Countryfile hit with furious backlash as 'cruel' scene sparks outrage: 'Downright abuse!'

Countryfile viewers were left fuming as the programme documented a family who practice battery farming for cows. Sunday's instalment of the BBC programme featured footage from a number of old episodes, including clips taken from 2021.

The show visisted the Lilburn family in County Down, showcasing husband and wife Richard and Pamela's different kind of dairy farm to ones previously shown.

The Lilburn's operate a zero grazing system, meaning the hers remain inside for most of the year. The cows are kept in confined, indoor spaces with limited or no access to pasture. Doing this prioritises maximising milk production and minimsing costs.

But since taking on the farm in 2011, Richard and Pamela have invested heavily to keep their cows comfortable and content.

"They have fresh beds, comfortable matresses. They have food on tap, they have scratchers and foot baths," Richard said, branding it a five-star hotel for cows.

However, fans were less than impressed with what they were seeing as they raced to social media to express their fury.

One wrote: "It's bad enough having battery hens but keeping those poor cows inside for the majority of the year is downright abuse. #countryfile."

"Absolutely disgusting, how cruel. Why is Countryfile celebrating factory farming," raged a second as another posted: "Looks really sad..a bit like keeping cats indoors that never see the light of day."

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