Report Animal Equality-December 16, 2021
Animal Equality has released its latest undercover investigation exposing serious violations of California’s animal cruelty laws inside a major U.S. meat supplier.
Animal Equality has released a new investigation documenting shocking scenes of suffering and abuse of birds at a Foster Farms hatchery in Stanislaus County, California.
This facility provides baby chickens to farms managed by Foster Farms, where they are raised and then slaughtered.
Foster Farms supplies major west coast grocery chains as well as the fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
The investigation exposed serious violations of California’s animal cruelty laws and showed chicks routinely being inhumanely killed or left to slowly die from injuries.
PROLONGED SUFFERING AND DEATH: At the hatchery, video footage documented chicks left to suffer for hours after being mutilated and severely injured by machinery, before they were dumped into a chute to be ground up while still alive.
Chicks who were just a few hours old were found with their bodies ripped open and internal organs exposed.
Others were caught or crushed by processing equipment that moved the birds along on conveyor belts.
Some chicks became trapped in hatching trays and were pulled into washers, where they were scalded and drowned in hot water.
Viewer discretion is advised.
CRIMINAL WELFARE VIOLATIONS: The investigation found serious criminal violations of animal cruelty laws:
Newly hatched chicks were crushed or mutilated by automated processing machinery.
Live chicks were found drowning in water and chemical foam on the floors underneath conveyor belts.
One chick was discovered alive in a hatching tray that had gone through the washing machine which uses hot, high-pressure water.
Injured birds were left in trays for hours before being dumped into a chute leading to a grinder.
Other birds were dumped directly into buckets filled with shells, rancid yolks, and dead birds, where they drowned.
NO EFFECTIVE WELFARE PROGRAM: In addition to disturbing videos depicting cruelty to chicks at the hatchery, the investigation found that Foster Farms had no effective welfare programs to safeguard injured chicks from prolonged suffering.
In one instance, stacks of trays housing thousands of chicks in eggs were knocked over and crushed, causing the deaths of most of the birds.
The management shrugged off this incident, stating that getting replacement birds was easy.
Animal Equality also found that hatchery machinery was operated at speeds that led to countless preventable injuries and deaths of chicks, and humane methods of euthanasia were not being used.
Hatchery management failed to properly train employees in animal welfare, resulting in further injury, suffering, and prolonged death in chicks.
FALSE HUMANE CLAIMS: Foster Farms slaughters and ships chickens to grocery stores across the west coast, including Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Target.
All of these retailers assure the public that the animals they sell are humanely treated and prevented from experiencing discomfort, pain, and injury.
However, Animal Equality’s investigation revealed that this was not the case, and that chicks within Foster Farms’ supply chain were routinely subjected to pain and injury.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING: “Foster Farms’ lack of care results in the daily deaths of chicks who often suffer greatly from mutilation, drowning, or being scalded in an automated process with little welfare oversight,” said Sean Thomas, Animal Equality’s International Director of Investigations.
“We are asking County District Attorney Brigit Fladager to file charges against the company for violations of the state penal code prohibiting cruelty to animals.”
CALLING FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES: Animal Equality has presented its findings to Stanislaus County District Attorney Brigit Fladager and Sheriff Jeff Dirkse.
The evidence shows how Foster Farms subjects chicks to needless suffering and fails to provide timely care and attention to injuries. Animal Equality is asking for criminal charges to be filed against Foster Farms for violating California animal cruelty laws, which do not exempt animals raised for food from cruelty protections.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: You can make a difference for chickens by sharing this investigation and leaving them off your plate. With your support, we can help these suffering birds and ensure that in the future, chickens do not have to face the same brutal fate.
And I mean...As many as 300 million chicks are killed in the United States every year, and more than 6 billion total are killed around the world.
After being born, they are sorted. Male chicks are considered useless in the egg industry, since they come from selective egg-laying strains, which are not suitable for meat production.
Male chicks are killed for two reasons:
They cannot lay eggs and they are not suitable for chicken-meat production too.
Layer hens are a different breed of poultry to chickens that are bred and raised for meat production.
Layer hens are bred to produce eggs whereas meat chickens are bred to grow large breast muscle and legs.
Chickens were only ever domesticated for one reason: to exploit them. They are the most abused animals on the planet.
All chickens used for meat and eggs are the result of centuries of violent domination and decades of invasive genetic manipulation.
At the layer-hen hatcheries supplying the egg industry with layer hens the eggs are developed in industrial incubators.
Once hatched the newborn chicks pass down a production line to be sexed and sorted.
Sick or weak female chicks and all male chicks are separated from the healthy female chicks and then killed, by being gassed, ground up alive or thrown into plastic bags or dumpsters..
If that’s not a crime then what is a crime?
Can we call ourselves part of a civilized society if we participate in this brutal mass murder?
The most effective thing we can each do to help animals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and beat the meat industryty is to replace animal foods with plant-based foods.
This is the only way to end the animal holocaust.
It’s the only way.
My best regards to all, Venus
World Animals Voice 