Push to free ‘Olivia’ the pig after claims of Midland Bacon farm worker’s hideous ‘pants dropping’ video
The son of a pig farm manager is preparing to appear in court on bestiality charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a female pig, as activists demand the animal be released.
Bradley O’Reilly, 30, was charged after he was allegedly caught on a secret camera by activists at the Midland Bacon pig farm, which his father Ricky O’Reilly runs.
The video shows a person with his pants down allegedly raping Sow No. 8416, now renamed Olivia by activists, on February 11.
Victorian detectives charged Mr O’Reilly after he obtained the video footage from Farm Transparency Project (FTP) activists who allegedly broke into Midland Bacon in Carag Carag, north central Victoria, to plant the camera.
The FTP now has a Cpetition on hange.org demanding the sow’s release and the campaign for Olivia is supported on Instagram posts and video posts.
Activists have also protested outside the pigsty gates with banners and fluffy pig toys.
Activists have launched a campaign to free sow No. 8416 (above), which they have named Olivia, and have filed a petition demanding the pig be released from captivity.
Sow No. 8416 now has her own ‘Free Olivia’ T-shirt and activists have held signs and pig toys outside the pigsty to protest her release and medical therapy after the alleged abuse.
Prominent animal rights campaigner Sophie Wilcher, who started the petition for Olivia, claims the footage shows Mr O’Reilly attacking the pig in a restrictive pen after the end of a shift.
The video shows him dropping his pants and committing the alleged assault.
Sow No. 8416 was in a farrowing pen at the time, where the sows were deliberately confined during pregnancy and after birth to reduce the risk of the mother lying on and crushing her newborn piglets.
“We have made this footage available on our website, along with other photos and footage of standard, routine atrocities at the same facility,” FTP said.
The camera that activists placed in the pigsty was not intended to expose bestiality, but to uncover other alleged incidents of abuse that the FTP was investigating.
This reportedly included killing piglets with blunt force, and procedures performed by farmhands without anesthesia, such as tooth removal, which is a legal animal practice.
The O’Reilly family are well known in the community – father Ricky is a life member of Stanhope Football Club, while accused Brad won the club’s award for ‘most determined’ in 2019 and played there alongside his brothers.
Ricky O’Reilly, who has managed the piggery for 13 years, often delivered Christmas hams to the local community, the Herald Sun reportedand feared the activists would break in, saying it had given him sleepless nights.
Footage captured by animal activists in Midland Bacon, Victoria, allegedly shows the son of piggery manager Bradley O’Reilly committing an act of bestiality against a sow
Activists broke into Midland Bacon and installed cameras to capture alleged animal cruelty. The images allegedly showed the manager’s son sexually abusing one of the sows
Olivia the sow was allegedly sexually abused by pig farm manager Ricky O’Reilly’s son Brad (above) when the 30-year-old returned to the farrowing pens after the end of a shift
Activists protested outside Midland Bacon, leaving toys, tokens and notes for the sow and saying in one word, ‘Dear Olivia in the world. We’re sorry. We try’
The petition to help save Olivia has reached 26,300 of 35,000 signatures and has been tabled in the NSW Parliament, and possibly the Parliament of Victoria.
The petition read: ‘Please sign this petition to urge Midland Bacon to immediately release sow 8416 into the care of Peanuts Well-being Sanctuary.
“Letting her live out the rest of her days in peace and safety is the bare minimum they can do.”
Sophie Wilcher told Daily Mail Australia that Olivia may have moved to another pigsty from the same company and she wants assurances that she will be cared for.
“We have been told she is being cared for but she has had no medical care and the RSPCA say they only deal with physical care and do not consider emotional or mental wellbeing,” she said.
She had distributed flyers to 1,700 Carag Carag residents asking ‘Have you seen this sow?’ and offering a $500 reward.
Brad O’Reilly will appear in Echuca Local Court in June on charges of bestiality.