Land O'Lakes Says It Doesn't Inspect Facilities for the Treatment of Animals October 1, 2009

Posted by Marta at October 1, 2009 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Here's an update from PETA's Heather Drennan on our new undercover investigation into a dairy farm. Check it out, and if you haven't yet, why not make the pledge to try veganism?
-Marta

PETA's investigation footage from a filthy Pennsylvania dairy facility that supplies Land O'Lakes continues to receive massive press coverage. All the coverage has prompted the Fortune 250 company to issue an official statement—one that only serves to highlight the profit-driven callousness and lack of concern for animals within the corporation and the dairy industry as a whole.

Jeanne Forbis, the director of communications at Land O'Lakes, said, "[W]hen state-certified inspectors do inspections at dairy farms they are inspecting for milk and equipment sanitation practices, not animal treatment."

Is that supposed to be the "excuse" for why the Land O'Lakes inspector didn't bother to note that cows were living in filth, without bedding or a clean, dry place for shelter? Or that lameness and mastitis were rampant? How about the fact that there were cows who were so debilitated and thin that they looked like skeletons with skin draped over them?

Frankly, the inspector didn't do very well on inspecting for sanitation either. Take a look at the video—animals are virtually swimming in a soup of urine and fecal matter. All Forbis's comment does is raise some serious doubts about the quality of the sanitation inspections that led to the approval of this facility.

Various agencies are now looking into PETA's allegations of abuse, as well as sanitation and food safety violations, against the dairy facility's owners. Abuse of animals in the dairy industry is nothing new, so please consider dropping cholesterol and cruelty-filled dairy products from your diet.

-Heather

Free Stuff Friday: "The Cruelest Show on Earth" Tee! July 24, 2009

Posted by Tiffany Wright at July 24, 2009 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 368 ) | TrackBack

This week, PETA revealed its undercover investigation into Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Video taken this year, shows elephants being beaten with bullhooks and whipped across the face and ears.

After watching this video, there's no denying these animals are under extreme physical and psychological stress. They desperately need your help. Get involved and show your support by letting everyone know the circus is no place for animals. To help you out, we're giving you the chance to win PETA's "The Cruelest Show on Earth" T-shirt. This week, we're giving away FIVE!

Enter for your chance to win by commenting below with what you'd say to someone who's planning on attending the circus. Comments must be received by July 31st. The five people with the most original comments will be chosen as our winners and notified by August 3rd.

Just so you know ... by commenting here, you're acknowledging that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy.

Also by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

GOOD LUCK!

New PETA Investigation Shows Ringling Beats Animals July 22, 2009

Posted by Ryan at July 22, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

Hey everybody. Undercover investigations have long been at the foundation of PETA's efforts to speak out against cruelty to animals, and this latest example is no exception. Make sure to check out the footage below, and I'll let our Senior Research Associate, Dan Paden, explain the details ...
—Ryan

Today we released a new investigation inside Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus that shows workers on video as they beat and whipped elephants dozens of times in venues across the country. It's an investigation that I helped work on.

Once investigators capture video from an investigation, my job is to review all the footage and meticulously record the abuses and other notable findings. From that, I prepare condensed versions of the video for the public to view and draft complaints to officials, which in the new investigation into Ringling amounted to nine complaints to a total of 20 federal and state offices.

At times, reviewing so much footage can be tedious and extremely upsetting, but it's nothing compared to the relentless suffering that the animals who are used by Ringling are subjected to.

Most of the investigations that I work on involve farmed animals, in which the longest life span is about two years (for a pig used for breeding purposes). Her two years going from gestation crate to farrowing crate and back, over and over, are miserable, but her suffering comes to an end. For the elephants used and abused by Ringling, the suffering can go on for decades, and there's no end in sight—unless PETA and the public can convince the USDA to seize these majestic, elderly psychologically damaged animals.

Many of these elephants have not known anything close to a "natural" life since they were caught in Asia decades before I was born, but now the USDA has the chance to make things right by moving these animals to a sanctuary where they will be able to roam around the vast area that they need in order to be healthy and happy. Our brave investigator has armed the USDA with the information that it needs in order to make this happen and finally end these animals' decades of suffering.

It is an honor to work on all our investigations, which are the heart and soul of PETA, but it has been the highest compliment ever to be able to work with our investigator to document the heartbreaking plight of the gentle giants who are abused by Ringling and give them a chance to escape from their long years of torment and beatings.

