2007 Tyson Slaughterhouse

 

Tyson Workers Caught Torturing Birds, Urinating on Slaughter Line

Footage taken at Tyson Foods slaughterhouses in Georgia and Tennessee. Narrated by the investigator, whose voice has been altered to protect his identity.

Have you ever wondered about the ingredients in the Colonel's secret recipe chicken? If the flesh came from Tyson Foods, a major KFC supplier, there's a chance the big secret is that the bird was coated in human waste before reaching the dinner plate.

PETA conducted an undercover investigation in 2004/2005 at a Heflin, Alabama, Tyson slaughterhouse, but even that did not prepare us for the disgusting acts that would be documented during two 2007 investigations. On nine separate days, PETA's investigator saw workers urinating in the live-hang area, including on the conveyor belt that moves birds to slaughter.

The investigator also documented sickening cruelty to animals in both the Georgia and Tennessee slaughterhouses. Supervisors at both facilities either were directly involved in the abuse or were made aware of it by the investigator—but they did not stop it. In addition to the cuts and broken limbs suffered by live chickens at nearly every slaughterhouse, the investigator documented the following:

• One worker admitted that he broke a chicken's back by beating the bird against a rail, a back-up killer stabbed birds in the neck area with knives, and several birds were hung from shackles by their necks instead of by their legs.
• PETA's investigator caught on videotape a supervisor telling him that it was acceptable to rip the heads off live birds who had been improperly shackled by the head.
• Workers—sometimes standing 4 to 6 feet away from the conveyor belt—violently threw birds at the shackles. Some animals slammed into the shackles and fell onto birds on the conveyor belt below, at which point the worker sometimes repeated the abuse.
• Birds died when their heads and legs became trapped under a door at the end of the conveyor belt that transported live birds to be hung. A supervisor was aware of this problem but did nothing to stop it.
• The killing-machine blade often cut birds' bodies instead of their throats. Although aware of this problem, a supervisor offered no solution, instead blaming the problem on the "nature of the machine."

PETA has written to Tyson Foods and asked the company to fire all the workers who were responsible for the abuse documented in these two facilities, immediately install video cameras on all killing floors and in all hang areas, and hire its own undercover investigators to look for and report cruelty. Peta is also calling on Tyson and KFC to phase in a far less cruel method of slaughter known as controlled-atmosphere killing, which would eliminate worker contact with live animals.

2004-2005 Tyson Investigation

From December 2004 through February 2005, a PETA undercover investigator worked on the slaughter line of a Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Heflin, Alabama. Using a hidden camera, he documented the treatment of the more than 100,000 chickens killed every day in the plant.

What the investigator saw was truly horrifying. Birds were frequently mutilated by throat-cutting machines that didn't work properly; one bird had her skin torn entirely off her chest. Workers were instructed to rip the heads off birds who had missed the throat-cutting machines, and our investigator was told not to stop the line for missed birds. Plant employees were seen throwing dying birds around just for fun.

PETA's investigator also witnessed numerous birds who were scalded alive in the feather-removal tank while they were still conscious and able to feel pain. Plant managers told him that it was acceptable for 40 animals per shift to be scalded alive, and no one was reprimanded when far more than 40 birds suffered this fate during any given shift

PETA's investigator repeatedly expressed concern to plant supervisors about the treatment of the chickens, but his complaints were ignored.

Animal-welfare experts agree that this sort of treatment is unacceptable. Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University wrote, "This is a total FAILURE on animal welfare," and Dr. Mohan Raj of the University of Bristol wrote that "due to the lack of appropriate legislation to protect the welfare of birds at slaughter people seem to get away with [these] cruel and unethical practices." Indeed, chickens are not afforded any protection under any federal animal welfare legislation. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act leaves chickens and turkeys out entirely. Read statements from these and other animal welfare experts.

As hard as it is to stomach, this sort of treatment is entirely too common in modern chicken slaughterhouses. Previous undercover investigations have turned up injured and dying birds left unattended during workers' lunch breaks and workers who ripped animals limb from limb, threw live chickens against walls, and stomped up and down on them on the ground.

