Blatant Hormel Abuse -Contact Your US Rep & Demand Intervention Today!

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http://news./s/ap/20080916/ap_on_re_us/abused_pigs_1

AP Exclusive: Video shows workers abusing pigsWASHINGTON -

An undercover video shot at an Iowa pig farm shows workers hitting sows

with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging

about jamming rods up into sows' hindquarters.

On the video, obtained by The Associated Press, a supervisor tells an undercover investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that when he gets angry or a sow won't move, "I grab one of these rods and jam it in her (anus)."

The farm, located outside of Bayard, Iowa, about 60 miles west of Des Moines,

is a supplier to Hormel Foods of Austin, Minn. PETA wants to use the

results of the investigation to pressure Hormel, the maker of Spam and

other food products, to demand that its suppliers ensure humane

treatment of pigs.

Hormel spokeswoman Julie Henderson Craven on Tuesday called the abuses "completely unacceptable."

The animal rights group also planned to send the video to the sheriff in Greene County, Iowa, seeking prosecution of 18 people on animal cruelty violations. According to PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, the video shows eight people directly abusing animals.

"Abuse on factory farms is the absolute norm, not the exception, and anyone eating factory-farmed meat is paying to support it," Friedrich said.

After getting a whistleblower complaint

from someone inside the farm, PETA sent two undercover investigators to

get hired at the farm and document its practices — one from June 10 to

Sept. 8, and the other from July 23 to Sept. 11.

At one point on the video, an employee

shouts to an investigator, "Hurt 'em! There's nobody works for PETA out

here. You know who PETA is?"

The undercover PETA investigator replies that he's heard of the group.

"I hate them. These (expletives)

deserve to be hurt. Hurt, I say!," the employee yells as he hits a sow

with a metal rod. "Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! ... Take out your

frustrations on 'em." He encourages the investigator to pretend that

one of the pigs scared off a voluptuous and willing 17- or 18-year-old

girl, and then beat the pig for it.

Records at the Greene County Assessor's

Office show the property was owned by Natural Pork Production II LLP of

Iowa until Aug. 18, and then was transferred to MowMar LLP of Fairmont,

Minn.

Lynn Becker, an owner of MowMar, called

the abuses on the video "completely intolerable, reprehensible. We

condemn these types of acts. If any animals were abused in the brief

time we've owned the farm, if we still employ these people, any attempt

will made to investigate and initiate corrective action immediately."

Becker said his company provided animal welfare training to the staff when it took over the farm.

Natural Pork Production II referred

questions to AMVC Management Services, which managed the farm under its

ownership. Mark Jones, AMVC's network manager, said the video showed

"unacceptable practices" and that his company is working with the new

ownership to investigate.

Craven, the Hormel spokeswoman, said

the farm became a Hormel supplier only after the change in ownership,

and that MowMar "shares our commitment to animal welfare and humane

handling."

Craven said it was her understanding

that the abuses took place before the change in ownership. But PETA's

Friedrich said the abuses continued, and that the new manager abused

animals by shocking and kicking pigs.

Dr. Jennifer Greiner, a veterinarian

and director of science and technology at the National Pork Producers

Council, said the industry condemns "willful abuse" of pigs and that

the video depicts acts that are not acceptable.

"Our industry is committed to handling pigs humanely," she said. "My industry is full of good people."

At one point in the video, workers are

shown slamming piglets on the ground, a practice designed to instantly

kill those baby pigs that aren't healthy enough. But on the video, the

piglets are not killed instantly, and in a bloodied pile, some piglets

can be seen wiggling vainly. The video also shows piglets being

castrated, and having their tails cut off, without anesthesia.

Temple Grandin,

a leading animal welfare expert who serves as a consultant to the

livestock industry, said that while those are standard industry

practices, the treatment of the sows on the video was far from it.

"This is atrocious animal abuse," Grandin said after PETA sent her the video. But she disagreed with PETA's contention that it was widespread in the industry.

"I've been on many good farms, and the

pigs are handled gently," she said. "This was blatant, deliberate

animal cruelty. These people are sick. They need to be prosecuted.

There are certain people that enjoy hurting animals and they should not

be working with them — period."

One of the PETA investigators, who

spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his ability to do

further undercover operations, said there was a culture of violence on

the farm, and working there was an emotionally and physically

exhausting experience that typically involved working 12-hour shifts

and walking 15 miles a day.

"So many times, it took all of my

willpower not to step up and do something," he said, adding that he

also saw the supervisor shove a cane into a sow's vagina. "I was just

shocked. What do you say to that?"

___

On the Net:

PETA video: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iowa_pigfarm_abuse

National Pork Producers Council: http://www.nppc.org/index.php

 

 

Bruce Friedrich

Vice President, PETA

Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. –Elie Wiesel

* Please watch, download, and distribute this free and uncopyrighted video.