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Published on: November 5, 2021
Last updated on: October 22, 2025

The government takes animal welfare advice from a pig farmer whose Beter Leven farm was investigated by Ongehoord.

In November 2021, Ongehoord published an investigation into the Netherlands' most famous pig breeder. Annechien ten Have-Mellema from Beerta serves on the Council for Animal Affairs, which advises the government on animal welfare. She breeds pigs for Hamletz meat, sold at Albert Heijn, and this meat has received two Beter Leven stars from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming). During the investigation at her mega-farm, Ongehoord filmed dead pigs and piglets, mother pigs trapped between bars, pigs struggling to walk, and animals with tails that were completely or partially gnawed off.

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