Undercover Investigations

Behind closed doors, animals are suffering at factory farms. Mercy For Animals’ brave undercover investigators work to expose and end the abuse.

Undercover Investigations

Behind closed doors, animals are suffering at factory farms. Mercy For Animals’ brave undercover investigators work to expose and end the abuse.

EXPOSING THE TRUTH

At industrial farms and slaughterhouses, farmed animals endure shocking abuse, out of sight and out of mind. But a team of Mercy For Animals undercover investigators, wired with hidden cameras, is pulling back the curtains of these cruel and secretive operations, leading to landmark changes along the way.

Animals Under Attack

A Mercy For Animals investigator exposes a cruel practice the meat industry is fighting to hold on to.

Watch the Latest Investigation

Past Investigations and Exposés

Animal abuse runs rampant in the meat, dairy, and egg industries. With no federal laws regulating the treatment of animals in factory farms, cruelty has become the norm.

Pork

Animals Under Attack
United States
Released in 2022
This undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals exposes the heartbreaking conditions pregnant pigs endure at factory farms—the type of cruelty the meat industry is fighting before the U.S. Supreme Court to keep.
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  • Animals Under Attack

    United States

    Released in 2022
    Animals Under Attack
    United States
    Released in 2022
    This undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals exposes the heartbreaking conditions pregnant pigs endure at factory farms—the type of cruelty the meat industry is fighting before the U.S. Supreme Court to keep.
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  • Pork Industry

    Brazil

    Released in 2020
    Pork Industry
    Brazil
    Released in 2020
    For the first time, a Mercy For Animals investigator exposed a pig slaughterhouse in Brazil operated by the world’s largest meat company, JBS. This investigation also exposes several hog farms in south and southeast Brazil—including one JBS supplier—and some of the worst standard practices in the pork industry.
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  • Pig Factory Farms

    United States

    Released in 2018
    Pig Factory Farms
    United States
    Released in 2018
    Undercover video footage reveals the systemic animal cruelty in the pork industry, including stressed mother pigs confined to tiny metal crates, trapped between cage bars, and workers senselessly ripping out the testicles of baby pigs without any pain relief and violently killing them by smashing their heads against the ground.
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  • Pig Farms Investigation

    Mexico

    Released in 2018
    Pig Farms Investigation
    Mexico
    Released in 2018
    Heartbreaking undercover video taken at six pig factory farms across Mexico captures mother pigs confined to filthy cages so small the animals can’t even turn around, piglets mutilated without painkillers, and many sick and injured pigs left to suffer without proper veterinary care.
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  • Tosh Farms

    United States

    Released in 2018
    Tosh Farms
    United States
    Released in 2018
    Shocking undercover footage taken at a JBS supplier reveals sickening animal cruelty, including pigs punched and kicked in the face; mother pigs confined to cages so small they are unable to even turn around; and piglets painfully mutilated, suffering from untreated injuries and illness, and killed by having their heads smashed against the ground.
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  • Aurora

    Brazil

    Released in 2017
    Aurora
    Brazil
    Released in 2017
    Shocking video footage at an Aurora cooperative factory farm exposes workers slicing off the tails, cutting holes in the ears, and grinding the teeth of baby piglets without any pain relief; animals suffering from untreated injuries and illnesses; and mother pigs crammed in tiny gestation crates.
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  • The Maschhoffs

    Oklahoma

    Released in 2017
    The Maschhoffs
    Oklahoma
    Released in 2017
    At this Hormel pork supplier, a Mercy For Animals investigator exposed horrific animal abuse, including baby piglets having their testicles viciously ripped out and their sensitive tails cut off without any pain relief, sick and injured animals languishing without proper veterinary care, and mother pigs crammed into tiny, filthy crates.
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  • Seaboard Foods

    Colorado

    Released in 2015
    Seaboard Foods
    Colorado
    Released in 2015
    At Seaboard Foods—a Walmart pork supplier—workers viciously beat and strike pigs on their faces and backs with heavy cans and boards. Other pigs are shown suffering from injuries and illness, packed into filthy, overcrowded pens.
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  • Seaboard Foods

    Colorado

    Released in 2014
    Seaboard Foods
    Colorado
    Released in 2014
    Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix narrates this disturbing hidden-camera video at a pork supplier to Walmart. The Twittersphere exploded with celebrity tweets by Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Moby, and others calling on Walmart to stop the torture of mother pigs.
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  • Western Hog Exchange

