Investigation Reveals Horrific Cruelty to Turkeys

I don't want to spoil any ones appetite for this upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. So I will warn you that the video in the linked article is a bit graphic. But this article was a bit disturbing to me and I thought I would share it here with all the people on ATS. Perhaps just as something to think about this Thursday.

I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I am not a member of PETA. I am however an animal lover and pet owner. When I read and hear about these stories it makes me sad and I feel it is important to recognize the sacrifice these animals make for our nourishment and appetite for flesh.

I know this kind of animal abuse is common place in all kinds farms that raise animals for human consumption. But at least we should and can give thanks to the animals that lost their lives and suffered. Animals do have rights too and they deserve to be treated more kindly than this. I will say a prayer and give thanks to all the Turkeys that gave their lives.

God Bless you all and have a happy Thanksgiving

PETA.ORG
Update: Following our investigation inside Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., 19 indictments for cruelty to animals were filed against former employees. Now, for the first time in U.S. history, two ex-employees have been convicted of abusing factory-farmed turkeys, and one has been jailed. Learn more on our blog.

Nearly 270 million turkeys are killed for food every year in the US. Last year, just prior to the flesh-focused Thanksgiving holiday, PETA conducted an undercover investigation lasting more than two months at the factory farms of Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., the self-proclaimed "world's leading poultry breeding company."

The dark side of the turkey industry
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While working at a series of Aviagen factory farms in West Virginia, PETA's investigator documented that workers tortured, mutilated, and maliciously killed turkeys. The following are just a few of the documented offenses:

Employees stomped on turkeys' heads, punched turkeys, hit them on the head with a can of spray paint and pliers, and struck turkeys' heads against metal scaffolding.
Men shoved feces and feed into turkeys' mouths and held turkeys' heads under water. Another bragged about jamming a broom stick 2 feet down a turkey's throat.
A supervisor said he saw workers kill 450 turkeys with 2-by-4s.
One man said he saw a coworker fatally inject turkey semen and sulfuric acid into turkeys' heads.
To learn more, please read the investigator's log notes, view our photo gallery and visit our blog.

PETA's investigator repeatedly brought abuses to a supervisor's attention. The supervisor responded, "Every once in a while, everybody gets agitated and has to kill a bird." PETA also brought the abuse to the attention of Aviagen, and although the company made assurances and instituted some new rules, the cruelty did not stop.

The suffering typically found on factory farms was also routine in Aviagen's sheds: Hens' beaks were cut with pliers, massive birds collapsed and died of exhaustion or heart attacks, and turkeys were thrown into transport cages.

Please write to Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., and demand that it implement PETA's seven-point animal welfare plan. Also demand that the company pledge to immediately terminate employees caught abusing or neglecting animals in the future (the company claims to have terminated some such workers), and ask the company to cooperate with state and local law enforcement to criminally prosecute all such employees.

Cmon first lybia, then syria, now turkey? Let it go!!!

reply to post by AllUrChips


...nice one. But I wasn't talking about the country.

It's them jive turkeys working in the turkey farms stomping on the heads of live turkeys and then walking away without finishing the job of putting the poor animal out of it's misery.

Watch some of the video if you can stomach it. Then make jokes.

reply to post by MathiasAndrew


Man I LOVE turkey. Last time I watched a peta video about chickens I could eat chicken no more. I refuse to watch a turkey one, ESPECIALLY right before thanksgiving. IMO no manner of killing an animal for food is humane, but thats what makes us the top o the food chain. Enjoy this food meant for us to eat, relax, and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Gobble gobble

It is messed up though I agree. Lets just hope karma takes these punks for a ride real soon, and he will.

Bottom line ,humans can be cruel bastards especially to other humans .
The turkeys got off lightly .

S&F OP

I believe animals feel emotions.

This happened in TURKEY:



WARNING ಥ_ಥ





But turkey does taste good.

Good post OP.

I cobbled together a post earlier today about a similiar topic, and asked if people would be willing to actively work to end cruelty like this both for the sake of the animals, and for the sake of the consumer who are eating a slurry of antibiotics in meat from genetically altered factory farmed animals kept and killed in cruel conditions. As food for thought ( no pun intended) I called it "Occupy Factory Farms". I think three people replied.

In just the past two weeks alone, Smithfield hams was investigated for extreme cruelty to their animals, and extremely filthy conditions and handling of product, eye witnesses and video evidence was sickening.

