside the gates during my visit all have a story for how they first came into contact with the footage, which coursed through the small town within minutes of its release.

Melanie Anderson, a local who has been instrumental in organising the on-the-ground activists, was sitting in her car when the message from a friend came through: “You have to watch this.” Anderson opened the video and immediately began sobbing. “That’s impossible,” she remembers thinking. “I know where that is. That’s in Mossley.” It’s been nearly four weeks, and she says she’s still having trouble sleeping.