    Alberta

    Released in 2014
    Western Hog Exchange
    Alberta
    Released in 2014
    Canada’s livestock transport regulations are the worst in the Western world, and lag far behind both the European Union and the United States. Farmed animals are often trucked thousands of miles, for days, without any food, water, or rest, resulting in the deaths of millions of animals each year.
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  • Tyson Pork Group

    Oklahoma

    Released in 2013
    Tyson Pork Group
    Oklahoma
    Released in 2013
    Hidden-camera footage shows sadistic animal abuse at this Walmart pork supplier, including workers throwing a bowling ball at a pig’s head, kicking, throwing, hitting, and body slamming baby pigs, and cramming pregnant pigs for life in gestation crates so small the animals can’t even turn around.
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  • Pipestone System

    Minnesota

    Released in 2013
    Pipestone System
    Minnesota
    Released in 2013
    At this Walmart pork supplier owned by the president of the National Pork Producers Council, workers were exposed violently slamming conscious piglets headfirst against the ground, ripping out their testicles without painkillers, and confining pregnant pigs in filthy, fly-infested gestation crates.
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  • Puratone

    Manitoba

    Released in 2012
    Puratone
    Manitoba
    Released in 2012
    The extreme animal abuse documented inside this Canadian hog factory farm sparked far-reaching media coverage and opened the eyes of millions of people to the plights of thousands of pigs who are crammed into filthy, metal gestation crates barely larger than their own bodies.
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  • Christensen Farms

    Minnesota

    Released in 2012
    Christensen Farms
    Minnesota
    Released in 2012
    This groundbreaking investigation led Costco, the third-largest grocery chain in America, and Kmart, the third-largest discount store in the world, to commit to phasing gestation crates out of their pork supply chains, leaving Walmart alone in its continued support of this torturous confinement system.
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  • Iowa Select

    Iowa

    Released in 2011
    Iowa Select
    Iowa
    Released in 2011
    Working undercover at Iowa’s largest pig factory farm, an investigator exposed the horrific plights of mother pigs confined to barren metal crates barely larger than their own bodies. The investigation also showed workers throwing piglets across the room and comparing the act to a “roller coaster ride.”
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  • Country View

    Pennsylvania

    Released in 2009
    Country View
    Pennsylvania
    Released in 2009
    This investigation provides a jarring glimpse into the nightmarish world of pork production, including the standard practice of keeping thousands of pregnant pigs confined in gestation crates—two-foot-wide metal stalls so small the animals can’t turn around or lie down comfortably.
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Chicken

Chicken Industry Exposed
Brazil
Released in 2023
The footage exposes animals living in crowded conditions and suffering the consequences of rapid growth at three Brazilian farms. These farms raise animals for slaughterhouses authorized to export to the European Union and other countries.
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  • Chicken Industry Exposed

    Brazil

    Released in 2023
    Chicken Industry Exposed
    Brazil
    Released in 2023
    The footage exposes animals living in crowded conditions and suffering the consequences of rapid growth at three Brazilian farms. These farms raise animals for slaughterhouses authorized to export to the European Union and other countries.
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  • ALDI Supplier 2

    United States

    Released in 2022
    ALDI Supplier 2
    United States
    Released in 2022
    In Mercy For Animals’ second video from an investigation conducted at an ALDI supplier, actress and mother Daniella Monet shares the story of Rose, a baby chicken raised for meat.
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  • ALDI Supplier 1

    United States

    Released in 2022
    ALDI Supplier 1
    United States
    Released in 2022

    A Mercy For Animals investigator uncovered immense suffering at a farm that raises chickens for an ALDI supplier.

    Footage shows days-old chicks suffering from severe open wounds and other serious injuries. Live chickens are tossed onto piles of their dead flockmates and left to be crushed by the corpses thrown on after them.
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  • Costco Supplier 2

    United States

    Released in 2022
    Costco Supplier 2
    United States
    Released in 2022

    Mercy For Animals joined forces with animal activist Woody Harrelson to share never-before-seen footage exposing the shocking treatment of Costco chickens.

