Made In Chelsea's Lucy Watson breaks down in tears witnessing 'horrific' abuse of dairy cows during undercover visit to farm exposed by The Mail on Sunday

Lucy Watson has revealed the horrific conditions she witnessed on an undercover trip to a farm run by Britain's biggest dairy producer, Arla. 

The Made In Chelsea star grew up on a working farm so was familiar with some farming experiences but still found the experience 'eye-opening and harrowing', leaving her in tears. 

Lucy's visit formed part of The Big Milk Con, a major investigation by Animal Justice Project into 15 dairy farms across 13 English counties, where an independent animal-welfare expert identified 360 cases as potential breaches of animal-welfare legislation and/or farm-assurance requirements.

The findings were first revealed by The Mail on Sunday this month, and Arla has since launched its own investigation into the 'unacceptable behaviour'.

Now Lucy, 35, has detailed her undercover visit, saying it took her weeks to process the horrendous scenes she witnessed. 

'As a mother, it did hit home for me, particularly just seeing other mothers in such harrowing conditions,' Lucy told the Daily Mail. 'And the babies being taken from mothers, all they need at that age is their mums.

'The mothers were in horrific conditions, they can hear their babies crying for them, but they can't get to them, which is the most awful pain.

'They go through a nine-month pregnancy, it's a long time to be feeling your baby, to have that connection, to then have them taken away from you on the day they're born, so that a human who doesn't need to drink their milk can drink their milk.' 

Lucy, who has been vegan since 2015, continued: 'They don't have a voice so they need as many people as they can get to talk about them.'

Recalling the heartbreaking scenes she witnessed on her visit, Lucy shared: 'I saw many calves in these hutches out in the cold.

'I also saw mothers that were inside a warehouse but just living in their own s**t. They were slipping and sliding around, most of them heavily pregnant.

'I actually saw one of the cows gave birth when I was there, and the baby just fell into s**t. And they just looked really scared, it was horrible to see them. A lot of them had chains around their feet.

'There was a separate pen that had newborn calves and they looked depressed and confused. They were all huddled together, seeking comfort from one another, and that was really sad. I saw dead calves as well.

'That's what really triggered me, because they're just babies. And ultimately, their lives don't matter. 

'It was just awful. How have we got to this point where this is normal? How have we got to this point where this is what a business is today, where we're just punishing innocent beings for money?

'It angers me, but it also just really upsets me. It's probably the most cruel industry.

Following her experience, Lucy is fronting Animal Justice Project's new Choose Kind cinema campaign, encouraging people to think about the animals behind everyday dairy products.

'It's just trying to open people's eyes to the practices that we've normalised over the years that really aren't that normal,' Lucy explained. 

'I like to kind of refer to myself as an animal activist, but I've never actually done anything like that before. It was a proper undercover investigation.' 

The Choose Kind campaign encourages people to think about the animals behind everyday dairy products and reconsider their choices. 

Lucy mused: 'As a society we frown upon women who breastfeed past infancy, yet most people are drinking breast milk every single day from a cow.

'There are so many alternatives now, it's the easiest switch to make out of everything. 

'We're called a society of animal lovers, so we can't be true to ourselves and ignore this massive issue at the same time.'

On how to make kinder choices, Lucy continued: 'Every single supermarket has a vegan range.

There's so many different types of plant-based milk, there's even vegan eggs now, everywhere has vegan options. 

'We've got a McPlant burger at McDonald's, options at Burger King, KFC, and these are companies where all they sell is animal products. 

'So I think the fact that these companies are having to supply options for vegans shows how much we are growing in numbers, and how much we are demanding that change.'

While Lucy is hoping that the campaign will help people make different dietary choices, she explained: 'Day-to-day basis I'm a loud and proud vegan but I'm not going to try and force change on others, I'm not going to preach to you, but if you want to hear about it, I'm here.

'And if someone wants to talk to me about it, I take a more gentle approach. I used to be someone who ate all these things, who ate animals, who ate animal products. 

'Someone has to want to make the change and if they don't want to make the change, they're not going to invite that information in, they're not going to care. 

'So, I feel like that's why we did this kind of campaign, it reaches a wider audience.'

Following the Animal Justice Project's undercover project and The Mail on Sunday's subsequent expose, Arla Foods, which collects milk from 2,400 UK farms, has suspended milk collection from some of its farms.

Tesco confirmed it had suspended three farms supplying its milk following the revelations – Oak Lodge in Leicestershire, Kingston Hill in Oxfordshire and Bramley in Northamptonshire.

Morrisons described the footage as 'deeply concerning'.

Animal Justice Project put hidden cameras in ten barns as part of an investigation into 15 Arla farms that began after whistleblowers and members of the public raised concerns about the cows' welfare. 

Workers were secretly filmed kicking cows on the ground, dragging them across concrete with farm vehicles and beating them with metal bars.

Footage also showed a newborn calf being ripped from its mother just 25 minutes after birth, and workers urinating in cow pens.

Other clips showed cows being marched to a milking parlour in shackles and forced to sleep in straw caked with urine and faeces.

Several members of staff were sacked after the evidence was handed to dairy bosses.

Claire Palmer, Animal Justice Project's executive director, said: 'This investigation is not about one farm or one worker losing their temper. Across 13 counties and 15 Arla farms, we documented the same problems again and again.'

Their findings appear at odds with standards Arla sets for its farmers, with 100 rules to protect animal welfare and milk quality.

Arla said it was strengthening animal welfare essentials across its farms, with mandatory annual animal-handling training for all farm staff, given by an external expert, and more unannounced audits taking place.

They added it had assessed a number of farms featured in the coverage where no specific animal welfare concerns were raised, and had found no issues relating to the handling of animals.

In a written question tabled by Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Dame Angela Eagle has been asked to urgently investigate the welfare breaches.

Lucy now fronts Animal Justice Project's new Choose Kind cinema campaign.

The 60-second advert follows the journey from an Arla-supplying dairy farm to an everyday coffee order and is scheduled to screen in UK cinemas from January 2027.

Lucy hopes the campaign will encourage people to reconsider their choices without feeling judged for their past habits.

She said: 'I don’t think people are making their choices intentionally with the intent of hurting animals. I just don’t think that they know how bad it is.'

You can learn more about Animal Justice Project's investigations at www.animaljusticeproject.com