WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2008
Graphic Abuse Of Pigs Caught On Tape
Undercover Video Shows Iowa Workers Hitting Sows With Metal Rods, Slamming Them On Concrete
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Photo
In this image taken from video provided to the Associated Press by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, workers at a pig farm outside of Bayard, Iowa force an injured pig to move before killing her. (AP Photo/PETA)
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?"
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 118 CommentsI think people who work in Farms should before they are hired pass through psychological test. Farm job is for people who love country side and that way of life style...it is not for everyone or anyone.
I say this because my Father has a farmer where have many thousands of herds...and sometimes the staff there also doesnot have enough patient when a new baby calf is either sick or weak.
So, this farm job is for people who love what they do and not just there working to feed their families.
IF you did that, you would be assuming that PIGS and HUMANS are on equal level, which is really a VERY STUPID thing to assume.
Posted by TheVicar1
I know your comments are usually somewhat tongue in cheek but if your comments on this story are an indication of your lack of respect for animals, I''ll take a pig over you for company any day.
OK, where is the link to the videotape of this sick abuse?? I just was at www.twincities.com and watched 4:43 of footage there from a news station. Why entertain us with horsecookie news about so much other non-news cr@pola and then not step up and be a real news organization when we need it? At least provide a link if you have no courage to do it yourself.
No, no, vicar you are missing the point..Just because we are on the top of the food chain, why would someone WANT to act that way? Why flaunt your power to gratify your ego, or sense of god-like power? What''s the point of hurting a pig??
Failing to be thoughtful, failing to have self-control, failing to have respect for our place in the world.. this is hurting us in the long run..We are not at the very top of some pyramid dude, we are more like in a web.. Our actions and thought will bring consequences.. it''s life man.. There''s no reason to hurt animals, pigs are sentient, intelligent, mammals!
They might be tasty, but it is simply wrong to behave this way. They should be humanely killed with a stun gun to the head. Not beaten and abused for fun!
Posted by babooph
So ramming rods up pigs anuses and beating them and slamming them on concrete, while these idiots brag about their "achievements"...this is considered the real world? The real world is that people who get off on torturing animals to death indicates abnormal and unstable behavior and they should be prosecuted. Isn''t that what you all demanded from Vick for slamming dogs?
I think the argument goes like this:
Fetuses, especially 1st trimester, are not sentient, nor are they capable of life outside the womb. These pigs are full grown sentient animals. That''s the difference. And for the record, abortion disgusts me personally, but I''m not a republican.. Third trimester abortions are murder, I think anyone who knows the medical facts would simply have to beleive this. Third trimester babies are not fetuses, they are babies. So it''s not so simple: you have to be more specific..
I eat meat too, am from a farm, just killed a groundhog the other day who has destroyed my garden.... I oppose abortion, but vote Democratic and sarah palin makes me sick. The only truly nationally-known American politician morally and intellectually capable of being president is former NY Governor Mario Cuomo, and he is SOOOO smart that he had the intelligence to say no to the whole thing several years ago.
Long way from abused pigs ... huh?
However... I work for a company which was ''infiltrated'' and victimized by PETA. Trust me, their video is expertly & heavily edited prior to release. They are spliced to make the situations seem MUCH worse than they really are.
PETA is a hypocritical, cowardly & borderline terrorist organization hellbent on forcing everyone to adopt their ideology.
Mmmmmmm... think I''ll have a slab of pork ribs for lunch. Or maybe even a big juicy hamburger. Either would help add more muscle mass to my well chiseled physique which covers a strong, healthy heart pumping blood containing nearly perfect levels of cholesterol.
Afterwords I''ll visit my friend in the hospital. Despite being a nearly life-long vegetarian she seems to constantly suffer from various ailments.
RJS1955 you are an idiot.
1. "Life" begins at conception.
2. "Human Life" begins at some point very shortly after conception. To those with a vision beyond that of the mere earthly (which I do not have)this is clear and a fact as obvious as the nose on your face.
3. Intentional abortion is murder from the moment the life is human.
4. Earthly sentience is not an issue of definition of humanity, as sentience in the physical earthly sense is only part of the equation. The human being is sentient in the world from which it is coming to become an earthly sentient being here.
Yes, EXACTLY the same treatment. I couldn''t read the whole article because it was making me sick.
They are no better than the people in China who were shoving pipes down pigs throats and forcing sewer water down them.
"IF you did that, you would be assuming that PIGS and HUMANS are on equal level, which is really a VERY STUPID thing to assume."
Posted by TheVicar1 at 11:27 AM : Sep 17, 2008
And it''s just as stupid to assume that YOU are a human being, because no real human being would think of doing such a thing to an animal.
