The head of a Texas anti-death penalty group has accused that state's governor of scuttling an investigation into a possible wrongful execution for political reasons.The head of a Texas anti-death penalty group has accused that state's governor of... more
Joeys rescued after the recent bushfires are seen at the home of caregiver Annie Williams in Gisborne, Australia.
Whilst the state of Victoria does not allow commercial hunting, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia do.
Sanctioned by the Australian government, hunters are instructed to kill any joeys by decapitation, shooting or clubbing.
The controversial practice has been brought to the forefront due to the opening up of vast parts of NSW to commercial shooters.Joeys rescued after the recent bushfires are seen at the home of caregiver Annie... more
From the article...LOS ANGELES -- Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with conspiracy, stalking and other crimes against researchers at University of California, Los Angeles and executives of a juice company.
Linda Faith Greene, 61, and Kevin Richard Olliff, 22, pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignment in Superior Court.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office issued a statement calling the pair "alleged domestic terrorists" and describing them as associates of the Animal Liberation Front, an extremist animal rights group.
A county grand jury indictment was handed up March 27 and charged each with three counts of conspiracy to commit stalking, three counts of stalking, two counts of conspiracy to threaten a public officer or school employee and two counts of threatening a public officer or school employee. They were arrested Thursday.
The indictment alleges that an unnamed co-conspirator tried to place an incendiary device on the doorstep of UCLA professor Lynn Fairbanks' home in July 2006 but it was actually left at an elderly neighbor's house and failed to explode.
One of the overt acts in the conspiracy was Greene, acting as press officer for an animal rights Web site, posting a "communique" by the ALF which took responsibility for what it called a "moletov cocktail," according to the indictment.
Greene, Olliff and others conducted demonstrations at the professor's home and on the UCLA campus, during which they chanted threats through a bullhorn and disputed law enforcement claims that the wrong house was targeted, according to the indictment.
Greene is also accused of identifying Fairbanks as a "target" on a Web site, publishing her addresses and other personal information online.
The indictment alleges a similar campaign against a neurobiology professor, Dario Ringach, who later gave up primate research, citing harassment from animal rights activists and concerns for his young children.
A telephone message seeking comment was left Monday evening at the office of attorney David B. Rutan, who represented Greene and Olliff when UCLA got a temporary restraining order against animal rights activists.
Dr. Jerry Vlasak, an animal rights activist with North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said Monday that Greene and Olliff violated no laws.
"They're using their constitutional right to free speech. They're not breaking any laws or breaking in to sabotage or destroying vehicles or equipment," Vlasak said. "Everyone knows who they are. They're high-profile activists who never tried to hide their identities. Linda did TV interviews."
The indictment further alleges that Greene and Olliff stalked executives of Los Angeles-based POM Wonderful Juice Co., picketed at a corporate family picnic and conducted demonstrations at their homes.
Vlasak said the activists targeted POM because they believe the company was using animal experiments to support claims that pomegranate juice could improve erectile function in men with mild impotence problems.
A telephone message seeking comment from POM after hours was not immediately returned.
Greene was held on $450,000 bail and is due back in court Friday for a bail review hearing. Olliff was held on $460,000 bail.
Both defendants are scheduled for a pretrial hearing on May 20.
Over the past couple of years, animal rights activists have aggressively protested animal research at the homes of scientists.
Earlier this year, four people pleaded not guilty in connection with an attempted break-in at the home of a UC Santa Cruz breast cancer researcher in 2008. Last December, a man pleaded no contest to making harassing phone calls to UC San Francisco researchers at their homes and telling them that they would die the same way they made animals suffer.From the article...LOS ANGELES -- Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with... more
I am posting this after going to current feeling certain someone else already had a story about this horror. I wanted to join in and find out what can be done. It's inconceivable to me that this goes on every spring. So now with tears streaming down my face from watching this video I found my question is what can we do to end this cruel and inhumane slaughter? Most people don't pay attention to anything except being hurt in the wallet. Is there a way to do this to Canada? Can we boycott a product or import that would be enough to make them notice? Please comment if you know.I am posting this after going to current feeling certain someone else already had a... more
This is a video of what is being done to helpless PUPPIES & DOGS! This is an outrage! Humans created the animal 'problem' & need to develop another method to correct this issue.
