Until recently, it was one of the meat industry’s best kept ‘secrets’. Before they become pork, bacon, and ham, most pigs spend their last waking moments trapped inside CO2 gas chambers.

This is, according to the pork industry, ‘humane’. When described this way — pigs ‘gradually losing consciousness’ so that they are insensible to the pain of slaughter — it even sounds (relatively) pleasant.

Until you see it for yourself.

Hidden camera footage released by Aussie Farms paints a horrifyingly different picture: pigs screaming, thrashing and gasping for air.

‘Gas stunning’ is still the method of choice in Australia’s biggest slaughterhouses.

To fuel the demand for bacon, pork and ham, thousands of young pigs are forced into gas chambers every day — despite science confirming that the gassing method outlined in the Australian meat industry standards is likely to cause distress and suffering.

By labelling pig slaughter ‘humane’, the pork industry is denying consumers the ability to make informed choices. So we took to the streets to see how people might react if they were told the truth...