This week Sparboe Eggs (supplier to McDonalds and Target) was found to be treating animals with extreme cruelty, throwing hens, swinging live birds on the end of ropes, among other things. Again, the charges are backed up with video evidence. And, as is always the case, they also found eggregious product handling voilations, dead animals, salmonella, and all other manner of problems.

What boggles my mind is that this is business as usual and people have known about these things going on for decades, but never do anything to fight back. Every single year we hear and see the same information about Turkey producers, and every year we apparently all forget. It's been going on for decades. Factory farmed animals are bad news both for the animals and for the consumers.

Even if you could care less about the way the animals are treated, do you also care less about your own health? I personally care about both.

Originally posted by AllUrChips
Cmon first lybia, then syria, now turkey? Let it go!!!

edit on 22-11-2011 by AllUrChips because: (no reason given)

I really don't understand people like this. You consider a one liner joke an acceptable response to a serious thread. That's an insult to the OP and the readers. This is ATS, we care about the quality of discussion here. There are plenty of inane Internet message boards for you to exercise your vacuous sense of self importance.

reply to post by SteveR


I'm guilty of doing that once in awhile, to be honest. But, if people do contribute a one liner or intended interjection of humor I don't particularly mind if it isn't rude, and they do follow up with some serious commentary about the subject matter of the thread.

Enough "mini-modding" on my part. Back to TURKEY....

I like turkey, fish, all red meat...heck I even hunt deer with a bow. But to be so cruel to something is beyond me. I hope these gents that do this for "fun" wake up some day and see it for what it really is.

Side note...I have let 2 bucks go this year because I was not sure I could take an ethical shot and make a clean kill. Being top of the food chain does not mean we are allowed to be cruel.

Originally posted by subcsailor
I like turkey, fish, all red meat...heck I even hunt deer with a bow. But to be so cruel to something is beyond me. I hope these gents that do this for "fun" wake up some day and see it for what it really is.

Side note...I have let 2 bucks go this year because I was not sure I could take an ethical shot and make a clean kill. Being top of the food chain does not mean we are allowed to be cruel.

I just wanted to say thank you.

Couldn't have put it better.

reply to post by ILikeStars


Poor kitty cat,

I definitely think animals feel emotions similar to humans.

It is very obvious with dogs and in a different way with cats too.

reply to post by Anthropormorphic


Can you link your thread here please?

I would like to read it.

Originally posted by MathiasAndrew
reply to post by Anthropormorphic

 

Can you link your thread here please?

I would like to read it.

Certainly, thank you.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

People that torture animals are probably the worst type of cowards. Why would you harm something that only possess survival instincts with no bad intentions? One could say killing is killing but what is the point of making them suffer for no reason? I just can't understand the ignorance in people sometimes.

Maybe those that torture animals will reincarnate themselves as the animals and get tortured themselves. That would only be fair...

Originally posted by ILikeStars
S&F OP

I believe animals feel emotions.

This happened in TURKEY:



WARNING ಥ_ಥ

But turkey does taste good.

edit on 22-11-2011 by ILikeStars because: i don't know why you are reading these words. Don't you have something better to do?

Dude, I'm not a cat person but that made me tear a little. Of course animals feel emotions. Why wouldn't they? They have brains and they have neurotransmitters...

Originally posted by blackrain17

Dude, I'm not a cat person but that made me tear a little.

That video made me go play with Fido for 20 minutes. Fido is the resident Canine that lives at my house, aka my room mate.

Originally posted by SteveR

Originally posted by AllUrChips
Cmon first lybia, then syria, now turkey? Let it go!!!

edit on 22-11-2011 by AllUrChips because: (no reason given)

I really don't understand people like this. You consider a one liner joke an acceptable response to a serious thread. That's an insult to the OP and the readers. This is ATS, we care about the quality of discussion here. There are plenty of inane Internet message boards for you to exercise your vacuous sense of self importance.

First off it was two lines.
second off, was a joke lighten up.
third off, this just happens to be one of those message boards that I may speak my mind(1st amdend)
fourth, people like you, nevermind

I grew up on a dairy farm and we had chickens, turkeys and pigs. Theres no reason to treat animals this way i understand working with uncooperative animals can be fustrating, but people should just slow down and take a deep breath. You don't have to treat an animal like a person, but you should'nt do anything to them you would'nt want done to you IE. shoving a broom handle 2ft down a turkeys throat or making it eat it's own feces.