Now that we have given the feds more than sufficient evidence to seize these animals, I hope we will finally be able to make history for elephants.

- Dan Paden, Senior Research Associate

Four More Former Iowa Pig Farm Workers Admit Guilt! June 24, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at June 24, 2009 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 13 ) | TrackBack

indymedia / CC

Shawn Matthew Lyons was the first individual ever convicted of abusing or neglecting factory-farmed pigs in Iowa, but he's no longer alone. Four other workers who were employed at the farm—a Hormel supplier at which our undercover investigation produced video footage documenting that workers beat pigs with metal rods and sexually abused them with canes—have now admitted to abusing pigs.

Of the defendants—Richard Michael Ralston, Alan Bruce Rettig, Greg William Hackler, and Jordan Michael Anderson—Ralston, Rettig, and Hackler have pleaded guilty, been convicted, and sentenced to two years in prison, which has been suspended. Anderson accepted a deferred entry of judgment allowing him to have the charges dismissed if he completes a period of good behavior. All four have all been ordered to pay fines and other fees, and they have been placed on probation for periods ranging from one to two years.

Most importantly, three of the men have been barred from working with animals for the duration of their probation. Only Anderson will be allowed to do so. Despite an assurance in October from Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic President Daryl Olsen, D.V.M., that Anderson "has been suspended from working with livestock pending the outcome of the charges," a whistleblower told us that Anderson is currently employed at a hog-confinement facility that Dr. Olsen reportedly owns. Dr. Olsen has not answered our inquiry regarding Mr. Anderson. Please ask him to confirm that his company does not pay admitted animal abusers like Anderson to work with live animals.

Pork magazine called our investigation footage a "wake-up call" for the pork industry. We hope that these convictions serve not only as another wake-up call but also as a lesson to anyone working in this innately cruel industry: Neither the courts nor the public have a stomach for such malicious cruelty to farmed animals.

Thank you for making history and speaking up for these pigs—and remember that preventing this suffering starts on your plate. Go vegetarian.

Student Undercover Investigator Documents Gruesome Horse Slaughter December 23, 2008

Posted by Ryan at December 23, 2008 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

We all know the horrific treatment of animals killed for meat intended for human consumption, but what about animals killed for dog and cat food? What happens behind the scenes of this shady industry? One University of Florida student went to find out...

After a little investigative research, the student tracked down the Moses Dog Food company, based in Ocala, Florida. He managed to arrange a tour of the facility, which is located directly next to a local high school, in the self-proclaimed "Horse Capital of the World".

What he discovered is disturbing to say the least, so be warned!

You can find the rest of the investigator's photos, as well as contact information to voice your concerns with the company, on his website, titled "The Meat They Eat".

The fact of the matter is that abuse is standard in this industry (as with any industry that uses animals). The majority of animals killed for dog and cat food come from factory farms, and are often categorized by the four D's — dead, dying, diseased, or disabled. Their bodies are then ground up, and fed to the animals that share our homes.

Thankfully, there are plenty of humane, non-animal alternatives available, such as the legendary V-Dog vegan dog food available on our website.

Leave your kudos for the student investigator below, since he has clearly been through hell and back to bring you this information!

Do Rabbits Scream? October 9, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at October 9, 2008 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 18 ) | TrackBack

We have a disturbing new undercover expose of rabbit fur farms from China and France. If you are against cruelty to animals, please sign our petition encouraging designer Giorgio Armani to permanently remove fur from all his collections. And then spread the word to everyone you know.

In the video footage, workers pull rabbits out of cages by their ears and shoot the screaming animals in the head with captive-bolt guns, often multiple times. Rabbits with slit throats can be seen twitching and shaking, with their eyes wide open, before they die. You can also see and hear rabbits kicking and screaming during slaughter. After the skin is ripped from the rabbits' bodies, it is sold to designers such as Giorgio Armani—who uses rabbit fur in his new designs.

Please contact Giorgio Armani and urge him to keep the promise that he made by permanently removing all fur from his collections.

Also, leave a comment below with one thing you are doing to spread the word about this video (blog, IM, bulletin, email, showing a family member, etc).

Thanks.

-Pulin

You Are In The Newspaper! September 30, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at September 30, 2008 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

If you went to a concert from May through August of this year, you probably signed the peta2 petition for the Woof campaign. Thank you for that—you're helping to make headlines!