I''m thinking that a rod should be shoved up your
a-s-s, so you can know what it feels like. Maybe that will straighten out your thinking. Although I doubt it, because obviously you don''t have a brain to think with.
You say life begins at conception. I would agree with you in one sense, I guess I''m defining the moral question by when a fetus becomes a baby, and not just a fetus.
But I see your point.. Again, I''m just trying to explore the issue, I would NEVER have an abortion, I think it''s nuts..
Anyway, I was trying to respond to your original point about the hypocrisy of allowing abortion yet being outraged over animal cruelty:
AND, I agree with you in many ways about that hypocrisy...
I think allowing first trimester abortions is the only reasonable comprimise, since this is a democracy, and we will never have concensus. But 2nd is iffy, and third is murder no doubt.
And no one should abuse pigs either! : )
"RJS1955 you are an idiot."
Thank you czmdm.... For much of the 20th century and idiot was defined in psychology and psychiatry as a mentally retarded person with an IQ of 20. That puts me ahead of McCain and Dubya Bush by a ways....
"because obviously you don''''t have a brain to think with." Posted by erasmus81 at 12:22 PM : Sep 17, 2008
Nor do you have a HEART.
Good, then let''s both make it to the polls for Obama/Biden.
a-s-s, so you can know what it feels like. Maybe that will straighten out your thinking ----------------------------------------------- Posted by erasmus81
And THINKING like that makes YOU a human? Hardly!
No, no, vicar you are missing the point..Just because we are on the top of the food chain, why would someone WANT to act that way? Why flaunt your power to gratify your ego, or sense of god-like power?
Whats the point of hurting a pig??
Failing to be thoughtful, failing to have self-control, failing to have respect for our place in the world.. this is hurting us in the long run..
There''s no reason to hurt animals, pigs are sentient, intelligent, mammals!
They might be tasty, but it is simply wrong to behave this way.
They should be humanely killed with a stun gun to the head. Not beaten and abused for fun!
I will agree that it is a bit unsavory to see this type of behaviour, but it shouldnt be considered criminal, and its NO REASON to stop eating a balanced diet, and NO REASON for P.E.T.A. to plant bombs somewhere!!!
These are living creatures, regardless of their intelligence level. Just because they are less capable, or not as intelligent as humans - does not give us the right to abuse them.
Aside from the obvious brain cell deficiency of these criminals...I''ve read quite a few posts on this site, that indicate a lack of intelligence. Since -you- are less intelligent - should we beat you, abuse you and then feed you to our friends at a summer barbecue???
The "people" that committed these horrific acts should be banished from the planet - As they are nasty blemish on the face of humanity.
May you get prostrate cancer vic.
I am going to DISAGREE with you on this point.
NO mammal that considers themselves ''intelligent'' would be caught dead living in a slaughterhouse...it just doesnt make sense!
One might argue that they are a ''reflection'' of humanity.
Are you serious? You think that people should get away with hurting and abusing animals?
Im thinking that a rod should be shoved up your
a-s-s, so you can know what it feels like. Maybe that will straighten out your thinking
Posted by erasmus81
And THINKING like that makes YOU a human? Hardly! Posted by TheVicar1 at 12:27 PM : Sep 17, 2008
Well, you aren''t an animal and you most certainly are not a human being with any feelings, so why not?
Now THATS a VERY humane thought. You are right to be proud about making such a comment, it shows how deep your compassion runs.
You are insulting the pigs.
Pigs are very intelligent. The vicar is not.
Pigs have feelings. The vicar does not.
The worlds largest pig passed away in Hubbardsville N.Y. The pigs nams was Big Norm.
When the farmer, where Big Norm was raised, was aked why he buried the pig, and not eat him, He asked, "would you eat your pet?
These are living creatures, regardless of their intelligence level. Just because they are less capable, or not as intelligent as humans - does not give us the right to abuse them.
Aside from the obvious brain cell deficiency of these criminals...I''ve read quite a few posts on this site, that indicate a lack of intelligence. Since -you- are less intelligent - should we beat you, abuse you and then feed you to our friends at a summer barbecue???
The "people" that committed these horrific acts should be banished from the planet - As they are nasty blemish on the face of humanity.
Pigs make very good pets.
George Clooney had a pet pig for years.
The vicar probably wouldn''t taste very good and would probably be pretty tough to chew.
Pigs are food, not pets. If God didnt want us to eat pigs, he wouldnt have made them out of meat.
worshipping its promiscuous image
in the mirror and calling "it"
god
------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by adt14
What is that? Some kind of beatnik-poet garbage? Kan the krapp, Kerouac!
Posted by TheVicar1 at 12:57 PM : Sep 17, 2008
Hahahaha, aren''t YOU made out of meat?
I think you should shut up now. You are looking like the moron you are.
:-))
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