The hidden world of animal suffering: Creatures are beaten to death, strangled and locked into tiny stalls to provide food or entertainment around the world in unflinching photo series
Animals being slaughtered, savagely beaten and forced into tiny cages for human entertainment and consumption feature in a distressing new photo series depicting the shocking extent of human cruelty.
The images, which reveal the realities of a dog slaughterhouse in China, foie gras production, and battery farming, are among many in a new book which hopes to raise awareness of animal suffering. The unflinching photo series, supported by actor Joaquin Phoenix, documents animal exploitation around the world for the purposes of food, religion, entertainment, work and tradition.
A butcher at a dog slaughterhouse in China chooses the dog he will beat to death with an iron bar, in one of a series of horrific images in a new book raising awareness of animal crueltyAn emaciated horse is dragged with a chain around its neck before it it is suspended and strangled to death at a horse slaughterhouse in Mexico, the second largest horsemeat producer in the worldCows in Poland are packed into a tiny dairy in Poland for milking, separated from each other by metal bars leaving the animals with minimal room and no contact with each otherDucks and geese are force fed with grain to fatten up their livers to ten times their normal size to produce the luxury delicacy foie gras in Spain
Among the images is one showing dogs locked up in cages and forced to watch as their counterparts are killed, dismembered, and cooked in front of them in Cambodia. Another shows cages of ducks and geese being force fed by workers to fatten their livers for the luxury delicacy foie gras. The series also shows animals such as bears and monkeys being forced to perform for the entertainment of their audiences.
The book, HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, features images taken by a team of award-winning photojournalists. The title refers to the processes not often seen by the public even though many enjoy the entertainment or food that results from them. The book is published by We Animals Media and hopes to raise awareness of the widespread suffering of animals caused by humans.
Tima the brown bear of the Gran Circo Holiday circus poses for a photo with children in Spain. The photo series exposes the cruelty of the human treatment towards animals around the worldThe body of a dead piglet sticks out of a broken bin on the side of the road outside an industrial pig farm in Tingerup in DenmarkDay-old chicks are separated from their mothers and packed into crates at an industrial hatchery in Poland where they are transported to farms unprotected from the elementsIn the horse yard of a bullring in Azpeitia, Spain, a bull is hung by his hind leg to bleed out before being butcheredA macaque performs in a popular street show in Jakarta, Indonesia, in what is known locally as Topeng Monyet. The book exposes how animals are exploited for human entertainment
The book was compiled by photojournalist and animal rights activist Jo-Anne McArthur from Canada, in her third series on animal cruelty. She hopes readers will reconsider their relationship with animals through the images which she likens to war photography.
She said: ‘Perhaps no images have made a greater impact than the photography of war. They told stories that changed the way we think about the history they captured. They were unflinching and unapologetic and they called us to action. Today, a growing number of photographers are turning their lenses to an invisible war, one that few people see, and that is the war on animals.’
A silver fox is seen in a metal cage in a fur farm in Poland after an investigation found an illegal farm with 60 caged and neglected foxes and dogs. All were rescued and the farm was closed downThousands of chickens are crammed into a huge warehouse in Finland in shocking conditions. The brutal images taken by a team of award-winning photojournalists are featured in the book, HIDDEN: Animals in the AnthropoceneA butcher standing in a pool of blood clubs a pig to stun it and make it unconscious, before slitting the animal’s throat (left), while confiscated frog purses are seen in the US (right), which are made from cane toads and have zippers and straps attached to their bodiesAt a temple in Nepal, animals are still sacrificed to Kali, the goddess of time, power, creation and destructionA cage of dogs watch as others are killed and dismembered before being cooked behind them in Cambodia
The publisher said: ‘The stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal. They are proof of the emergency confronting animals globally, from industrial farming to climate change, and provide valuable insight into the relevance of animal suffering to human health.’
It features the work of 40 of the world’s best animal photojournalists and a foreword by Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix.
The vegan star of The Joker said: ‘The photojournalists represented in HIDDEN have entered some of the darkest, most unsettling places in the world. The images they have captured are a searing reminder of our unpardonable behavior towards animals and will serve as beacons of change for years to come.’
In a Mexican slaughterhouse, cows are immobilized by having a blade thrust into their spinal cord, a process known as pithingA sick pig is left to die on floor of a corridor of a farm in Finland. The eye-opening book features the work of 40 of the world’s best animal photojournalists and a foreword by Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin PhoenixA fisherman carries a shark at a market in Lombok, Indonesia, which is one of the largest exporters of shark fin to China