Sadly, all these abuses were entirely preventable. In 2003, PETA first contacted Tyson about a new chicken slaughter technology known as controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), a process that replaces oxygen in the air with an inert gas such as nitrogen—which already makes up 78 percent of the air we breathe—masking the lack of oxygen and putting the birds to sleep quickly and painlessly. CAK would have eliminated all the cruelty that took place in all these investigations, from mutilation by the cutting machine to live scalding, because the birds would have been killed much earlier in the slaughter process and would not have been handled by the workers until they were dead.

Tyson Investigation Photo Gallery

A worker rips the head off a live chicken.

A decapitated chicken stands among the heads of other chickens decapitated by Tyson.

Birds in this Tyson plant are routinely mutilated when the "kill knife" misses their necks and instead slices open their thighs, faces, chest cavities, and more.

The best thing that you can do to help spare animals from such torture is to stop eating them and, thus, stop supporting the industry that allows such cruelty to occur.

What the Investigator Saw

Eyewitness Testimony From PETA's Investigation Into a Tyson Foods, Inc., Chicken Slaughterhouse

PETA's investigator witnessed and documented cruel killing methods being used at a Tyson Foods chicken slaughterhouse in Heflin, Alabama. The slaughtering system being used at the plant resulted in the torture of countless chickens—the routine mutilation by a mechanical blade, manual decapitation, and scalding in defeathering tanks—all while they were still completely conscious. The following are excerpts from the investigator's notes:

December 7, 2004: First day at Tyson. I see the "live hang room" on the new employee tour. The air is hot and thick with the stench of blood. The only illumination is from dim red lights, like a photographer's dark room. This is supposed to keep chickens calm, but they are frightened; squawking, running, flapping their wings, and trying to hide. Workers move at a furious pace to hang live chickens by their feet from metal shackles on a conveyor belt. Birds' throats are cut by automatic blades further down the line. A worker cuts the throats of chickens the machine misses. The noise of voices, machines, and chickens screaming is deafening.

I'm told Tyson kills 150 to 200 thousand chickens a day here and that I'll "get used to" the noise and smells.

December 8, 2004: First day as "backup killer." I have to cut chickens' throats the automated blade misses, so they don't go into the scalding feather-removal bath alive. Only one person does this job, and the line moves so fast, it is impossible to give every chicken a lethal cut. When more chickens come through than can be handled, some workers rip off their heads while they hang shackled. They ignore the squawking and blood; that's business as usual on the killing line. There is a help button and an emergency stop button, but my boss tells me not to stop the line for missed birds. If no one comes to help immediately, birds are scalded to death.

December 9, 2004: A worker picked up one chicken who escaped the shackles and smashed her against the side of a wheelbarrow full of dead chickens. He left her convulsing on top of the corpses.

December 12, 2004: Took footage … of birds in a wheelbarrow who were alive/injured on top of other birds who were dead. Birds in the wheelbarrow get dumped into a Dumpster outside.

December 13, 2004: Took more video of birds in a pile of dirt and fecal matter on the floor. Some were alive, some were dead ... I noticed today that many birds coming to me had their wings broken and bones exposed. It was almost always the birds' left wing … I noticed many birds with broken wings—and one who had been mutilated by the blade seemed to have her chest ripped open somehow.

December 14, 2004: The beginning of today's video shows more of my coworkers ripping birds' heads off. It is lengthy. After this, I have a conversation with my boss. I tell him that many birds come through with broken wings and ask why. He confirms my suspicion that it is because of a malfunction in the machinery that cuts the birds' throats. Then I ask him if this is also why some birds come through mangled, with their chests cut, and he nods yes … . This results in live birds with broken wings and other mutilations.

December 15, 2004: During work, I saw a bird whose head had been painfully hung in the shackles underneath his foot.

December 16, 2004: Today, I was assigned the job of putting dead birds into wheelbarrows and taking them out to the Dumpster … . At one point, I picked up a baby bird and placed her on the conveyor belt. The guy working that part of the line picked up the bird and slammed her into the belt—to kill her, I assume.

December 19, 2004: Many mutilated chickens were coming down the line. One bird's chest was slashed open. Some were split in half, while some were completely gone—the only thing left was their legs hanging from the shackles. I ran down the line trying to cut all their throats and saw that the cutting machine had malfunctioned. I stopped the line and called for help. I had to cut each waiting chicken's throat by hand while maintenance workers fixed it.

