COK to USDA: Revoke Amick Farms’ Cruel High-Speed Slaughter Waiver

Compassion Over Killing has just fired off a letter urging the USDA to revoke Amick Farms’ cruel high-speed slaughter waiver in the aftermath of undercover footage revealing egregious violence at the plant.

Despite COK’s recent undercover investigation, Amick Farms and the USDA have yet to admit the disastrous effects of running kill lines at recklessly fast speeds of up to 175 birds slaughtered every minute, causing workers to make critical errors—and put themselves in danger—as they rush to keep up.

So COK’s Counsel, Will Lowrey, wrote to the agency highlighting the plant’s long history of cruelty, including its failure to comply with the good commercial practices (GCPs)–bare-minimum animal welfare criteria that slaughterhouses must follow to maintain their high-speed waivers.

Lowrey also shines light on the abuse documented by COK: “COK’s investigation showed birds being punched, shoved, and thrown on the slaughter line, as well as slowly drowning in electrified stunning baths during equipment break-downs. COK also obtained evidence that birds were scalded alive in vats of hot water. Following COK’s investigation, Amick’s president acknowledged that these actions were ‘clear violations of [its] animal welfare policies’.”

Shockingly, Amick has repeatedly failed to correct these problems–and the agency itself seems to be looking the other way.

Right now, billions of animals, workers, and consumers are on the line as the USDA continues expanding its dangerous high-speed slaughter program. Just last week, it finalized a rule that will allow pig slaughter plants nationwide to run kill lines as fast as they want. But it’s not too late to protect billions of birds from the same dire fate.

Earlier this year, the USDA did revoke the waiver of another plant, Claxton Poultry Farms, after it asked to reduce its line speeds temporarily to “minimize potential animal welfare issues” and failed to meet the agency’s Salmonella performance standards, as required to keep its waiver.

It’s time for the USDA to stop dragging its feet and demonstrate that it takes animal cruelty seriously by immediately revoking Amick’s waiver–and ending high-speed slaughter once and for all. Sign the petition TODAY, then share to make an even bigger impact.