JACKSON, Miss.- Mercy For Animals, California based animal rights organization, has filed an affidavit against Tyson Foods Inc. and six of its slaughterhouse workers in Mississippi.
The organization sent in an undercover investigator who was employed by Tyson to document any potential animal cruelty in the slaughterhouse outside of Carthage, Mississippi. The investigator was undercover for 6-weeks. This is one of the largest poultry houses in the world.
Tyson faces 33 counts of animal cruelty after being caught on the investigators hidden camera. Select employees were seen violently punching, throwing, and maliciously torturing birds in the slaughterhouse. In the footage birds are being painfully shocked with electricity but still conscious when their throats were cut, along with improper shackling and employees pulling their heads off.
This is the third undercover investigation that MFA has conducted since July 2015. They want to see a change in Tyson concerning animal welfare requirements. They would like to see the following changes made:
- Less cruel systems such as shackling
- Zero tolerance policy for abuse
- End selective breeding, or genetically altering animals for mass production
- Allow for the birds to have better living conditions, such as access to natural light and a clean living environment.
Tyson has said they are appalled by the video footage and have gone so far as to fire two employees connected to the alligations.
Tyson has responded to media outlets with this press release:
We’re appalled by the actions shown in this video and have been investigating a claim of animal mistreatment in this area of the plant since late last week. We have already terminated two of the workers shown in the video, who were clearly in violation of the company’s animal handling policy. Mercy for Animals has reportedly submitted a misdemeanor complaint with county officials over this matter, however, to our knowledge no criminal charges have been filed by any government agency.
We believe proper animal handling is an important moral and ethical obligation. Everyone who works with live animals in our plants – including the person who secretly shot this video – is trained in proper animal handling and instructed to immediately report anything they believe is inappropriate. Workers are encouraged to report bad behavior to their supervisor as well as the Tyson Foods compliance and ethics hotline.