I know sometimes your lazy, pessimistic friends ask you what good it'll do to sign a petition at a show or online. Well, let me tell you something—it does a lot! We sent every single one of those petitions from Warped Tour, Mayhem Festival, and other shows to Hormel's corporate headquarters last week. You can read the press release here. This was in response to an investigation which found truly terrifying abuse of animals at an Iowa pig factory farm which supplies piglets who are raised and killed for Hormel products. If you haven't seen it yet, you should look at this.

Along with sending the petitions to Hormel and other meat companies, we explained that 275,000 of you took the time to ask for pigs to be given better protection. Considering it's illegal to be cruel to a dog, why would it be ok to abuse a pig who suffers just the same?

I just wanted to let everyone know that the petitions became a top news story in the local paper of Hormel's hometown of Austin, Minnesota! That means that their corporate employees are finding it that much more difficult to justify the cruelty seen in this video, and we're really bringing the pressure against companies! It also goes to show that people do care about animals and want to stop cruelty to animals. Read the full news article here.

Thank you all! Now go brag to your parents, friends, and family that you're helping make a difference!

-Pulin

Turn Up Your Nose at Pork September 19, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at September 19, 2008 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

The news stories are rolling in everywhere from CNN to the Chicago Tribune as people react to the outrageous abuse of pigs at a factory farm in Iowa.

"I witnessed a bloodbath today. ...I witnessed at least 30 piglets killed today ... Blood soaked the concrete floors." -Investigator's notes

It's difficult to watch, but if there's one thing you do this week for animals, I hope it will be to sign the petition and show this video to everyone you know!

Since it's such a serious issue, we wanted to find a more creative way to encourage you to spread the word. We came up with the tagline "Turn Up Your Nose At Pork," because while pigs are awesome, eating their flesh is not!

Here is an example of how you can use the signs.

You can upload your photo to MySpace, Facebook, or wherever, but if you also upload it here we will give you 1000 Street Team points! And please make sure you add a caption if you post it online that tells people to go to http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2_iowa_sows2?c=p23095 to sign the petition.

Download a sign and remember to send your photos to us here. Thank you.

-Pulin

Seeing Is Believing September 17, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at September 17, 2008 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

We just released another heartbreaking investigation into a facility that raises pigs for their flesh. Horrifying doesn't even begin to describe it. If you haven't seen the footage of baby pigs being smashed into the ground and writhing in pools of blood, I urge you to take a look. The horrors of the world won't go away until we understand them and take action to stop the cruelty.

Let's be very clear about something though. Abuses like the ones seen at the Iowa pig factory farm are common to the meat industry. Look at our investigation of a North Carolina factory farm where the pigs were beaten, spray painted, and poked in the eyes. At a different factory farm in North Carolina, the pigs were, again, beaten daily, kicked, and vaginally and anally penetrated—as well as being skinned alive. In Oklahoma, the pigs were also beaten, smashed onto the ground, starved, and left to die of illness.

Another group found pigs in Nebraska to be suffering from extreme neglect and mistreatment, drowning in their own shit and piss and covered in open sores. They found similarly neglected pigs in South Dakota, where the conditions were so inhumane that death rates in barns reached as high as 60 percent—and where some pigs were killed by having a water hose placed in their mouths until they burst.

So here's the thing. Beatings, castration without painkillers, drowning in excrement, wasting away with illness, vaginal and anal penetration—these shouldn't be every day occurrences, but they are. Watch those videos! All over the world, pigs in factory farms are suffering just like pigs in Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South Dakota—and each time someone buys bacon, ham, sausage, or a hot dog, that person is saying that he or she agrees with how these pigs are treated.

If you wouldn't treat an animal like this yourself, why are you paying someone else to do it for you? That's not a rhetorical question. If you eat animals, I want you to think about it, look yourself in the mirror, and justify why the footage in these videos is acceptable to you.

Please go vegetarian, and if you already are I hope you're more motivated than ever to get active with the peta2 Street Team.
-Pulin

And They Call This Kosher? February 13, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at February 13, 2008 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 8 ) | TrackBack

During a 2007 undercover investigation inside a South American slaughterhouse, PETA's investigators discovered that shocking abuse was taking place during the kosher slaughter of cattle. The slaughterhouse is located in Uruguay, a leading exporter of kosher meat to both the United States and Israel.

Click here to watch the video and sign the petition.

Thanks!

-Pulin