Outraged Countryfile viewers last night questioned why graphic footage believed to show the conditions endured by farm animals was aired before the watershed.
Clips featuring a heap of chicks – seemingly in the final moments of their short lives – and pigs biting on the bars of the cage that fenced them in were met with a wave of disapproval on social media.
Another showed a chicken in cramped conditions struggling to free itself after becoming stuck under a piece of feeding equipment.
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And although viewers were warned about the upcoming scenes, many were still upset at the unpleasant sights filmed by activists and broadcast by the BBC.
Some even accused the BBC of giving a disproportionate voice to animal rights campaigners, even after presenter Tom Heap noted 1% of the adult British population – over half a million people – is now vegan.
“Why try to be controversial?” tweeted @RobMilton11.
“Giving into the groups on the fringe or the outside of the countryside.”
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“Vegan political party broadcast…..turned over,” said @mikepenney4.
User @LeatherCourage added:
Why did @BBCCountryfile have to show a bucket of dying and dead chicks? I don’t need to see an animal being left to slowly die 😔👎 #bbc #countryfile
— Boo Raj (@LeatherCourage) April 8, 2018
However, other users applauded the BBC allowing the ‘reality’ of the factory farming situation to be represented, even if it was difficult to watch – whether before or after 9pm.
Credit to #countryfile for at least briefly showing some of the realities of the animal industry. Some viewers rightly found it hard to stomach. https://t.co/BHhodvCWej
— saminal rights (@samwessel) April 9, 2018
But there was also resistance from viewers as presenter Tom Heap met chief of campaign group Animal Equality Dr Toni Shephard to discuss their methods of protesting, which have included interrupting public events and trespassing on farms to film footage of the animals’ living conditions.
“It’s always just to show exactly what we find, so simply just opening the door and filming what is happening there,” Dr Shephard said.
She continued: “Most consumers really don’t know that most pigs are fattened indoors on barren slatted floors with very little enrichment.
“They don’t know that half the hens used for egg production in Britain are still inside cages in windowless barns, so it’s letting them know exactly how their food is produced so they can make an informed choice.”
But Tom highlighting how innocent farmers, their families, their livelihoods and their properties can be threatened by protesters’ actions also drew an angry response from one user who claimed the programme suggested veganism was linked to breaking the law.
Being vegan is not breaking the law, and certainly not all vegans are activists. But some activists do trespass on farms – just showing both sides of an argument #Countryfile https://t.co/ZbkFPQj2ns
— BBC Countryfile (@BBCCountryfile) April 8, 2018
A BBC spokesperson told us: “Viewers were given a clear warning ahead of this film being shown, and this was an important item that dealt with animal welfare in a balanced and impartial way.”
Where do you stand on this issue? Was the footage aired too early? Should it not have been aired on TV at all? Have your say on our Facebook page – @EntertainmentDailyFix.
Countryfile is on BBC One, Sundays at 7pm.