The answer: surprisingly little. A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals sickening cruelty to animals at Foster Farms—an American Humane Certified poultry producer—including birds scalded alive and workers throwing, punching, and tormenting chickens before violently shackling them upside down to have their throats cut open.
Learn MoreFoster Farms chickens have been bred to grow so fast they often suffer painful leg deformities. Crammed into windowless sheds, their lives are filled with misery.
At this American Humane Certified chicken factory farm, workers carelessly throw baby chicks onto the ground with no regard for their welfare.
“The hanging operators are shown throwing the birds at the shackles, hanging them far too roughly and pushing them forcefully across the conveyer belt. There is no justification for this abusive treatment—it causes stress and potential injury to the birds, and is unnecessarily cruel.”Dr. Sara Shields “The horrors depicted in this facility are among the worst I have ever encountered during my career as a veterinarian. There were workers yanking birds by their feet and thrusting them forcefully onto the live hang slaughter line, and in many cases the bodies of these birds would be seen literally bouncing off the metal framework of the line, causing completely unnecessary pain and suffering.”Dr. Armaiti May “The callous handling of the birds in these facilities is inhumane. The suffering of the birds that are boiled alive is reprehensible, as is the crushing of numerous birds by the trucks. It is obvious that the lack of attention, care and skill of the workers is resulting in severe distress and suffering to these birds.”Dr. Lee Schrader “Workers are seen violently slamming birds’ legs into shackles on an overcrowded slaughter line. There is no valid reason for this excessive and cruel use of force. These birds have extremely fragile legs and this type of overly rough handling can easily cause painful broken leg or wing bones, dislocations, bruising and internal injuries.”Dr. Debra Teachout “The hanging operators are shown throwing the birds at the shackles, hanging them far too roughly and pushing them forcefully across the conveyer belt. There is no justification for this abusive treatment—it causes stress and potential injury to the birds, and is unnecessarily cruel.”Dr. Sara Shields “The horrors depicted in this facility are among the worst I have ever encountered during my career as a veterinarian. There were workers yanking birds by their feet and thrusting them forcefully onto the live hang slaughter line, and in many cases the bodies of these birds would be seen literally bouncing off the metal framework of the line, causing completely unnecessary pain and suffering.”Dr. Armaiti May “The callous handling of the birds in these facilities is inhumane. The suffering of the birds that are boiled alive is reprehensible, as is the crushing of numerous birds by the trucks. It is obvious that the lack of attention, care and skill of the workers is resulting in severe distress and suffering to these birds.”Dr. Lee Schrader “Workers are seen violently slamming birds’ legs into shackles on an overcrowded slaughter line. There is no valid reason for this excessive and cruel use of force. These birds have extremely fragile legs and this type of overly rough handling can easily cause painful broken leg or wing bones, dislocations, bruising and internal injuries.”Dr. Debra Teachout |
The best way for individual consumers to help end this cruelty is to leave animals off their plate entirely.