The perilous work of the undercover investigator
Without the work of undercover investigators, ordinary people would arguably never find out what really goes on behind the walls of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Tracks Investigations Ltd was co-founded by Gem de Silva, the first activist to film covertly in factory farms in the UK and a pioneer of the use of undercover investigative filmmaking techniques.
Today, the team at Tracks consists of a dozen international investigative consultants including ex-special forces personnel, internationally acclaimed television broadcasters and journalists, research scientists as well as environmental and animal protection lobbyists - all with unparalleled skills and experience in planning and undertaking investigations for the conservation, animal protection and environmental sectors. And while you may not have heard of Tracks itself, its groundbreaking investigations have allowed NGO’s to create long lasting change for animals suffering everywhere.
TEP: How does Tracks work?
De Silva: Organisations normally approach us to undertake an investigation. Out of the 250 or so projects we've done, I think we've only pitched once – to Compassion in World Farming, about a “Follow the Money” campaign ( I was a big fan on The Wire!). Follow the Money looked into how taxpayers’ money around the world was being channelled into publicly owned banks and then used to fund big agribusiness projects that are detrimental to animals and the environment. I’m very keen to see investigations not simply as stand-alone activities. It's better for the group we work with to come to us, as they will hopefully see an investigation as a key element of a strategic campaign to help political lobbying and public awareness campaigns on a specific issue. The investigation then has life after the initial media blitz and [can go on to] influence citizens, consumers and legislators.
TEP: How do you prepare for a job?
De Silva: It’s vital to get a good understanding about why the project has been commissioned. How It's going to be used? What information and images do they need? What are the underlying animal welfare or environmental issues that need to be highlighted? We then progress to the three Rs: research, research, and research! This is a combination of mining data, contacting people who know something about the issue and trawling the internet to identify locations and activities of specific targets. Finally, we move onto preparing logistics. This could include setting up fake companies and websites to help us with cover stories. These can enable us to gain access to the activity that we want to expose or modifying covert equipment for the project. It's vital we've everything in place at the start so that, when we are out on an investigation, we can focus on getting the imagery.
TEP: Which project has given you greatest pride?
De Silva: Whilst the goal of all our projects are about creating change, which often takes time, sometimes it’s fabulous to have quick hits. We undertook a project last autumn in France which led to the release of three performing bears into animal sanctuaries. Micha, Bony and Glasha had been kept in captivity in windowless, concrete dungeons. They were in a terrible state, Micha had maggots crawling out of her feet and sores on her body. The group we worked with released our footage to the media where it caused a public outcry and media storm. With weeks, the French Ministry for Environment ordered the release of the bears. Sadly, Micha died soon afterwards as her injuries were too severe but Bony and Glasha are now living in a sanctuary. We certainly feel pride at having helped those individual lives. But it was not only their lives. Later that autumn, Paris announced it was going to ban wild animals in circuses. Expectations of a national ban follow suit.
“The three bears had been kept in captivity in windowless, concrete dungeons.” .Picture: Tracks.
TEP: Which project has allowed you most success - although I understand that might be difficult to define in this context?
De Silva: It's incredibly hard to pick out just one out of hundreds of projects that has had an impact as I’d like to think that most of them did. Almost ten years ago, investigations for Animals Australia on live animal exports created a national debate and led to some exports being banned. But, if I had to pick just one, it would be our investigations into fur farming in Belgium. Over several years, we investigated the majority of fur farms in the Wallonian and Flemish regions of the country. Our footage revealed a catalogue of deplorable conditions and distressing suffering for mink, silver, and artic foxes. These were wild animals who would normally roam for miles. Instead, they were being kept in small wire cages, showing signs of stereotypical behaviour. i.e. going mad. Backed by a tremendous public campaign and crucially powerful footage that laid bare the suffering endured by the animals, our partners GAIA took the issue to government levels. The result is that, one by one, Belgium regions banned fur farms, starting with Wallonia in 2015 and ending with the Flemish region in 2018. We started investigating these farms in 2009 so it took time but it’s great to acknowledge that our work has achieved meaningful change for animals.
“Deplorable conditions and distressing suffering”. Fur farm. Picture: Tracks.
TEP: How has conservation and animal protection changed during the time you have been working?