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  • Costco Supplier 1

    United States

    Released in 2021
    Costco Supplier 1
    United States
    Released in 2021
    Hidden-camera footage reveals the horrible truth of what happens to Costco chickens behind closed doors: crowded, filthy barns; chickens struggling to walk under their own unnatural weight; dead days-old chicks; and piles of rotting birds.
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  • High-Speed Slaughter Lines

    United States

    Released in 2020
    High-Speed Slaughter Lines
    United States
    Released in 2020
    Shocking footage reveals the horrors of high-speed chicken slaughter, such as fully conscious birds hung upside down by their legs on a rapid live-shackle line and sick chickens thrown away like trash or kept on the line for slaughter.
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  • Chicken Factory Farms

    Brazil

    Released in 2018
    Chicken Factory Farms
    Brazil
    Released in 2018
    Shocking undercover footage taken at multiple factory farms in Brazil exposes horrific suffering in the chicken industry, including baby chicks having their necks violently smashed against factory equipment, birds suffering from painful leg deformities, and chickens forced to live crammed by the tens of thousands in filthy sheds.
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  • Maple Lodge Farms

    Ontario

    Released in 2018
    Maple Lodge Farms
    Ontario
    Released in 2018
    Hidden-camera footage recorded by a Mercy For Animals whistleblower at a hatchery owned by Maple Lodge Farms exposes baby chicks ground up alive, roughly slammed onto equipment, and viciously killed by having their necks smashed against metal edges of factory machines.
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  • Lilydale

    British Columbia

    Released in 2017
    Lilydale
    British Columbia
    Released in 2017
    Disturbing undercover video of gruesome animal abuse at more than a dozen Lilydale chicken supplier farms exposes management standing by while workers torment animals with crude sex acts and rough handling, including punting and throwing birds, and ripping the legs off conscious animals.
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  • Tyson Foods

    Tennessee

    Released in 2016
    Tyson Foods
    Tennessee
    Released in 2016
    A brand-new Mercy For Animals investigation has shined a spotlight on the world’s largest and most notorious animal-abusing company: Tyson Foods. The video shows countless birds crammed into filthy, windowless sheds and forced to live for weeks in their own waste and toxic ammonia fumes.
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  • Perdue Farms

    North Carolina

    Released in 2015
    Perdue Farms
    North Carolina
    Released in 2015
    A Perdue factory farmer was charged with felony animal cruelty after MFA caught him kicking and throwing chickens and violently stomping them to death. The shocking investigation also exposed birds bred to grow unnaturally fast suffering from painful leg deformities and dying from heart attacks.
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  • Tyson Foods

    Mississippi

    Released in 2015
    Tyson Foods
    Mississippi
    Released in 2015
    Tyson Foods and several of its workers face 33 counts of criminal cruelty to animals charges following the release of this hidden-camera footage exposing workers punching, throwing, and tormenting chickens for fun and ripping off their heads while they are still alive and conscious.
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  • Tyson Foods

    Tennessee

    Released in 2015
    Tyson Foods
    Tennessee
    Released in 2015
    Undercover video shot at T & S Farm—a contract farm for Tyson Foods and a McDonald’s McNugget supplier—revealed owners impaling birds with makeshift spiked clubs and stepping on birds’ heads while pulling their wings or bodies to break their necks.
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  • Tyson Foods

    Delaware

    Released in 2015
    Tyson Foods
    Delaware
    Released in 2015
    MFA’s hidden camera caught workers at McGinnis Farms—a Tyson Foods contract farm—carelessly kicking, clubbing, and throwing chickens while thousands of severely sick and injured animals were left to suffer without proper veterinary care or access to food and water.
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  • Foster Farms

    California

    Released in 2015
    Foster Farms
    California
    Released in 2015
    Bob Barker, former host of The Price Is Right, narrates an undercover video exposing birds scalded alive at Foster Farms—certified as “humane” by American Humane Association—and workers maliciously punching and throwing chickens, and ripping out their feathers for fun.
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  • Maple Lodge Farms

    Ontario

    Released in 2015
    Maple Lodge Farms
    Ontario
    Released in 2015
    At Maple Lodge Farms, countless birds freeze to death during transport. Those who survive are violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Wayne Farms

    North Carolina

    Released in 2015
    Wayne Farms
    North Carolina
    Released in 2015
    Undercover footage from a poultry supplier to Gordon Food Service—the largest private foodservice distributor in North America—has exposed horrific cruelty to animals, including baby birds violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open.
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  • Koch Foods

    Mississippi and Tennessee

    Released in 2014
    Koch Foods
    Mississippi and Tennessee
    Released in 2014
    Sam Simon, the terminally ill co-creator of The Simpsons, took a bite out of Chick-fil-A over its cruel treatment of chickens in this shocking exposé. Video shows workers violently slamming birds into crates, shackling them upside down, and scalding them alive in hot water tanks.
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  • Horizon Hatchery

    Ontario

    Released in 2014
    Horizon Hatchery
    Ontario
    Released in 2014
    At this Maple Leaf Foods chicken hatchery, baby chicks are flung by their fragile wings and slammed into metal dividers, live chicks are sent through a scalding washing machine, burned, and drowned, and birds are overloaded and roughly crammed into macerators to be ground up alive.
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Dairy

LALA Dairy Supplier 2
Mexico
Released in 2022
This undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals captures the moment in which a cow is subjected to a terribly cruel dehorning without any anesthesia.