Baghdad authorities launch a controversial campaign to kill street dogs. CNN's Arwa Damon reports. (Viewer discretion)
The story:
The shotgun blast rips into the stray dog's midsection, sending it tumbling over and over. Agonizing yelps echo through the streets as it tries to reach and bite at the gaping wound. Minutes later, the dog is dead.
A few miles away, a puppy eats a piece of poisoned meat. Its body starts to twitch and spasm as the toxins kick in. It dies within 15 minutes.
The two strays were among the thousands that roam the streets of Baghdad. Authorities have been killing them since November, trying to prevent the spread of disease and attacks on residents.NO MORE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENCE!
This is a video of what is being done to... more
the debate continues... but even a UN Committee concluded "...these weapons cause(s) acute pain, constituting a form of torture"... how many dead civilians is it going to take?
"Human rights group Amnesty International is renewing its call for a moratorium on Taser use after recent tests commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada found some of the stun guns deliver a higher level of electricity than the manufacturer promises."
The posts on current alone, related to this subject, are grim:
- "video captues police repeatedly shocking UCLA student"
- "hospital security guard tasers man with baby
- "An Orlando police officer Tasered an autistic middle school student"
- "Michigan police taser newlyweds during wedding reception"
- "Missouri police taser injured boy 19 times"
- "Lieutenant in deadly taser case commits suicide"
- "man tasered, causing him to fall to his death"
- "Virginia cops taser autistic man for arguing"
- "Police taser a blind woman with cancer"
- "police punched teen 13 times in face, then taser him "
- "Police officer tasers black youth to death"
- "Minnesota state troopers killed a healthy 27 year old by taser"the debate continues... but even a UN Committee concluded "...these weapons cause(s)... more
Dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of suffering animals
The aim of International Animal Rescue is to come to the aid of wild and domestic animals with hands-on rescue and rehabilitation.
At International Animal Rescue we do exactly what our name says. We save animals from suffering around the world by:
* Cutting free the dancing bears of India
* Rescuing primates from the animal smugglers of Indonesia
* Saving migratory birds from the guns of Malta
* Providing veterinary care for the stray dogs and cats of India
When we can, we release rescued animals back into the wild. And when that’s not possible, we care for them in our sanctuaries.
http://www.iar.org.uk/International Animal Rescue (IAR)
Dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of... more
i am aware of many of atrocities to the defenseless & innocent creatures of our earth... but this is outrageous.
"TRADITIONAL"? ARE YOU SERIOUS? A "TRADITION" IS THE MOST SELFISH & DISGRACEFUL EXCUSE USED TO ALLOW A SOCIETY TO ACT AS ANIMAL TERRORISTS.People 'Celebrate' Rapa Das Bestas Horse 'Festival' In Sabucedo, Galicia, Spain... more
chilling to know that Asia is still in the dark ages w/ cruelty. Horrid. They cheaply club them to death when they are done with them. My heart sinks at this and the WEB is crawling with many more pictures...like the "Racoon dog" that China 'uses' for different purposes. I will no longer buy anything from this country until they clean up their human/animal cruelty! It won't be easy since everything is 'made in China' but I am committed. How about you?chilling to know that Asia is still in the dark ages w/ cruelty. Horrid. They cheaply... more
KANPUR: In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old Dalit boy was chained to a tractor and dragged around Basaura village under the Shrinagar police station in Mahoba district for allegedly holding a minor girl’s hand on Wednesday.
According to reports, the boy, identified as Nandu (name changed), son of Dasaiya Ahirwar, suffered serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital where doctors stated his condition to be stable.
The incident took place on Wednesday when Nandu and an 11-year-old girl, daughter of one Sukhlal Rajput of the same village, were bathing near a village well.
The victim’s father, narrating the incident to TOI on phone, said the girl’s father, along with his relatives, arrived there and after mercilessly assaulting Nandu with sticks, forcibly confined him to his place for several hours. They accused Nandu of teasing the girl. The boy’s family, however, claimed that he had just held her hands.