February 7, 2005: [L]ast night, I witnessed a bird who was obviously hung in a hurry—as she was only hanging by her head in the leg shackle. I stopped the line, removed her, and started the line again. She blinked numerous times and she was breathing as I laid her down. I am guessing her neck was broken and she was paralyzed. For whatever reason, she was unable to move.

What the Experts Say

Comments on PETA's Investigation Into Tyson's Chicken Slaughterhouse

Academic and professional experts in poultry welfare, veterinary medicine, and humane slaughter reviewed PETA's video footage from an investigation into Tyson Foods' chicken slaughterhouse in Heflin, Alabama. Below are some excerpts from these experts' statements:

Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University
Dr. Grandin is internationally regarded as one of the leading experts and industry consultants on farmed-animal slaughter, handling, and welfare. She has designed equipment and systems that are used in facilities across the country, and she serves on the animal-welfare panels of several leading corporations.

• "If I had been doing a welfare audit, this plant would have FAILED."
• "Live birds were observed entering the scalder. This is a total FAILURE on animal welfare. Allowing 40 birds per day to enter the scalder alive is not acceptable. This is a sloppy operation."

Dr. A.B.M. Raj, B.V.Sc., M.V.Sc., Ph.D.

School of Clinical Veterinary Science, Division of Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol
Dr. Raj has published more than 50 scientific papers on various methods of stunning and slaughter and served as a member of the working group on stunning and slaughter for the European Union Scientific Veterinary Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare. He is currently a member of working groups on stunning and slaughter for the European Food Safety Authority and the World Organisation for Animal Health.

• "Mutilation of live poultry by the killer is totally unacceptable on bird welfare grounds. The reality is that the killer not only mutilated the bird but also failed to cut the major blood vessels supplying oxygenated blood to the brain requiring cervical dislocation. . . . Cervical (neck) dislocation is extremely painful and distressing."
• "Evidently, due to the lack of appropriate [legislation] to protect the welfare of birds at slaughter, people seem to get away with [these] cruel and unethical practices."

Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook, D.V.M.

Avian Veterinarian, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis
Dr. Siperstein-Cook has a veterinary practice specializing in birds, including chickens, and has testified before the California legislature on poultry welfare issues.

• "Many of these birds were likely conscious when they were lacerated, having missed the stun bath and contorting their bodies trying to escape. They would then have felt the pain of the laceration and would have suffered for many minutes until being killed later in the process."
• "Another section shows those birds who were missed by the stun bath, the mechanical blade, and the backup killer. These conscious birds then enter the scalding bath to experience the pain, suffering and fear of being burned over their entire bodies while held under water. One of these birds is vocalizing beforehand, clearly demonstrating that he/she is fully conscious."
• "This video demonstrates egregious failings on the part of the design, staffing and training at this slaughterhouse. NO birds should be allowed to miss any of the steps that would ensure PROPER stunning to unconsciousness before being cut or caused any painful step in the slaughter process. This means rapid and complete loss of consciousness. This video clearly demonstrates lapses in this facility and the resulting inhumane treatment of these animals."

Dr. Brenda Forsythe, M.S., Ph.D., D.V.M.

School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis
Dr. Forsythe has a private veterinary practice, holds both master's and doctoral degrees in animal science from California Polytechnic State University and Auburn University and recently accepted an appointment as co-chair of the Animal Welfare Task Force for the California Veterinary Medical Association.

• "[T]here have been numerous violations of generally accepted humane standards at this slaughtering plant. The methods as employed result in unnecessary pain and suffering."
• "By far the most potentially painful problem with this plant was … conscious birds scalded to death in the defeathering tank. These animals that somehow avoided being properly stunned in the stun bath as well as a rapid and humane death on the line are subjected to a slow and excruciating death by scalding in the defeathering tank. This is inexcusable in a well-run slaughter plant and simply should not happen."

Dr. Christine Nicol, M.A., Ph.D.

Professor of Animal Welfare, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, Division of Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol
Professor Nicol is one of the leading poultry welfare experts in the world and has published dozens of articles on the subject.

• "[T]he footage suggests that basic regulatory mechanisms to ensure a swift and pain-free death are not being implemented at this slaughterhouse."
• "Even if only a relatively small proportion of birds are injured by poorly managed or calibrated equipment, this will result in the suffering of a very large number of individual animals."

Source: Peta