For more than three months, PETA went undercover at an Iowa pig factory farm, which supplies piglets who are raised and killed for Hormel products. PETA found rampant cruelty to animals committed by workers and supervisors. The farm changed ownership and management during PETA's investigation, but that made no difference to the animals who were born and confined there: Abuse and neglect were widespread during PETA's entire investigation.
The following are just some of the abuses that were documented:
* A supervisor shoved a cane into a sow's vagina, struck her on the back about 17 times, and then struck another sow.
* Multiple pigs were beaten with metal gate rods, and lacerations were found on more than 30 sows, which is probably evidence of more abuse.
* A worker hit a young pig in the face four times with the edge of a herding board, and investigators witnessed dozens of similar incidents involving this worker and 11 other workers.
* Two men, including a supervisor, were witnessed jabbing clothespins into pigs' eyes and faces. A supervisor also poked two animals in the eyes with his fingers.
* A supervisor kicked a young pig in the face, abdomen, and genitals to make her move and told PETA's investigator, "You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry."
The findings on this Iowa pig farm, however, were not limited to cruelty to animals. PETA also documented an apparent violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Animals who were to be killed for human consumption were sprayed with a substance that contains gentian violet (a chemical that is linked to certain cancers) thereby making their flesh "adulterated" under federal law.
By purchasing pigs bred and born on this farm and then grown elsewhere before being slaughtered for Hormel products, Hormel is financially supporting an operation whose employees abuse animals.
Please contact Hormel using the link below and demand that the company follow PETA's nine-point policy to govern future pig-farming operations.
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iowa_pigfarm_abuse2
Update: October 22, 2008
An Iowa Sherriff has announced that 22 charges of livestock neglect and abuse have been filed against six current and former employees of the Hormel supplier that PETA recently investigated.
22 Charges Filed Based on PETA Investigation at Hormel Supplier
PETA investigation into an Iowa pig farm that breeds piglets destined for Hormel has resulted in 22—that's right, count them—22 criminal charges.
The Greene County Sheriff just announced in a news release that six individuals employed by the farm at the time of PETA's investigation now face a total of 22 counts of livestock neglect and abuse. Those charged include a former farm manager—who PETA understand still works on another pig factory farm—and a supervisor, as well as two individuals who still punch the clock at the Iowa factory farm as we speak.
A whopping 14 of the counts are aggravated misdemeanors—the stiffest possible charges under Iowa state law for crimes committed against farmed animals—carrying up to two years behind bars. To PETA's knowledge, this is unprecedented.
Charges based on PETA's undercover investigations are now pending against pig factory farmers in both Iowa—the nation's top pig-raising state—and North Carolina, which occupies the second rung on that dubious list!
This is a small victory for farmed animals, but we mustn't forget that Hormel, which financially supports this farm, has by all appearances yet to make any changes as a result of this investigation. It has refused to meet with PETA or even watch all of the footage, which PETA has repeatedly offered to show the company. Maybe now that the law has spoken up, Hormel will finally listen.
Sow #13319 sustained multiple cuts to her back, likely the result of being beaten and scraped with a gate rod while being moved from the gestation building to the farrowing building
A piglet born without eyes, shortly before his or her death
An employee sprayed paint—for over 30 seconds—into the nostrils of a nursing sow.
Piglets' tails were cut—and males castrated—without painkillers. This is a pile of pig tails and testicles on the floor.
A sow with an open sore on her nose from an apparent beating with a metal gate rod.
A mother pig and her piglets severely confined to a small farrowing crate during nursing.
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