  • LALA Dairy Supplier 2

    Mexico

    Released in 2022
    LALA Dairy Supplier 2
    Mexico
    Released in 2022
    This undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals captures the moment in which a cow is subjected to a terribly cruel dehorning without any anesthesia.

  • LALA Dairy Supplier 1

    Mexico

    Released in 2021
    LALA Dairy Supplier 1
    Mexico
    Released in 2021
    The investigation exposes cruel and inhumane practices at a farm that supplies Grupo LALA, one of the largest dairy companies of Latin America. Dehorning without anesthesia, lack of proper veterinary care, mistreatment of calves and violent separation from their mothers, dead animals hanging in plain sight, forced impregnations, hormone injections: these and other practices that seem to have inspired a horror movie lie hidden behind the farm walls.

  • Murmac Farms

    Pennsylvania

    Released in 2017
    Murmac Farms
    Pennsylvania
    Released in 2017
    Upsetting undercover footage shot at a dairy factory farm exposes calves stolen from their mothers shortly after they are born, tossed onto the hard ground, and left to suffer from untreated injuries and illnesses.
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  • Cactus Acres Holsteins

    Colorado

    Released in 2015
    Cactus Acres Holsteins
    Colorado
    Released in 2015
    Hidden-camera video footage from Cactus Acres Holsteins—a Dairy Farmers of America supplier—shows dairy workers viciously punching, kicking, beating, and stabbing cows, and violently slamming milking equipment into them as they walk through the filthy milking parlor.
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  • Andrus Dairy

    Wisconsin

    Released in 2014
    Andrus Dairy
    Wisconsin
    Released in 2014
    At this dairy supplier to Great Lakes Cheese—one of the largest cheese producers in the country—workers were caught on video viciously punching, kicking, and beating cows, hacking off their tails with pruning shears, and dragging them by their necks with ropes attached to tractors.
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  • Winchester Dairy

    New Mexico

    Released in 2014
    Winchester Dairy
    New Mexico
    Released in 2014
    Once again, a Mercy For Animals investigator uncovered criminal cruelty to animals—this time at a milk supplier to Leprino Foods, the world’s largest maker of mozzarella cheese. Leprino is a major cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s.
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  • Chilliwack Cattle Sales

    British Columbia

    Released in 2014
    Chilliwack Cattle Sales
    British Columbia
    Released in 2014
    This exposé at the largest dairy in Canada led to a raid by law enforcement and recommendations of criminal charges against eight workers for kicking, punching, and beating cows in the face and body and using chains and tractors to lift sick or injured animals by their necks.
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  • Wiese Brothers Farms

    Wisconsin

    Released in 2013
    Wiese Brothers Farms
    Wisconsin
    Released in 2013
    This stomach-turning investigation led Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, to commit to improving farmed animal welfare across its entire global supply chain—covering more than 90 countries—in what may be the most comprehensive and far-reaching animal welfare policy of its kind.
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  • Bettencourt Dairies

    Idaho

    Released in 2012
    Bettencourt Dairies
    Idaho
    Released in 2012
    Video taken at this Burger King cheese supplier led to the arrest of the manager and workers who were caught viciously beating and shocking cows, violently twisting their tails to inflict pain, and dragging a downed cow by her neck using a chain attached to a tractor.
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  • E6 Cattle Co.

    Texas

    Released in 2011
    E6 Cattle Co.
    Texas
    Released in 2011
    Hidden-camera video footage of workers standing on the necks of baby calves, burning out their horns without painkillers, and bludgeoning them to death with pickaxes caused the live-cattle stock price to drop, and led to the arrest and conviction of the facility owner.
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  • Conklin Dairy Farms

    Ohio

    Released in 2010
    Conklin Dairy Farms
    Ohio
    Released in 2010
    This investigation has been credited with pushing the Ohio Farm Bureau to implement the most comprehensive set of animal welfare reforms ever enacted by a single state at one time, including a ban on veal crates and gestation crates, and a moratorium on new battery-cage egg facilities.
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  • Willet Dairy

    New York

    Released in 2009
    Willet Dairy
    New York
    Released in 2009
    Calves having their tails cut off and horns burned out of their skulls without painkillers, workers hitting, kicking, and shocking cows, and animals forced to live in filthy and overcrowded sheds—these were just some of the abuses uncovered at New York’s largest dairy factory farm.
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Eggs

Egg Factory Farm
United States
Released in 2020
A former Mercy For Animals investigator exposed the extreme suffering of hens at a U.S. egg factory farm—including hundreds of thousands of animals packed so tightly into filthy wire cages they could hardly move and dead hens rotting in cages with birds still laying eggs for human consumption.