In the evening, the relatives of the girl tied Nandu to a tractor and dragged him in the village till he became unconscious. ‘‘When Nandu started bleeding profusely, they dumped him near a pond,’’ Dasaiya said.
When he tried to resist, the members of the girl’s family threatened us with dire consequences and passed caste-based remarks on us, he added.
The boy’s relatives blamed cops for arriving hours after the incident. ‘‘A police team reached the spot, but none in the village was prepared to speak about the incident,’’ said a relative.
Mahoba police chief RP Singh said: ‘‘We registered an FIR under Section 342, 323, 504, 506 of the Indian Penal Code besides Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Castes and Tribes) Act against Sukhlal Rajput.’’ He later surrendered before the court on Thursday. KANPUR: In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old Dalit boy was chained to a tractor and... more
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) - San Marcos police and animal control investigators are trying to determine how a 10-month-old puppy died in a clothes dryer inside an apartment.
An investigation is ongoing into whether the death was an accident or a disturbing case of animal cruelty.
"It's very disturbing," said Animal Services Manager Bert Strattemann. "Anytime you see an animal in the condition that this one was, it's very disturbing."
A roommate of the dog's owner found the 12-pound miniature pinscher dead inside the dryer early Wednesday morning, police said. Witnesses tell investigators someone let the dog inside from the patio at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. The puppy, Bentley, was found dead in the front loading dryer three hours later. The owner was asleep in a nearby bedroom.
"We are trying to determine if this was intentional or an accident," said Strattemann.
Four male roommates, including the puppy's owner, lived in the apartment at the Cabana Beach complex in San Marcos and shared the laundry facilities. Investigators are talking to all of the residents and guests who may have been inside the apartment Wednesday morning.
"At this time, it's an ongoing investigation," said Strattemann. "We're pursuing it heavily."
A necropsy performed by a local veterinarian determined the puppy died from trauma caused by being inside the dryer. If investigators determine this was not an accident, the suspect could face animal cruelty charges. video:... more
Following the untimely death of beautiful elephant, Alport, the San Antonio Zoo has been sending the same reply to everyone who has contacted them regarding the future of the sole remaining elephant, Lucky:
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN. WE ASSURE YOU THAT THE SAN ANTONIO ZOO WILL ALWAYS DO WHAT IS BEST FOR ELEPHANTS!"
If this is indeed true, then the zoo must certainly wish the best for Lucky. They should arrange for release from her zoo prison and arrange for her to be sent to an elephant sanctuary. Compare the photos at the top. The one on the left, is the drab, barren, lifeless enclosure at the San Antonio Zoo. On the right, a portion of the green, natural, 2400 acre habitat at The Elephant Sactuary devoted to Asian elephants. The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee has already agreed to accept Lucky and pay for transporting her, all AT NO COST TO THE S.A. ZOO.
Despite the small size of the enclosure, director Steve McCuster is already planning on purchasing 2 additional elephants!
No matter how well-intentioned zoo officials may be, a zoo just cannot provide adequate space and habitat to accommodate the needs of an animal the size of an elephant. We are asking that the S.A.Zoo follow the lead of other progressive zoos around the country and close the elephant exhibit forever!
The reported cause of death for Alport was an orthopedic tear. Now, Lucky is having foot problems as well. Look at these photos taken by Don Elroy of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, May, 2008.
Please see the video and listen to interviews!Following the untimely death of beautiful elephant, Alport, the San Antonio Zoo has... more
PLEASE Help Send Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary: An All Creatures Action Alert
46 years is long enough... please follow link for 3 seperate petitions.
'Lucky's Name Has Been a Misnomer' (by Don Elroy)
Something in an animal's eyes can haunt you and draw you into its world, a world we seldom view the same way that they experience it. Loneliness, pain and understanding can sometimes all be combined inside one gaze. Such is the case with Lucky, an Asian elephant at the San Antonio Zoo.
If we could read her experiences through her eyes, she might convey to us the story of an extraordinary elephant life.
Wild elephants live in complex social structures with extended families, spending their time foraging for food, traveling 10-50 miles daily, interacting through intertwining trunks and social bonding. They swim, roll and play in mud holes and enjoy emotional interaction together.
