UPDATE: Hormel Supplier Investigation October 20, 2008

Posted by Marta at October 20, 2008 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Remember the shocking footage from an undercover investigation of a factory farm in Iowa that raises pigs destined for Hormel? PETA's undercover investigators documented workers repeatedly hitting pigs with metal gate rods and canes, a worker slamming the heads of piglet "runts" into the floor, and a supervisor who shoved a cane into a sow's vagina and talked about sexually abusing pigs.

Even after the farm changed ownership and management during the investigation, this horrifying treatment and abuse of animals continued.

That being said, we have just released previously unseen footage from the investigation, showing the farm manager kicking and shocking a crippled pig. Can you believe he's still the manager on the farm?!

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In the video, the manager is seen shocking a pig with an electric prod and kicking her—both violations of the farm owner's own written policy—in a prolonged attempt to make her stand, which is a requirement for pigs sold for slaughter. The suffering sow, who was unable to stand due to crippled hind limbs, was left in pen for two days, bleeding from a severed hoof, until she was ultimately shot and killed.

This shocking footage was recorded the very next working day after PETA's undercover investigator reported the abuse of pigs that he had seen at the farm to this very manager.

I seriously can't believe that this man is still the farm manager. Think about it: he is responsible for overseeing other employees and how they treat the pigs in that factory farm. Do you think someone who is treating pigs this way is a good example for his employees on the humane handling of animals?

Our demands of Hormel stand firm despite the company's continued failure to respond to our attempts to work with them. Join us in renewing our ask of Hormel. Demand that they enact meaningful reforms to prevent this sort of abuse from occurring on its suppliers' farms.

What do you think about the fact that the same man is still the farm manager?

Update: We wanted to make sure that it's clear to our readers that we offered several times to show Hormel and the farm's management ALL the footage that was taken during PETA's undercover investigation at the supplier's farm—including the above footage of the manager. Neither Hormel nor the farm's management took us up on our offer.

♥ Marta

Your Chance: Ask Our Undercover Investigators A Question October 16, 2008

Posted by Marta at October 16, 2008 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 17 ) | TrackBack

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an investigator? Someone who goes undercover in factory farms, slaughterhouses, laboratories, and other animal abusing facilities to film what's really happening for the world to see?

These brave men and women have nothing but my utmost respect. After all, to me, being an undercover investigator seems like one of the hardest jobs out there.

Remember this investigation into a pig factory farm in Iowa? Please check it out if you haven't yet, and ask Hormel to follow PETA's eight-point policy to govern future pig-farming operations.

The incredible people who went undercover for this particular investigation have agreed to answer some questions for you. We hear from curious people all the time who wonder what it's like to be an undercover investigator, so this is your chance to find out. What would you like to ask the investigators? Comment below with your question.

My question would be: How were you able to keep yourself from screaming when the piglets were being slammed into the ground? I would have lost it.

We'll post the answers to 5-10 questions here on the blog (unfortunately, we can't have the investigators answer all of your questions), so be sure to keep an eye out.

♥ Marta

(Warning: Graphic Photo) Torture, Tails, and Testicles September 16, 2008

Posted by Marta at September 16, 2008 6:50 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 61 ) | TrackBack

By now, you're likely well aware of how awesome pigs are—remember, they're even smarter than dogs!

That makes what I'm about to share with you that much more disturbing. It's horrifying to imagine any animal being slammed head-first into the ground, right? Imagine this happening to a piglet...

A new PETA investigation of a pig factory farm in Iowa—which breeds and supplies piglets to be grown and eventually slaughtered for Hormel (maker of SPAM and Dinty Moore), has captured extremely disturbing footage of workers abusing sows and their piglets.

In the video, you'll see pregnant pigs kept in gestation crates so small that the mothers-to-be cannot even turn around, workers and supervisors kicking pigs maliciously, beating them with metal rods, and piglets being slammed against the floor to kill them (a "standard practice" in the pig meat industry). Some of the piglets convulsed for more than 12 minutes before dying.

Also documented by PETA's undercover investigators:

• A supervisor repeatedly urinating near crated pigs, his urine running into the only area where food was dropped and animals could lay their heads.
• Dead piglets' entrails removed, ground into a stew and set under heat lamps to grow bacteria. This stew—called "feedback"—was then mixed with feed and fed to the sows.
• Workers cutting off piglets' tails and pulling out piglet's testicles—without any pain killers—as the small animals screamed next to their mothers. Their tails and testicles went onto a pile on the shed floor.

Tails and testicles from baby pigs

This makes me shudder. Seriously, can you believe all this stuff happened before these pigs were even sent to the slaughterhouse?

Watch the undercover video for yourself, forward this investigation to everyone you know, and take action to stop this abuse today!

♥ Marta

PS - Notice the PETA mention at the end of the video. Little did they know!