  • Egg Factory Farm

    United States

    Released in 2020
    Egg Factory Farm
    United States
    Released in 2020
    A former Mercy For Animals investigator exposed the extreme suffering of hens at a U.S. egg factory farm—including hundreds of thousands of animals packed so tightly into filthy wire cages they could hardly move and dead hens rotting in cages with birds still laying eggs for human consumption.

  • Naturovos

    Brazil

    Released in 2020
    Naturovos
    Brazil
    Released in 2020
    This investigation into the largest egg producer in southern Brazil exposes the horrible suffering of chickens confined in cages. The images show sick and injured hens, some with torn feet and organs protruding from their bodies, infested with lice and trapped in cage wire, unable to reach water and food.

  • Egg Factory Farms

    Mexico

    Released in 2020
    Egg Factory Farms
    Mexico
    Released in 2020
    Undercover footage of egg farms in Mexico, taken at seven facilities in Nuevo León, Yucatán, and Jalisco, exposes horrific animal cruelty and significant public health threats.
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  • Egg Factory Farm

    Brazil

    Released in 2017
    Egg Factory Farm
    Brazil
    Released in 2017
    New video footage shows thousands of hens crammed inside tiny, filthy cages; birds trapped in sharp wire or under feed troughs; and dead birds left to decompose next to hens still laying eggs for human consumption.
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  • Gray Ridge Egg Farms

    Ontario

    Released in 2016
    Gray Ridge Egg Farms
    Ontario
    Released in 2016
    This hidden-camera footage reveals the dark underbelly of the egg industry. Birds are crammed for nearly their entire lives in tiny cages, unable to walk without stepping on other birds. Their feet ache from standing on metal wire. Dead birds are left to rot in cages alongside hens still laying eggs for human consumption.
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  • Eggland’s Best

    Washington

    Released in 2016
    Eggland’s Best
    Washington
    Released in 2016
    A new Mercy For Animals investigation uncovers sickening animal cruelty and neglect at an Eggland’s Best supplier. Dead birds rot in cages with hens still laying eggs destined for the country’s breakfast plates, and workers violently rip birds out of cages and throw them into trash cans to be cruelly gassed to death.
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  • Shady Brae Farms

    Pennsylvania

    Released in 2016
    Shady Brae Farms
    Pennsylvania
    Released in 2016
    Disturbing undercover footage of shocking animal abuse at a United Egg Producers-certified egg factory farm shows thousands of birds packed so tightly into filthy wire cages they can hardly move and dead hens rotting in cages with live birds still laying eggs for human consumption.
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  • Creekside Farms and Kuku Farms

    Alberta

    Released in 2013
    Creekside Farms and Kuku Farms
    Alberta
    Released in 2013
    Undercover video taken at farms supplying McDonald’s Canada’s exclusive egg provider reveals hens crammed inside tiny wire battery cages, workers smashing in the heads of baby birds and tossing live chicks into trash bags to suffocate, and dead hens left to rot in cages with live birds.
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  • Sparboe Farms

    Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado

    Released in 2011
    Sparboe Farms
    Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado
    Released in 2011
    This investigation exposed the secret ingredient in McDonald’s Egg McMuffins: horrific animal abuse. After garnering international media attention, including on Good Morning America and 20/20, Target and Sam’s Club terminated their contracts with Sparboe Farms.
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  • Hy-Line Hatchery

    Iowa

    Released in 2009
    Hy-Line Hatchery
    Iowa
    Released in 2009
    At the world’s largest hatchery for egg-laying chickens, day-old baby birds are thrown, mutilated without painkillers, and violently killed. This investigation, which sparked international outcry, revealed the standard egg industry practice of throwing unwanted male chicks into a macerator to be ground up alive.
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  • Quality Egg of New England

    Maine

    Released in 2009
    Quality Egg of New England
    Maine
    Released in 2009
    This investigation prompted a raid by state police and led the owner of the facility to plead guilty to 10 counts of cruelty to animals, agree to pay more than $130,000 in fines and restitution, and hand over authority to the state of Maine to conduct unannounced inspections for five years.
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  • Gemperle Enterprises

