Animals on farms often live in appalling conditions, deprived of their freedom and unable to satisfy their most basic needs. We can only imagine the terror and panic experienced by these creatures, condemned to await death crammed into unnatural facilities. Animal Equality, an international organisation dedicated to the protection of animals raised for food, allows us, however, to understand more deeply, to broaden our perceptions, to experience first-hand the horror that permeates these places. To see, in short, through the eyes of an animal condemned to death in an intensive farm.

Living the slaughterhouse experience

Animal Equality Italia has presented 42 giorni, the latest chapter in the iAnimal series, the innovative augmented reality project, launched in 2016, which uses cutting-edge technology to show audiences the reality of intensive farming. For the first time it will be possible to experience a 360-degree journey into the hidden world of intensive chicken farming, guided by the voice of American artist Kat Von D.

Behind the scenes

The video was made possible by the undercover work of Animal Equality investigators who infiltrated farms in Italy and five other countries to document the horrifying conditions in which "meat" chickens are forced to live.

The hard life of a broiler

If you thought the life of laying hens, forced to live piled on top of one another, crammed into tiny iron cages stacked in rows up to six storeys high and lit by artificial light, was unpleasant, broilers — that is, chickens selected for their meat — have it even worse. They are, in fact, the most exploited animals on the planet, and around 40 billion of them are killed every year.

Ever-larger chickens

Over the past fifty years, two types of poultry have been developed — broilers and laying hens — with different genomes and designed for different functions. During this period, thanks to genetic manipulation techniques, chicken growth has increased exponentially over an ever-shorter timeframe. "Chickens once had a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years; today they are slaughtered at around six weeks," wrote Jonathan Safran Foer in the book Eating Animals. "Their daily growth rate has increased by roughly 400 per cent." It is precisely from the very young age at which these birds are slaughtered — 42 days — that the title of the new chapter in the iAnimal series takes its name.

The health risk posed by factory farms

It is now well established that intensive farms, overcrowded and unhygienic, represent a serious risk to human health. The excessive use of antibiotics — necessary for animals to survive the appalling living conditions on farms and reach the slaughterhouse alive — has produced extremely resistant bacteria against which no antibiotic is effective. According to a British study, these bacteria could cause a pandemic on a global scale and claim ten million lives a year by 2050. In Europe, chicken meat is the main vehicle for the contamination of foodborne diseases.

Knowing is a right and a duty

"I believe it is everyone's right to know what goes on behind the scenes," declared Kat Von D, the campaign's spokesperson. "Now, thanks to Animal Equality's investigations, everyone has the opportunity to witness it first-hand, to understand and to act accordingly. However heartbreaking the truth may be, it is each and every one of our duties to stay informed so that we can think for ourselves."