Working as an Undercover Employee
2 min read
Examples of investigations I executed as a "regular" worker in slaughterhouses:
- A story about the biggest mammals slaughterhouse in Israel (at the time), Adom Adom ("red red"), which belongs to Tnuva, the biggest Israeli food company. Here is the story on ABC news Australia, it contains graphic footage. This was my first undercover in a slaughterhouse (or any factory farming), and I worked there for a month and a half, some of the time along with a colleague.
- It was probably the most influential TV investigation in Israel in 2012, generating a public outcry with hundreds of follow-ups.
- It was the basis for the first criminal conviction on farm animal abuse in the country
- It elicited class actions bringing millions of shekels to farm animal organizations
- Helped boost the animal rights wave in Israel
- What made this investigation a viral hit? The blend of a huge food brand, a slaughterhouse footage never seen before by the Israeli public, a TV show host with a very macho and "non vegan" appearance, and public interest that has already started to gather up for the subject.
Rafi Ginat, who was host of the most veteran Israeli investigative show, where the slaughterhouse footage was published.
- This is a picture I took in the slaughterhouse (turned black and white to be less graphic). In the final moment of this animal, I felt the total domination of the system upon him taken to the most extreme. He can't even express his fear, everything is still. Only the eyes keep blinking with terror.
- A story about a chicken slaughterhouse of the biggest sausages and deli meats manufacture in Israel, called Soglowek. Aside from working there undercover, colleagues and myself filmed the inside from the outside, hiding in the bushes with long zoom cameras. The recipe was similar to the first mammal slaughterhouse investigation: a major food brand, same TV show, same formula. It worked again. The president of Israel at the time became vegetarian after seeing this investigation.
A picture from the chicken slaughterhouse investigation
- I worked with a colleague in several Australian cattle stations and a slaughterhouse, exposing the "humane meat" myth through a widely covered investigation, resulting in major Australian cattle producers implementing pain relief while dehorning. The story was published in prime time media in Israel and international media, with coverage including The Guardian, creating corporate policy changes and sparking outrage.
The guardian headline about the investigation
- I will always remember Kylie, a calf who died in our arms on the cattle station. Watch his story here.
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