A shocking undercover video reveals egregious acts of violence and abuse at Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest chicken producer, that prompted the company to immediately end the cruel practice of “boning.” Tyson also fired 10 employees, stated it was “disgusted and outraged by what’s shown in this video” and acknowledged that “we must do more to stop this inexcusable behavior.” Read Tyson’s full statement.

Update - Sep, 2017 - AO Video Prompts Groundbreaking Cruelty Charges & Convictions:

Animal Outlook's gut-wrenching investigation of Tyson Foods, the nation's largest chicken producer, prompted groundbreaking firsts in the protection of broiler chickens.

This eye-opening video provided the first investigative look behind the closed doors of broiler breeder factory farms.

Our investigator documented for the first time on hidden-camera the brutal practice of using "nose bones," stabbing a dull plastic rod through the nostrils of male breeder birds. The powerful footage led Tyson to immediately end the practice, quickly leading Perdue and Wayne Farms to follow suit.

Now, nine former employees of Tyson Foods have been convicted of 22 counts of animal cruelty in the first-ever convictions for cruelty to broiler breeder chickens.

AO’s investigative footage provided evidence that drove multiple trials, convictions and plea agreements over the course of several weeks — the first-ever trials for animal cruelty to chickens raised for meat.

"Animal Outlook applauds the prosecution's work and the decisions from the court to uphold anti-cruelty laws and protect animals from such horrific cruelty to birds as documented by our undercover investigator working for Tyson," said Cheryl Leahy, General Counsel for Animal Outlook. "This is a landmark victory in achieving justice for farm animals."

Among those convicted was the owner of a farm contracted by Tyson Foods, sentenced to 30 days in jail (suspended) and barred for two years from supervising a chicken production crew.

AO’s video documents Tyson workers punching and kicking live birds, birds crushed to death by transport crates and run over by forklifts, and other horrific cruelty, including a barbaric chicken industry practice  — known as “boning” — that had never before been documented on hidden camera.

In a release issued today by the Commonwealth of Virginia, state Attorney General Mark Herring firmly stated, “Mistreatment of animals is both inhumane and illegal, and I’m glad to see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to justice.”

“These convictions send a clear, strong signal across the Commonwealth that my team and I take these crimes seriously, and that those who commit cruelty to animals will be held accountable for their actions.” - Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring

While the use of nose “bones” was once widely practiced in the chicken industry, AO’s unprecedented footage of this painful practice prompted a cruelty conviction of one now former Tyson employee, prohibited from working with animals for five years.

Prosecuting the cases for the Virginia Office of the Attorney General were Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch — who also prosecuted in the highly-publicized Michael Vick dogfighting case — and Assistant Attorney General Kelci Block.

For full details on the convictions, see the state’s press release here.

Update - August 10, 2016 - After Tyson Foods viewed AO's investigative video exposing Tyson employees engaging in violent acts of abuse against chickens inside several different contract broiler breeder facilities in Virginia, the company issued the following statement at 5:15pm EST.

Regarding the Animal Outlook video sent to three county attorneys in Virginia last week and finally made available for us to view on Tuesday, the following comments are provided by Dr. Christine Daugherty, vice president of sustainable food production for Tyson Foods:

“I’m disgusted and outraged by what’s shown in this video. We do not tolerate animal abuse and have fired ten people who were members of this crew. It was an obvious decision once we were finally able to review the video Tuesday afternoon.

“The people shown in the video by [Animal Outlook] were all trained in proper animal handling, yet chose to ignore it and failed to alert management about the despicable treatment on these farms.

“Animals in our care deserve to be treated humanely. It’s our responsibility to ensure that everyone who works for our company behaves properly. Our management team is dedicated to continue fostering a culture of proper animal handling.”  

In addition to firing these individuals, Tyson Foods is taking the following actions:

• We’re in the process of meeting with everyone in our chicken operations who handles live birds to aggressively re-emphasize the importance of proper animal handling and the consequences of not complying with the company’s animal welfare policies.

• •  This week we will conduct a video conference with live production management at all of our poultry locations where senior poultry management will stress our cultural commitment to proper animal handling.
• • The practice of beak modification shown in the video is a historical way the industry has used to keep males from eating food intended for females and Tyson Foods has been eliminating its use. It had been stopped at all but two chicken operations and now has been immediately discontinued at those two locations as well.

  • We have already reached out to local authorities who will decide whether to pursue criminal charges against these individuals. We will fully cooperate with their investigation.

While we already have animal well-being audit and training programs, we believe we haven’t gone far enough and must do more to stop this inexcusable behavior. We’re evaluating additional steps we can take to make sure animal well-being procedures are being followed throughout our chicken operations. Once we complete our investigation into this matter, we intend to implement any measures necessary to protect the well-being of the birds being raised for our company.

-Tyson Foods