Today, The Humane Society of the United States released horrifying hidden-camera video footage of pigs being fed diarrhea and the ground up intestines of their own piglets at a factory farm in Kentucky – Iron Maiden Hog Farm. Although the practice of feeding pig guts and shit to other pigs is common on industrial farms across the country, it is illegal under Kentucky state law.
The video, which was profiled by “The New York Times“, also shows mother pigs crammed into filthy metal cages so small they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives. Not ironically at all, the facility is named after a medieval torture device by which human victims were confined in a metal box barely larger than their own bodies.
Watch the graphic undercover video here:
The use of gestation crates by the pork industry is perhaps the cruelest form of institutionalized animal abuse in existence. In fact, these crates are so cruel they have been banned in nine states and the entire European Union.
In the last of couple years, more than 60 major food providers, including Costco, Target, Safeway and Kroger, have committed to phasing gestation crates out of their supply chains. Even major pork producers like Smithfield and Hormel have recognized the need to do away with this cruel confinement system.
Unfortunately, Walmart, the largest pork retailer in the world, continues to support factory farms that confine pigs in these torturous crates. Multiple undercover investigations by Mercy For Animals at Walmart pork suppliers have revealed thousands of pigs condemned for life. As the largest retailer in the world, Walmart has the power and the responsibility to put an end to this horror once and for all.
Please visit WalmartCruelty.com to take action and find out more.
While grocery retailers can help stop some of the most egregiously cruel factory farming practices, consumers can also help prevent needless animal abuse every time they sit down to eat by adopting a healthy and humane, vegan diet.