    California

    Released in 2008
    Gemperle Enterprises
    California
    Released in 2008
    Covert footage recorded at one of the nation’s largest egg producers uncovered hens left to suffer from untreated injuries and infections and workers roughly cramming birds into cages, tearing birds out of cages by their fragile wings, kicking, stomping, and throwing them, and hurling them into “kill carts.”
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  • Norco Ranch

    California

    Released in 2008
    Norco Ranch
    California
    Released in 2008
    Just weeks before California voted on Proposition 2 to give egg-laying hens enough room to walk, stand, and stretch their limbs, MFA released this startling footage from inside the state’s largest egg producer. Prop 2 passed with overwhelming support, making California the first state to ban battery cages.
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  • Ohio Fresh Eggs

    Ohio

    Released in 2004
    Ohio Fresh Eggs
    Ohio
    Released in 2004
    At Ohio’s largest egg factory farm, millions of hens are crammed for life into barren battery cages so small each bird has less floor space than the size of a sheet of notebook paper. From the time they hatch until they are violently killed, these hens endure lives of misery and deprivation.
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  • Weaver Brothers Egg Farm

    Ohio

    Released in 2002
    Weaver Brothers Egg Farm
    Ohio
    Released in 2002
    Video footage recorded at this United Egg Producers “Animal Care Certified” facility reveals hens coated in feces and packed in tiny cages, birds suffering from untreated infections, corpses left to rot on cage floors, birds trapped in cage wire, and a live hen left to die in a trash bin.
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Turkey

Lilydale
British Columbia
Released in 2016
Shocking hidden-camera footage obtained by Mercy For Animals reveals horrific cruelty to animals, including turkeys violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Lilydale

    British Columbia

    Released in 2016
    Lilydale
    British Columbia
    Released in 2016
    Shocking hidden-camera footage obtained by Mercy For Animals reveals horrific cruelty to animals, including turkeys violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Butterball

    North Carolina

    Released in 2014
    Butterball
    North Carolina
    Released in 2014
    Hidden-camera video at this Butterball turkey hatchery shows birds having their sensitive toes and beaks cut and burned off without any painkillers, workers callously throwing and dropping these fragile animals, and sick or injured birds being thrown into a pit to be ground up alive.
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  • Hybrid Turkeys

    Ontario

    Released in 2014
    Hybrid Turkeys
    Ontario
    Released in 2014
    Video footage at the world’s largest primary turkey breeder shows workers kicking and throwing turkeys, crushing their spines, and violently beating them with shovels and metal rods. Turkeys with open, pus-filled wounds, rotting eyes, and festering infections were left to suffer and die.
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  • Butterball

    North Carolina

    Released in 2012
    Butterball
    North Carolina
    Released in 2012
    Less than a year after MFA’s first Butterball investigation led to criminal animal cruelty convictions of Butterball workers for kicking, beating, and throwing animals, new video footage from multiple turkey factory farms in North Carolina shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at Butterball.
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  • Butterball

    North Carolina

    Released in 2011
    Butterball
    North Carolina
    Released in 2011
    Video footage of Butterball workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their wings and necks, and slamming them into transport crates resulted in the arrest and conviction of several Butterball workers, including the first-ever felony conviction in U.S. history for cruelty to factory-farmed birds.
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  • House of Raeford Farms

    North Carolina

    Released in 2007
    House of Raeford Farms
    North Carolina
    Released in 2007
    An MFA investigator secretly filmed workers throwing, punching, kicking, and ripping the heads off of live birds. The investigation also revealed conscious and thrashing turkeys having their throats cut open—spotlighting the disturbing result of exempting birds from the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
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Veal

Délimax Veal
Quebec
Released in 2014
After hidden-camera footage recorded by a Mercy For Animals whistleblower exposed this Délimax-affiliated veal factory farm in Canada’s largest veal-producing province, Quebec’s veal producers federation and Canada’s top grocery chains, including Metro, Loblaws, and Sobeys, committed to ending the sale of veal from crated calves by 2018.
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  • Délimax Veal

    Quebec

    Released in 2014
    Délimax Veal
    Quebec
    Released in 2014
    After hidden-camera footage recorded by a Mercy For Animals whistleblower exposed this Délimax-affiliated veal factory farm in Canada’s largest veal-producing province, Quebec’s veal producers federation and Canada’s top grocery chains, including Metro, Loblaws, and Sobeys, committed to ending the sale of veal from crated calves by 2018.
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  • Buckeye Veal Farm