Lucky has missed opportunities that make an elephant's life enjoyable. Born in Thailand in 1960, Lucky was taken from her mother and family at four months and sent across the ocean to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. When elephants are captured from the wild, their mothers fight to protect them at all costs. Her mother and other adult elephants were likely killed to bring Lucky to the United States. Lucky was transferred in 1961 to a private facility in Texas. In 1962 she arrived at the San Antonio Zoo, where she has spent the last 46 years.
The zoo's elephant enclosure has no grass or trees and is compacted ground with some sand thrown into the mixture. A small pool of knee-deep, usually dirty water also doubles as her drinking source. Her only shade is provided by two umbrella-shaped structures in this small barren enclosure. She cannot position her entire body in the shade from one of these structures.
Captive elephants are subject to pododermatitis that leads to swelling and pain and arthritis from long periods of standing on hard surfaces. Foot problems are the largest killer of captive elephants. Her feet are routinely soaked in buckets and filed and rasped, made necessary by lack of walking space and the hard substrates she stands on daily. She favors her feet by constantly holding one up in the air or leaning to take the weight off.
Lucky frequently shows repetitive behaviors, which is normally a sign of stress and boredom associated with captivity. One afternoon, for 45 minutes, she repeated the same behaviors over and over.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums space standards for elephant enclosures are a minimum 1,800 square feet. In human weight comparison, it is equivalent to living in a 36 square-foot room.
Voice for Animals, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force have joined in a campaign to send Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, after her companions Missy, Ginny and Alport all previously died in the San Antonio Zoo.
Where better than a sanctuary? Other zoos have placed elephants in sanctuaries. Lucky could have ponds, trees to knock over, mud holes and she could even step on grass for the first time in 48 years.
Join us in requesting the San Antonio Zoo send Lucky to a sanctuary.
Just maybe, what we then see in Lucky's eyes will be extraordinary.
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Don Elroy is advocacy and education coordinator for Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation. Article originally published on My San Antonio.
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For more information about elephant abuses and rescue, see I Am An Elephant, Mulike the Orphaned Elephant, Sissy Arrives at The Elephant Sanctuary.
PLEASE Help Send Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary: An All Creatures Action Alert
46... more
Please Protect Raccoon Dogs - Stop Deceptive Labeling of Faux Fur!
Target: U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: Care2.com
A startling investigation shows that 80 percent of jackets mislabeled as faux fur contain raccoon dog fur. U.S. law prohibits the import and sale of dog and cat fur products – but the law does not protect raccoon dogs, nor does it require labeling products with fur valued under $150.
Wild raccoon dogs are members of the canine family native to dense woodlands and forests of Asia, but they are domesticated in China primarily for their fur. Undercover video footage shows gruesome methods used, such as skinning them alive. Estimates of how many raccoon dogs are killed each year range from 1.5 million to 4 million.
Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) have introduced the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Act (H.R. 891), a bill that would protect raccoon dogs and require the labeling of all fur products, thus closing the loophole that has allowed the deceptive marketing of real fur as "faux" fur.
Please urge your Representative to help close this loophole by cosponsoring the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Act now!
A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile.
Footage from the security cameras at Alice Springs Reptile Centre caught the child smiling as he killed a total of 13 animals. During his 30-minute spree, he was seen hurling the animals over the security fence into the crocodile enclosure.
Zoo officials described the boy's actions as "unbelievable". They are considering suing the parents as the boy is too young to be prosecuted.
'Difficult to replace'
The attack happened on Wednesday morning after the boy entered the zoo by jumping over the security fence and evading sensor alarms.
Over the next half hour, he bludgeoned some of the animals to death with stones and hurled others over the two fences surrounding the crocodile enclosure. At one point, he tried scaling the outer enclosure himself to get to "Terry", the 11ft (3.3m) saltwater crocodile.
A turtle, four Western blue-tongued lizards, two bearded dragons, two thorny devil lizards and the zoo's 20-year-old goanna were among those killed. Zoo director Rex Neindorf said many of the animals were rare or mature and would be difficult to replace.
"The fact a seven-year-old can wreak so much havoc in such a short time, it's unbelievable," he told Reuters news agency. Mr Neindorf said the boy had "clammed up" when questioned by police.
