Red Tractor has recertified the Welsh dairy farm that was featured in an episode of BBC’s investigative program Panorama in February, which showed footage of workers horrifically and illegally abusing the cows.

News recently broke of draft legislation that would ban the keeping of elephants in UK zoos. Unfortunately, following clarification from environment minister Zac Goldsmith, Defra has no such plans, yet ‘inside sources’ have hinted at growing concern within the government about zoos with a report on elephant welfare imminent.

Footage obtained by investigators working for Surge of a pig farm near Scarborough, UK, has revealed shocking levels of suffering, injuries and flagrant disregard for animal welfare by workers, prompting several leading UK supermarkets and Red Tractor to drop the farm.

For our latest grassroots focus, we take a closer look at the compelling DONTWATCH.ORG campaign launched earlier this year. Based on a short seven-minute video, the campaign uses reverse psychology and a strong guerilla activism element to compel people to engage with the shocking truth of how we exploit animals.

Content warning: graphic images | Meet Flat House Farm, a farrow-to-finish farm housing up to 8,000 pigs and 800 breeding pigs where undercover investigators for Viva! found conditions so awful that even Red Tractor was ‘appalled’ by our findings.

From glimpses into the world of farm investigations to a prediction of the state of the world in 30 years’ time, we round-up our pick of short films and documentaries that came out in 2020.

In Part 2 of our 2020 round-up, Media and Education Coordinator Andrew Gough looks at the last six months of the year, arguably one of the most eventful for Surge with a distinct change of gears for the team. Don’t forget to read Part 1.