AP Exclusive: Video shows workers abusing pigs WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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 http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iowa_pigfarm_abuse National Pork Producers Council: http://www.nppc.org/index.php source ___________________________________ I know PETA can be a little nuts and overboard at times but we are all served by their efforts to expose these types of sickening actions in our food supply. The video is disgusting so watch with caution as I found it very disturbing.
Growing up in Wisconsin and being on many small family farms and some bigger production settings I can safely say from my experience 'most' are very good to their animals. I however have witnessed a few bad treatments of animals. One guy used to use his pitch fork, stabbing cows to get them moving for instance. In reality usually it was no more than a poke that did nothing 'until' he got madder and madder. Other farmers still in the old way of thinking do such things as drown new born kittens or bury them alive. Never witnessed that one, but heard the stories of those who do when I was younger. Some of the stories do make me sick, many of them do however come from those who were of the old way of thinking from my experience. That being said, don't think I can even bring myself to watch the video in all honesty. I've witnessed cows getting shot with the bolt guns numerous times, smacking them, stabbing them as stated, accidents where there bones are split open, but that video just sounds sick. Lastly videos like this however is where the anti meat crowd try to claim it's the norm, just because one farm does it does not mean they all do it.
GRIM I will have to agree with grim that this is not the norm. I did not watch the video but have seen videos like that before. I think the US has many laws on the books to take care of such abuse.
I eat meat and have no problem with animals being killed. I do have a problem with sadistic people who torture animals. I only watched the video up to the point when someone was slamming the baby pigs against the ground to kill them - but did not even bother to complete the task leaving them to suffer. I really did not need to see more than that.
Yeah, these guys are probably sociopathic assholes. But still, wouldn't it be somewhat hypocritical of me to bitch about this when I eats pigs? I mean it just seems weird to demand that pigs are treated well before they are butchered and sent to the store so I can cook and eat them. But on the other hand I feel bad for them while watching this. I think the point of PETA putting these vids out, is that they don't want people to kill and eat them at all. I'm sorry folks at PETA, but to a certain degree we are blood thirsty killers just like those on the serengeti. And as long as animals are slaughtered for food there will probably always be sadistic assholes taking advantage of the situation.
In my eyes, it's much better to treat them decently till they are made food rather than being tortured till they are made food.
Yeah, this is my gut reaction as well. But I don't think we'll ever take the cruelty out of it. There will always be psychos who work in these places that PETA will be able to sneak videos of. Maybe the only solution is a completely automated slaughter house.
These people are sick. They need to be locked up in a lunatic asylum for the rest of their lives. If they can't treat a poor animal, which can't defend itself, properly, how can we trust them to behave properly among fellow human beings? A life is a life. Whether it's a pig, rooster, horse, or a human. If one doesn't respect the value of life, he needs to be locked up in an asylum. Sick bastards.
Of course we can take the cruelty out of it. Prosecute people for the crimes they commit. There is no reason to tolerate this type of behavior - everyone in the meat business who saw this video takes that position as well. There is no reason to make excuses for criminal behavior. This is not about eating meat, this is about abuse of animals that has no place in a civilized society.
We prosecute how many people for murdering other humans every day, week, year? Yet it's probably silly to think murder will ever go away. I'm not saying we shouldn't prosecute, I'm just saying there will always be people who treat the animals like this. I think there is a sort of built-in defense mechanism in most humans that is triggered when they are put in positions where there is potential or even likelihood that they will have to commit an act of violence against another living thing. I think you see this in soldiers, like the soldier who threw the puppy in Iraq in a video that was circulating a few months ago. And perhaps at abu ghraib or in countless other occurrences throughout history where people in stressful positions have exercised cruelty towards other people or animals. When males(mainly) are put into a position where they will may have to carry out violence or where it is likely to be carried out against them, I think some(maybe most) of them actually start dealing with it by "owning" it, in other words they embrace it in an attempt to prove to themselves that they can act without conscious to get the deed done, whatever or however bloody that deed may be. In the ancient world conscious was probably more than not a liability for males. And I believe that was we call a conscious today, that most of have, is mostly a result of conditioning. In segments of society with high crime rates you have higher rates of psychopathy and I don't think it's a coincidence that there is also a lack of good parenting. Empathy and such, the things that make up a conscious, are largely taught to us. But even when they're taught and absorbed it doesn't wipe away thousands of years of evolution. So my point is that even people who are otherwise nice people might deal with having to kill pigs by embracing the violence to the point where they overdo it and become psycho-assholes, but then go home and are perfectly gentle fathers and husbands. As long as these animals are held, waiting to die and men are responsible for overseeing them, there will probably be a problem with mistreatment. The best solution is maybe for us to go vegetarian, which is what PETA would like, or pass a law that only allows women to have these jobs.
nice observation about your hired guns...add brain wash to the mix and you have the essence of your "war efforts"...
Do you have anything to add to the discussion in this thread, or are you simply going to go on yet another anti US soldier rant?
It must be sad living in your little world. Animals do not need to be tortured. I do not think Browntwn intends for this thread to take a turn or twisted into an anti-american rant.
its not a rant its an agreement with what he said...i agree with it...ive seen it happen...you guys are diluting the thread with accusations... it goes without saying that animal/human abuse is absolutely unacceptable under any excuse and should be punished by the law...
Try sticking to the topic and hand and not using every thread to vent your anti-American hatred. You are the one who takes nearly every thread you enter off topic.