Eleven people working for a top US turkey producer have been charged with animal cruelty in Pennsylvania after state police said they were caught on video kicking, stomping and beating turkeys at several farms.
The workers were responsible for capturing and crating turkeys destined for slaughter, Pennsylvania State Police said Thursday (local time).
State police launched the probe in August 2021 in response to a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The animal rights group said it sent an undercover investigator to Plainville Farms to evaluate the marketing claims of a third-party labelling program that had designated Plainville as "animal welfare certified."
The PETA investigator worked on a Plainville Farms crew for about three weeks and captured a graphic video that appeared to show workers mistreating the birds.
"Every night, at every farm the crews worked at, these men threw turkeys, viciously kicked and stomped on them, and killed them in the most rampant, top-to-bottom display of cruelty to farmed animals we’ve ever seen," Dan Paden, a PETA vice president, said in a phone interview.
The video appeared to show dead turkeys and injured turkeys writhing on the floor.
The PETA investigator did not take part in the abuse - gently herding the birds instead - and was berated for taking too long.
"He was told repeatedly, 'There’s not time for that, and if that’s how you’re going to do this, you need to find a different job,'" Paden said.
A total of 139 charges were filed, including six felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and 76 misdemeanour counts of animal cruelty.
Plainville continues to advertise its turkeys as "humanely raised" in a "stress-free environment."
The company chief executive officer Matt Goodson said the company fired the employees implicated in the abuse and began using stationary and body cameras during the catching process.
Plainville employs about 600 workers and slaughtered about 40 million live kilograms of turkey last year, according to WATT PoultryUSA.
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