Chinese slaughterhouse staff force-feed cows with water for 12 hours to artificially increase their weight

Staff at two slaughterhouses in east China have been accused of animal cruelty after a broadcaster revealed that cows there were pumped with water for up to 12 hours to artificially increase their weight.

Police arrested 29 people at the two sites in Anhui province on Friday, Jiangsu TV reported on Tuesday. Video showed cows at the slaughterhouses in Quanjiao and Laian counties, outside Nanjing, with plastic tubes in their nostrils. Some of the animals had toppled over, water streaming from their bodies.