An activist has revealed how an epiphany when eating a chicken wrap led to her becoming vegan – even risking her life to expose cruelty to animals.
Tarion Partridge, 25, from Spalding in Lincolnshire, has now been vegan for almost six years and works with her boyfriend Joey Carbstrong, 37, to expose suffering in the UK’s animal agriculture industry.
The couple recently released a documentary called Pignorant on Amazon Prime, in which they go undercover to film horrific events taking place in UK farms and abattoirs.
Tarion captured footage of a pig being brutally beaten on a farm in Norfolk, while Joey infiltrated one of the country’s controversial carbon dioxide chambers – both risking their lives if they were caught or if something went wrong.
Speaking to FEMAIL, Tarion and Joey shed light on the ‘terrifying’ process of filming the documentary and the ‘strong possibility of dying’ in doing so.
Tarion Partridge, 25, from Lincolnshire, has devoted her life to being a full-time activist now she is vegan
Tarion and Joey (pictured left and right) lead a protest outside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in London in February
Tarion was raised in Lincolnshire as a meat-eater, but had an ‘epiphany’ aged 15 when she was eating chicken and wondered what the real difference was between that and her beloved dog, Saxon.
She said: ‘I sort of had a bit of an epiphany moment because I absolutely loved my dog.
‘I was always saying I was an animal lover and I was eating this chicken wrap at school and I had this sort of connection moment and was like “oh my god, like why am I eating these animals?”.’
She met Joey through her activism work at a festival called Vegan Camp Out. Before long, she left her job in marketing to work with Joey, and they have now co-produced Pignorant – their biggest project to date.
In the documentary, Tarion and Joey hid in bushes at Harford Farm in Norfolk for a ten days in June 2022, risking danger if they were discovered.
The footage they managed to capture was beyond anything they ever expected – as they witnessed the shocking scenes of a farm worker brutally beating a pig with a thin iron rod. Tarion added they saw more horrific sights, which were too graphic to even be shown.
She said: ‘That was one of the worst places that we’ve been to – it was absolutely shocking. The pig being bashed is so disgusting and so horrible, murderous and callous.
‘I’ve seen so many suffering animals in these places and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. Afterwards we get to go home and they suffer until they’re basically murdered.
Tarion aims to expose cruelty to animals in the UK – her latest project ‘Pignorant’ details the inhumane ways pigs are slaughtered
The couple go undercover and film using a zoom lens (pictured) while capturing footage for their documentary
‘Originally it felt very scary and you feel like you’re doing something a bit wrong. But then I remembered why I was going that and what I was doing it for and to help those animals who basically suffer in the dark.
‘Even when we first reviewed the footage it was really hard to keep it together. We witnessed a pig being paralysed and it looked like they had a tire mark on their back.’
The secret footage appears to show a worker beating a pig for 23 seconds while the animal screams in pain – before the worker returns later to attack it once more.
Norfolk Free Range group, which covers the farm, reportedly sacked the employees after news of the footage emerged, according to The Independent.
But just weeks after the pigs were beaten, the RSPCA added the farm to its Assured scheme – which was later suspended.
Speaking about their film, Tarion said: ‘We want people to recognise animals as sentient beings in the same way that humans have fundamental rights.’
‘Most people don’t know that pigs are gassed in gas chambers.’
Tarion’s boyfriend Joey is a well-known activist in the community and has been vegan for 10 years.
Tarion was raised in Lincolnshire as a meat-eater, but had an ‘epiphany’ aged 15 when she was eating chicken
Pictured: Ms Partridge as a teenager with her dog Saxon, who she loved, and who inspired her to go vegan
Tarion and Joey met at Vegan Camp Out – and now go undercover together, often putting themselves in serious danger
Joey has risked his life by infiltrating gas chambers across the UK to capture footage – something he has admitted is ‘terrifying’
His journey to taking part in protests and activism is one that had a very unusual start – as he used to be involved with gangs and spent a six-month period in prison in 2013 after being caught with a firearm.
But during his time in prison he underwent a revelation and has been promoting animal rights ever since.
The documentary also follows Joey’s dangerous journey to obtain the UK’s first-ever footage of pigs being gassed in carbon dioxide.
Joey secretly planted cameras inside the gas chamber at Pilgrim’s Pride in Manchester and then retrieved them – but the process was not a simple one.
To infiltrate the chamber and get the footage, Joey risked his life due to the heavy concentrations of gas without anyone there to rescue him.
He explained: ‘It’s quite a risky mission as the gas chambers in the UK are operating 24/7. These missions have been done in places like Australia where the slaughterhouse is kind of shut down at night.
‘It was very stressful for both of us because there’s a strong chance you could slip and there’s no exit plan in these gas chambers, there’s no alarm.
‘If you take a mouthful of gas, you’re essentially disorientated and dead. But we had to accept that fate and just go for it.’
Tarion often goes into McDonalds and KFC, showing diners pictures of slaughterhouses and how their food was produced
The concentration of gas at the bottom of the chamber was at its highest, meaning fatal consequences if he fell.
Despite bringing oxygen apparatus, at one point CO2 managed to seep in to Joey’s mask, marking the most terrifying moment of the project so far.
‘It burns, it’s like a can of coke. It’s so painful. I was feeling this gas going through my nose and into my eyes and I started to go white with fear,’ Joey recalled.
‘I’ve now got some experience of how terrifying this gas is to be in so I can express with incredible passion when I’m saying the industry are torturing these pigs.
‘The UK obviously has the highest welfare standards in the world so it was something that needed to be uncovered and which is why I took the incredible risk to get the footage because now there’s no denying it.
‘It was a very bizarre experience because you’re going to do this thing where there’s a strong possibility of dying. It was like a dream state we were in. The feeling of being nerve-racked beyond anything I’ve been in my sober mind.’
In recent weeks Tarion has protested outside Sainsbury’s HQ and DEFRA in London to highlight the horrors of gas chamber slaughter for pigs.
She also often protests outside McDonalds and KFC branches, even going inside to encourage people to stop eating meat by presenting them with pictures of factory farming and slaughter houses.
Tarion believes it is ‘dishonest’ if people say they can’t become vegan due to the price or the hassle
Tarion works with her boyfriend, Joey Carbstrong, who is a well-known activist (pictured together)
The protests have mixed success: Tarion sometimes persuades diners to change their minds, but it also has resulted her in being kicked out.
She explained: ‘I think one of the most powerful things you can do is to show people footage. I’ve had some really good conversations in there. People were shocked by what they were seeing. A lot of people haven’t seen this and they feel lied to.’
Tarion won’t accept an excuse that becoming vegan is too difficult or too expensive, stating: ‘I think that is dishonest. A lot of people say that and I think it’s masking a different angle – like they like the taste or it’s more convenient.
‘But that’s not an issue at all because the cheapest foods in the supermarket are vegan foods. Most things like pasta, bread, rice you name it. Most of the cheap foods are vegan.
‘If you have any respect for animals whatsoever, then the least we can do is not support the horrible things that are happening to them.’
Norfolk Free Range previously said in a statement: ‘We have been disgusted and distressed by the actions of our employees depicted in the footage; it is not acceptable and not representative of the way in which we look after our animals.
‘As soon as we were made aware the individuals involved were instantly dismissed.
‘We are compliant with all recent farm inspections but are of course cooperating fully with the investigation being conducted by RSPCA Assured and will be implementing a full review of our business to ensure this does not happen again in future.’
Pilgrim’s Pride declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
Pignorant is available to stream now on Amazon Prime.
