Five workers at Wyoming Premium Farms have been found guilty of criminal cruelty to animals following an undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States. The workers were caught on hidden camera violently kicking live piglets like soccer balls, swinging sick piglets in circles by their hind legs, and striking mother pigs with their fists, among other horrific abuses.
At the time of the investigation, this factory farm was supplying pigs to Tyson Foods, one of Walmart’s main pork suppliers. In addition to suffering the sadistic acts of cruelty that led to these criminal convictions, pregnant pigs at this facility were forced to spend nearly their entire lives crammed in filthy, metal gestation crates barely larger than their own bodies. Mercy For Animals investigations at multiple Walmart pork suppliers have uncovered similar abuses. Visit WalmartCruelty.com to learn more and take action!
Watch the hidden-camera video that led to the convictions here:
Confining pigs in gestation crates so small they can’t even turn around is so patently cruel the practice has been banned in nine US states, and nearly 50 major food providers, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Costco, Safeway, Kroger, Oscar Mayer, Jimmy Dean, and Bon Appetit, have committed to ending the use of these cruel crates in their pork supply chains.
Yet, rather than improve conditions for pigs and other farmed animals, pro-factory farm legislators in Wyoming and some other states are trying to outlaw investigations that uncover cruelty to animals and other criminal activities at factory farms and slaughterhouses. These legislators don’t want to stop animal abuse; they just want to stop consumers from finding out about it.
In January, the Wyoming House of Representatives introduced House Bill 126. If passed, this bill would make it a crime to “knowingly or intentionally” record images at a factory farm without the owner’s consent, effectively outlawing the type of undercover work that led to the criminal convictions of these five workers at Wyoming Premium Farms.
Factory farms clearly have a lot to hide if they are willing to go to these despicable measures to conceal their cruel practices from public view. But concerned consumers can safeguard their own health and help prevent needless cruelty and violence to animals by choosing vegetarian alternatives to meat, milk, and eggs. Visit ChooseVeg.com for helpful tips and recipes!