Rampant​ ​Cruelty​ ​to​ ​Birds​ ​Uncovered​ ​at​ ​Tyson​ ​Foods​ ​—​ ​Again

Compassion Over Killing’s second investigation inside factory farms supplying Tyson Foods reveals systemic animal abuse, including painful effects of genetic manipulation

December 6, 2017 — New undercover footage released today by Compassion Over Killing (COK) exposes shocking abuse of birds at a Virginia factory farm supplying Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest chicken producer.

Filmed by a COK investigator who worked inside Atlantic Farm, a Temperanceville, Virginia facility with more than 225,000 birds crammed inside filthy warehouses, the gut-wrenching video reveals egregious acts of violence as well as the painful hidden horrors caused by  genetic manipulation for obesity and unnaturally rapid growth:

  • Workers violently slamming or throwing live birds
  • A worker impaling live chicks with a metal nail at the end of a pipe
  • Workers killing sick or injured birds by brutally bludgeoning or stepping on them
  • Birds run over and crushed to death by forklifts
  • Sick or injured birds piled on top of each other in buckets, with dead birds, and left to suffer and slowly die
  • Birds unable to walk because of painful leg injuries or deformities, crippled by the rapid growth and unnatural weight of their own bodies

Though Tyson publicly touts its “Commitment to Animal Well-Being,” including the “internationally-recognized Five Freedoms” for chickens, behind closed doors is another story entirely. This latest investigation marks the second time in little more than a year that COK has exposed horrific cruelty to birds within the poultry giant’s supply chain.

“Our hidden-camera footage uncovers the egregious and systemic horrors Tyson allows its birds to endure behind closed doors,” says Erica Meier, Compassion Over Killing’s Executive Director. “It’s time for Tyson to be a true leader by tackling the most pressing issues in its industry today by immediately ending the genetic manipulation of birds for rapid growth and expanding its investment in the consumer-driven future of food: plant-based proteins.”

COK has submitted its evidence to authorities and is encouraging immediate enforcement of Virginia’s animal protection laws.

In 2016, a COK investigation inside multiple Tyson Foods broiler breeder factories in Virginia revealed similar violent abuses: workers punching, kicking, and throwing live birds, birds crushed by forklifts, and more. The video evidence drove the first court trials for cruelty to chickens raised for meat, resulting in nine former Tyson employees being convicted of 24 counts of animal cruelty. It also prompted the company to immediately eliminate the barbaric practice of stabbing a plastic nose “bone” through the nostrils of male breeder birds, but Tyson has yet to address a root cause of suffering: rapid growth.

For investigative footage, please visit: COK.net/Tyson2

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Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal protection organization working to end the abuse of farmed animals through undercover investigations, litigation, corporate outreach, public education, and other advocacy programs. https://cok.net