De Silva: I have been active animal protection for 35 years. I turned vegan 32 years ago in 1988. It was then when I first started investigating factory farms armed with a heavy video camera and VHS recorder strapped to my back. Back then, animal rights was a niche issue – a space dominated by hippies and punks, an issue that did not migrate to the public at large. Investigations were seen as a criminal extremist activity, so much so that I never admitted to undertaking them. Animal protection was not covered by the mainstream media and the use of animals - for food, fashion and entertainment - was a given with no questions asked.
On a personal note, I never entertained the idea of eating out in restaurants, knowing veganism was a word no one knew, let alone understand. Fast forward 30 years and animal protection issues are now in the mainstream. Supermarkets and restaurants are falling over themselves to satisfy the ever-expanding market of conscious consumers. Veganism is no longer the preserve of “outsiders”. It’s crashed through into the heart of society. The use of animals for food, fashion and entertainment is no longer a given. The abuse continues but questions are asked.
And animal protection is no longer seen in isolation. It’s not just about the suffering of animals, it’s also about the devastation of the environment. When I first became active in animal rights, even environmentalists - such as some well known high profile ones - saw us as extremist. Now they stand shoulder to shoulder [with us], acknowledging factory farming and its like is perhaps the biggest environmental issue there is in terms of devastation of earth’s resources. Oh, and you can know take a great quality image on a handheld phone!
HN: How do you heal and support each other after bearing witness to suffering?
De Silva: I’m not proud to say this but often we suffer in silence. Bearing witness is incredibly stressful. All your senses are attacked. For example, when entering a chicken farm, the smell is brutal. The ammonia from chicken shit burns your eyes and nostrils, you struggle to breath, the noise is frightening, the squawking of thousands of birds mixed in with industrial fans. Then you start to focus on individual birds - and it’s hard to focus on one thing when there is so much to document. You try and film a bird whose chest is red, sore and featherless. You get distracted by a bird who is struggling to walk or can’t stand up, who has basically given up the will to live.
You get home and try and wash. The smell of the unit lingers on you. The images of suffering engrained on your retinas. However, these images are not to keep. You have to keep remembering that. Your duty is to now put them out to the world. That’s the life of an investigator. And doing that keeps you sane - knowing that your actions have made a difference.
“Then you start to focus on individual bird …” Picture: Tracks.
TEP: What do you hope to achieve, most of all, with your investigative work?
De Silva: Quite simply - meaningful change for the lives of animals.
TEP: Why are animals important?
De Silva: I’m not a traditional animal over. I did not have pets, I didn’t play with idyllic farmyard toy animals as a child. I only became an animal activist after reading the seminal book “Animal Liberation” by Peter Singer. The premise of the book was that animals have rights – and to deny them rights is a form of speciesism. It seemed a logical extension to other ‘isms' such as racism and sexism. So, my concern is about how we use and abuse animals for food, fashion, research, companionship, and entertainment. It seems totally rational that we should respect the rights of animals. These are sentient beings who have feelings and emotions - both negative feelings such as pain, frustration and fear as well as feelings of comfort and enjoyment. Animals are more than just numbers.
TEP: What gives you hope?
De Silva: I’ve been involved in the animal rights movement for over 30 years. I’ve seen the movement move into the mainstream. It’s not just the preserve of traditional campaigning activists. Whilst, of course, there is always a need for such activists to push at the boundaries, animal protection issues are now being championed by scientists, educators, legislators, lawyers, innovators and entrepreneurs. They are creating a new world – for example new technologies such as clean meat has the opportunity to transform the way of farming. I’m heartened by a new generation of conscious consumers who make informed choices of how they live their lives. And I’m heartened that I can now buy oat milk and vegan ice-cream in my local corner shop.
TEP: Groups like Animal Rebellion focuses on the need to transition to a plant based system for the planet, for people and for the animals. What are the strengths and weaknesses of that approach?
De Silva: Adopting a plant-based diet is the most effective way of ensuring that we don’t go down the route of environmental Armageddon whilst benefiting the lives of billions of farm animals - and ensuring you as as individual lead a healthy life. It's a no brainer. The strength of advocating that message is that it will resonate with anyone - whether they’re interested in caring about the future of the planet, concerned about the plight of animals or care about themselves. One would hope to think that many people have one or more of those concerns. In all honesty, I see no weakness of that approach today.
