What mother pigs experience on pig farms is something very few people know about. A new undercover investigation into the Italian ham industry, gives us a glimpse into this frightening reality. .

In the pig meat industry, some female pigs are unfortunate enough to be used for breeding. Being a breeding sow means non-stop pregnancies which is of course physically exhausting. To top that, most pig farms lock the mother pigs after they give birth in tiny cages called "gestation crates". These awful cages surround the mothers' bodies and prevent them from walking.

As a result of the non-stop pregnancies, lack of mobility and high levels of stress and boredom, mother pigs experience very poor health. Some mothers get to a point where they collapse or experience lameness. When this happens, they are either sent to slaughter or killed and disposed of on the farm itself.

This new investigation by Essere Animali was taken at a pig farm near Ancona, Italy. The undercover video shows how mother pigs are being electrified, hit with iron pipes and killed with a sledgehammer.