As children under the age of 10 cannot be held accountable for their actions in the Northern Territory, the zoo would be seeking to take action against the parents. "We'll be looking at suing the parents, who were supposedly in control of him at the time," he said. Story Details for the post:... more
The program began under her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, and continues with her support. Private citizens are permitted to shoot wolves from the air or conduct land-and-shoot hunting of wolves in five rural areas of the state. More than 700 wolves have been killed since the program began almost five years ago, state officials say.
Last year, Palin's office announced the state would offer cash to kill wolves. Incentives included offering volunteer pilots and aerial gunner teams $150 for turning in the forelegs of freshly killed wolves.
The state said the legs could help biologists determine a wolf's age, while the money helped hunters and aerial teams pay for gas and expenses. A Superior Court judge later blocked the payments after conservation groups argued the money amounted to an illegal bounty.
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, is a nonprofit 501(c)4 corporation that can operate outside the strict limits governing political action committees. It can raise money in unlimited amounts from individual donors and can run ads that refer to political candidates as long as they don't specifically advocate their election or defeat.
The ad has received widespread notice on the Internet and has been an effective fundraising tool for Defenders of Wildlife. The group says it raised $600,000 in the six hours after it was released in mid-September and says it now has raised $1 million.
The group is aiming the ad at suburban women and moderate independent voters.
The ad follows closely on the heels of a McCain commercial that depicted Obama researchers and investigators combing through Palin's background as a pack of wolves.
Hunter or hunted, it all depends on the ad.
On the Net:
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund: http://www.defendersactionfund.org/ The program began under her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, and continues with her... more
In a town where bears are everywhere from decorations at the corner bar...to real life next-door-neighbors, bear county is an understatement.
So when news spread that two bears may have been unethically killed near the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary near Orr, area hunters down the road could barely stomach it.
"It's not right," said Robert Gross, visiting from St. Paul.
"You abide by the rules," said his brother Mark. "This is one out of a million that something like this would happen."
The first dead bear was found Saturday, shot once and left untouched. The second was found a day later, skinned with his head and paws cut off.
"There's hunters and then there are what we call the poachers, these guys are the worst of the worst," said Dennis Udovich, President of Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary.
But what bothers staff even more is that the bears were killed so close to sanctuary grounds--making them believe the hunters waited for bears to leave the protected land, so they could legally shoot them on public land.
"The bears are real relaxed in this area, so it's not a challenge," said Udovich.
"All you have to do is sit on the travel corridor and pick and chose which bear you want," said Klari Lea, Vice President of Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary. "It's a highway and that's unfair and it's not ethical."
Unethical? Perhaps. But illegal? Not quite. The DNR is investigating for possible wanton waste charges.
"It's slob hunting, definitely slob hunting," said Mark Gross. His brother agrees.
"If you are going to kill something you should probably plan on eating it," said Robert Gross.
Now perhaps the most talked about hunt...is for the responsible hunters themselves.
"We want to get these slime balls," said Udovich. "I mean they are given all good hunters a bad name."
There is a $2,225 reward for information on the suspects. If you have any information, a tipline has been set up at 1-800-652-9093.
MEXICO CITY – A five-ton elephant escaped from a circus and wandered onto a busy highway, where it was hit by a bus and died on Tuesday.
State officials say bus driver Tomas Lopez, 49, also was killed and at least four passengers were hospitalized after the pre-dawn collision in Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City.
Mexico State police spokesman Juan Sanchez said the elephant escaped from its cage at the Circo Union, but he declined to give any other details. He said officials were investigating.
The state-funded Notimex news agency reported that the elephant named Indra escaped as its keeper arrived to feed it, knocking down a metal door that led to the street and wandering through two neighborhoods before trying to cross the highway.
Small circuses have used the name "Circo Union" in Mexico and it was not immediately clear which was involved.
Last month, a 500-pound lion escaped from a private zoo owned by a local lawmaker in southern Mexico. The animal killed two dogs and a pig and attacked a woman and child on a donkey before it was sedated and caught.
