Earlier today,
the owners of a factory farm supplying birds for McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets
were charged with criminal animal cruelty following the release of a shocking
video by Mercy For Animals. The disturbing undercover footage showed Thomas and
Susan Blassingame, owners of T & S Farm, engaging in gruesome animal
abuse, including beating and stabbing chickens using a spiked club, and standing
on the birds’ heads and pulling their wings or bodies to break their necks.
The
Blassingames were charged with one count each of animal cruelty under Tennessee
law, a misdemeanor offense.
Immediately
following the investigation, MFA contacted Weakley County, Tennessee law
enforcement authorities and presented them with a detailed legal complaint and
the undercover video footage. MFA praises the Weakley County Sheriff’s
Department and District Attorney’s Office for taking swift and decisive action
in pursuing justice for these abused and exploited animals.
Watch the video
footage that led to these charges here:
At the time of MFA’s
investigation, T & S Farm was a Tyson chicken contract farm that supplied
chicken for McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. MFA is calling on McDonald’s—one of
the largest fast-food chains in the world and a top customer of Tyson Foods—to
swiftly adopt meaningful animal welfare policies to end many of the worst forms
of animal abuse and neglect in its entire supply chain.
MFA is calling
on both McDonald’s and Tyson Foods to end selective breeding of birds for rapid
growth and shift to slower-growing breeds of birds to prevent health problems
related to accelerated growth; provide birds with more space, clean litter,
access to natural light, and environmental enrichments; and replace
live-shackle slaughter methods with less cruel systems that eliminate the
horrific suffering caused by dumping, shackling, shocking, and slitting the
throats of conscious animals.
While
these criminal charges send a clear message to the poultry industry that animal
cruelty will not be tolerated, ultimately, the
best way to ensure that animals are protected from such horrific abuse is
simply to leave them off your plate.
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vegetarian recipes and tips.