    Ohio

    Released in 2010
    Buckeye Veal Farm
    Ohio
    Released in 2010
    Following this investigation, Costco, the third-largest grocery chain in America, adopted a policy against purchasing veal from producers who use the crate-and-chain production method, and Bob Barker, host of The Price Is Right, urged consumers nationwide to boycott veal and dairy.
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Fish

Farmed Fish Industry
United States
Released in 2020
Narrated by the TV star Kristin Bauer, this shocking investigation into the farmed fish industry exposes fish forced to live by the tens of thousands in ponds; cut in half while conscious and able to feel pain; lifted out of ponds in nets, unable to breathe and crushing one another; and left to suffocate slowly at slaughterhouses.
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  • Farmed Fish Industry

    United States

    Released in 2020
    Farmed Fish Industry
    United States
    Released in 2020
    Narrated by the TV star Kristin Bauer, this shocking investigation into the farmed fish industry exposes fish forced to live by the tens of thousands in ponds; cut in half while conscious and able to feel pain; lifted out of ponds in nets, unable to breathe and crushing one another; and left to suffocate slowly at slaughterhouses.
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  • Driftnet Fishing Industry 3

    United States

    Released in 2018
    Driftnet Fishing Industry 3
    United States
    Released in 2018
    Multiple investigations reveal that blatant animal abuse runs rampant on commercial driftnet fishing boats. Sharks are painfully pierced with hooks, stabbed, and bludgeoned over the head with a baseball bat and dolphins and other marine animals are trapped and killed in fishing nets.
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  • Driftnet Fishing Industry 2

    United States

    Released in 2018
    Driftnet Fishing Industry 2
    United States
    Released in 2018
    Undercover video footage reveals the systemic animal cruelty and environmental devastation of the commercial driftnet fishing industry.
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  • Driftnet Fishing Industry 1

    United States

    Released in 2018
    Driftnet Fishing Industry 1
    United States
    Released in 2018
    Undercover footage exposes workers viciously mutilating stingrays and sawing fins off sharks while the animals are still alive and protected species, like dolphins, sea lions, and seabirds, killed by the cruel driftnet fishing industry.
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  • Catfish Corner

    Texas

    Released in 2010
    Catfish Corner
    Texas
    Released in 2010
    Workers cutting, slicing, skinning, suffocating, and dismembering live and fully conscious catfish are just some of the sickening images caught on video at this Texas fish slaughter facility. MFA used this investigation to push for new legislation to prohibit “skinning and dismembering of all live, conscious animals,” including fish.
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Other

Municipal Slaughterhouses
Brazil
Released in 2022
This investigation documented the use of sledgehammers, which is forbidden by Brazilian regulations, in a municipal slaughterhouse.
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  • Municipal Slaughterhouses

    Brazil

    Released in 2022
    Municipal Slaughterhouses
    Brazil
    Released in 2022
    This investigation documented the use of sledgehammers, which is forbidden by Brazilian regulations, in a municipal slaughterhouse.
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  • Cattle Slaughterhouse

    Brazil

    Released in 2021
    Cattle Slaughterhouse
    Brazil
    Released in 2021
    A Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a large cattle slaughterhouse in Brazil exposes the physical and psychological suffering that animals are subjected to in these facilities. The images captured also reveal the industrial scale of the slaughter.
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  • Cattle Feedlot

    United States

    Released in 2021
    Cattle Feedlot
    United States
    Released in 2021
    A Mercy For Animals investigator documented unimaginable cruelty in the final days of a cattle herd. As temperatures hit triple digits, cattle were denied shelter, shade, or a cooling system.
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  • Live Animal Export 2

    Brazil

    Released in 2020
    Live Animal Export 2
    Brazil
    Released in 2020
    This new live-export investigation, the second released by Mercy For Animals, reveals animals loaded onto ships with electric prods before traveling for weeks across the Atlantic Ocean. After an agonizing journey, many arrive at the destination country to be brutally killed—workers slash their legs and stab these fully conscious animals.
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  • Live Animal Export

    Brazil

    Released in 2019
    Live Animal Export
    Brazil
    Released in 2019
    Shocking footage has uncovered cows on arrival to the countries of destination being painfully craned by their legs from inside a live export ship. Slaughterhouse workers stab animals, slash their legs with knives, and cut open their throats while they are conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughterhouse 7

