Abuse of chickens on modern farms is well-documented.
Countless undercover
investigations by Mercy For Animals and other groups have revealed a culture
of cruelty and neglect whereby animals are kept in extreme confinement, subjected
to mutilations without painkillers, and ruthlessly killed.
But animals aren’t the only victims of this profit-hungry industry. A new Oxfam
report reveals the terrible conditions to which factory farmers subject
employees.
According to Grist:
Lives on the Line, a new multimedia report from Oxfam America, details the harsh conditions chicken workers face in the U.S. Oxfam interviewed poultry workers in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Mississippi, and found they typically processed between 35 and 45 birds per minute—that’s more than 2,000 chickens an hour and 14,000 chickens in a workday.
Workers are also often denied bathroom breaks,
requiring many to limit their liquid consumption. Some have even resorted to
wearing diapers.
In a press release, Oxfam America’s president explains, “Poultry
workers are among the most vulnerable and exploited workers in the United
States. The industry is booming, profits are climbing, but poultry workers
remain trapped at the bottom.
Factory farm workers are exposed to countless workplace
hazards, including injuries, respiratory illness, and PTSD. They also risk
exposure to antibiotic-resistant
bacteria. In fact, a recent issue of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that 10 out of
22 workers who were tested carried potentially deadly bacteria.
If this weren’t bad enough, in 2012, House of Raeford, one of the
largest poultry processors in the country, was fined by the United States
Department of Labor for illegally
employing underage workers at its chicken slaughter plant in
Duplin County, North Carolina.
While the victims and the abuses are different, one doesn’t
need a magnifying glass to see the connections between abuse of workers and abuse
of animals on factory farms.
The most powerful choice compassionate people can make to
protect animals and workers from abuse is to leave meat off their plates for
good.
Click here to
order your FREE Vegetarian Starter Guide today!
Photo: Earl Dotter/Oxfam America