With
so many high-profile stories in the news lately--the passing of Michael
Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, the Gov. Sanford scandal, post-election protests in
Iran--you may not have heard about the historic victories for animals that
are taking place in American courtrooms. It's worth noting that two of
PETA's undercover investigations of factory farms have just resulted in
groundbreaking animal abuse convictions--convictions that are both highly
significant and long overdue. All too often, the abuse of animals in the meat
industry is shrugged off as just the cost of doing business.
In
a landmark case, two former Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., workers were convicted of
cruelty to animals after they were indicted on charges stemming from
PETA's fall 2008 undercover investigation of the company's West Virginia turkey
farms. PETA's
investigator caught workers at the farms punching birds, mimicking the rape of
a hen and more. Following our investigation, a grand jury indicted three
workers on cruelty-to-animals charges, most of which were felony
offenses--marking the first time in U.S. history that former
factory-farm workers faced felony charges for abusing birds.
One
of the three men admitted to shoving feed down a turkey's throat and
maliciously breaking a turkey's neck and was sentenced to a 12-month jail
term. This is the maximum
punishment permitted by law and the strongest penalty ever levied
against an individual for cruelty to an animal raised for food in the U.S.
Another
former Aviagen employee, who pleaded guilty to stomping on a turkey's
head and slamming a turkey to the ground, was sentenced to two consecutive
six-month stays of home confinement. Perhaps more importantly, he is prohibited
from owning, living with or working with any animals for five years.
The
third case is still pending, but another grand jury is expected to issue
additional felony indictments against the individual.
Although
abuse is all too common on factory farms, it has been nearly 13 years
since the first and only other conviction of a "poultry" farmer for
cruelty to animals in this country.
Fortunately,
the courts have been taking animal abuse cases more seriously lately. Just days
before the ex-Aviagen employees were convicted of cruelty to birds, four former
employees of an Iowa
pig farm were punished for abusing pigs. Undercover investigators from PETA
caught workers beating pigs, kicking them, spraying paint into their nostrils,
sexually abusing one with a cane, electro-shocking pregnant sows and slamming
piglets to the ground.
Three
of the men have each been sentenced to two years in prison (although the
sentences were suspended), and all were fined and ordered to pay court costs;
one man owes more than $3,000. Three of the men also have been prohibited from
owning or working with any animal for up to two years while on probation. In
January, another of the workers became the first person ever to be convicted of abusing or
neglecting factory-farmed pigs in Iowa,
the nation's top pork-producing state. He is currently serving six
months' probation and is not allowed to have contact with animals.
It's
important for consumers to know that although PETA's undercover
investigations routinely document gratuitous abuse, much of the cruelty on
factory farms is standard practice. Pregnant pigs are confined to metal
gestation crates so small that they can't turn
around. Chickens are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that many
become crippled under their own weight. Cows are crammed together by the
thousands on feces- and mud-filled feedlots. The best way to stop this
suffering is to stop eating animals.
And
here's a warning for workers in the meat industry: PETA's
investigators (and the whistleblowers who tip us off) will continue to watch
for animal abusers. During the hog farm investigation, one of the convicted
workers, who slammed a pig on the back with a gate rod twice, causing her to
scream, assured PETA's investigator that it was OK to hurt the pigs
because "no one from PETA" was watching. How wrong he was.