    Mexico

    Released in 2019
    Municipal Slaughterhouse 7
    Mexico
    Released in 2019
    Venezuelan television star María Gabriela de Faría narrates horrific new video footage revealing, for the seventh time, the appalling animal suffering inside Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses, including pregnant cows repeatedly shot with stun guns, kicked, dragged, and cut open while still able to feel pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 6

    Mexico

    Released in 2019
    Municipal Slaughter 6
    Mexico
    Released in 2019
    New video footage reveals for the sixth time the horrific animal suffering inside Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses, including baby pigs carelessly tossed, cut open, and left bleeding—all while conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Animal Transportation

    Mexico

    Released in 2019
    Animal Transportation
    Mexico
    Released in 2019
    Shocking video footage exposes the appalling conditions animals face on the journey from farm to slaughterhouse in Mexico, including crowded, filthy conditions inside transport trucks and no access to food or water. Workers callously toss and hit animals, and animals become trapped and seriously injured or killed when they are crushed by transport crates.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 5

    México

    Released in 2017
    Municipal Slaughter 5
    México
    Released in 2017
    TV and film icon, Eugenio Derbez, narrates this disturbing new video taken inside a government-owned slaughterhouse that exposes animals painfully shocked, beaten, and cut open while still able to feel pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 4

    México

    Released in 2017
    Municipal Slaughter 4
    México
    Released in 2017
    Appalling footage, never seen by the public, exposes animals shocked, dragged, and cut open while fully conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 3

    México

    Released in 2016
    Municipal Slaughter 3
    México
    Released in 2016
    Narrated by TV and film icon Eugenio Derbez, this graphic video exposes animals cruelly shocked with electric prods, beaten over the head with sledgehammers, dragged to the kill floor, and viciously stabbed—while fully conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 2

    México

    Released in 2016
    Municipal Slaughter 2
    México
    Released in 2016
    MFA’s undercover investigator speaks out against the shocking animal abuse she uncovered at Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses, including fully conscious animals violently hooked in the mouth, strung upside down, and stabbed in the throat and chest while screaming out in pain.
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  • Municipal Slaughter 1

    México

    Released in 2016
    Municipal Slaughter 1
    México
    Released in 2016
    Graphic video footage inside Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses exposes animals painfully shocked in the eyes, hoisted upside down by chains, and bellowing in distress while choking on their own blood and vomit—all while still conscious and able to feel pain.
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  • Reichardt Duck Farm

    California

    Released in 2014
    Reichardt Duck Farm
    California
    Released in 2014
    At Reichardt Duck Farm, one of the largest duck factory farms in the country, workers burn the bills of baby birds with searing metal and leave ducks painfully trapped in cage wire or manure pits to slowly suffer and die from lack of food and water.
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  • Markets of Misery

    Mississippi

    Released in 2014
    Markets of Misery
    Mississippi
    Released in 2014
    Charges of a total of 49 counts of criminal animal cruelty were filed against 10 workers at two livestock auctions in Mississippi after an MFA investigator documented sheep, goats, pigs, and other animals being kicked, shocked, beaten, dragged by their ears and tails, and deprived of food and water.
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  • Hudson Valley Foie Gras

    New York

    Released in 2013
    Hudson Valley Foie Gras
    New York
    Released in 2013
    Foie gras, “fatty liver,” is produced by shoving pipes down the throats of ducks and force-feeding them until their livers swell up to 10 times the normal size. This investigation exposes this violent and often fatal practice at an Amazon.com foie gras supplier.
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  • Ontario Livestock Sales

    California

    Released in 2012
    Ontario Livestock Sales
    California
    Released in 2012
    After this investigation exposed an ongoing pattern of extreme cruelty and neglect at one of the oldest and largest livestock auctions in Southern California, including sick or injured animals left to suffer and slowly die, the owner and several workers were convicted of criminal cruelty to animals.
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  • Illegal Slaughter Operation

    California

    Released in 2011
    Illegal Slaughter Operation
    California
    Released in 2011
    This hidden-camera footage led to the arrest and conviction of Roberto Celedon for criminal acts related to his illegal slaughter operation in Los Angeles County. During a raid of the facility, animal control officers seized dozens of sick and injured animals who are now rehabilitated at a sanctuary.
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DRONE INVESTIGATIONS

Mercy For Animals’ drone investigations provide a whole new perspective on factory farming’s devastating impact on animals, the environment, and rural communities. Equipped with high-tech video cameras, our drones fly above factory farms and slaughterhouses, capturing the nightmarish scale of these facilities.

Watch Our Drone Investigations

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