For more information on elephants... please visit:
BEIJING — China’s leaders scrambled Saturday to contain public dismay over widespread contamination of milk supplies, criticizing local officials for negligence while moving to tamp down criticism of the government’s response.
Officials promised to keep stores supplied with clean milk and set up medical hot lines nationwide to help people cope with one of the worst product safety scandals in years.
Milk and dairy products from 22 companies have been recalled after batches tainted with the industrial chemical melamine sickened more than 6,200 children and left four infants dead from kidney failure.
Trying to shore up public confidence, Premier Wen Jiabao told senior Communist Party members that official misconduct contributed to the milk contamination and earlier product scandals. He demanded they put public safety “at the top of the agenda.”
In a show of concern, Wen’s chief deputy made a highly publicized trip to a dairy region south of Beijing at the center of the scandal, visiting farms, shops and a hospital, where he urged “all-out efforts on medical treatment” for the sick.
The energetic response underscored the deep challenge the crisis poses for the communist leadership. The government has staked its legitimacy in part on competent management of a rapidly developing society, a reputation it hoped would be burnished by last month’s lavish, well-run Beijing Olympics.
But the post-Olympic accolades have been pushed aside, and the scandal is again baring widespread public skepticism about the government’s abilities to get lower level officials to enforce policies and overcome cover-ups of problems.
In the 10 days since the government revealed that Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group sold tainted milk powder and infant formula, sketchy details have exposed one local government cover-up as well as the sale of contaminated milk by China’s biggest dairies, many of them state-owned.
Recalls of Chinese-made dairy products widened Saturday to Japan, which followed the lead of Singapore, while more products were recalled in the self-governing Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
Seeking to rein in criticism, propaganda officials ordered newspapers, TV stations and Web sites to mainly use reports from the government’s official Xinhua News Agency, news employees at two publications reported.
Food and product safety scandals have been a feature of Chinese life. Only last year, the government promised to overhaul inspection procedures after exports of medicines, toys and other products that killed and sickend people in the United States.
Also last year, pet food contaminated with melamine killed thousands of pets in North and South America. The dangerous chemical in the pet food was the same as in the milk scandal -- melamine. Used in making plastics, melamine is high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk.
Some of the farmers who sell milk to Chinese food companies are thought to have used melamine to disguise watered-down milk.
BEIJING — China’s leaders scrambled Saturday to contain public dismay over... more
WASHINGTON – An Iowa sheriff said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into a videotape showing abuse of pigs at a farm.
The video, shot by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shows farm workers hitting sows with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging about jamming rods into sows' hindquarters. Greene County Sheriff Tom Heater told The Associated Press that he had met with PETA representatives on Tuesday. "They provided us with what appears to be some really good information," he said. "Our next step is to secure interviews with potential suspects, and definitely make sure that there's no further abuse occurring down there; that's our main concern at this point." --when asked if crimes had been committed, Heater responded, "It appears that there were, yes."
On the video, obtained by The AP, a supervisor tells an undercover PETA investigator that when he gets angry or a sow won't move, "I grab one of these rods and jam it in her (anus)."
The farm, located outside of Bayard, Iowa, about 60 miles west of Des Moines, is a supplier to Hormel Foods of Austin, Minn. PETA wants to use the results of the investigation to pressure Hormel, the maker of Spam and other food products, to demand that its suppliers ensure humane treatment of pigs.
Hormel spokeswoman Julie Henderson Craven called the incidents "completely unacceptable."
PETA is seeking prosecution of 18 people on animal cruelty violations. According to PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, the video shows eight people directly abusing animals.
"Abuse on factory farms is the absolute norm, not the exception, and anyone eating factory-farmed meat is paying to support it," Friedrich said.
After getting a whistleblower complaint from someone inside the farm, PETA sent two undercover investigators to get hired at the farm and document its practices; one from June 10 to Sept. 8, and the other from July 23 to Sept. 11.
At one point on the video, an employee shouts to an investigator, "Hurt 'em! There's nobody works for PETA out here. You know who PETA is?" The undercover PETA investigator replies that he's heard of the group "I hate them. These (expletives) deserve to be hurt. Hurt, I say!," the employee yells as he hits a sow with a metal rod. "Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! ... Take out your frustrations on 'em." He encourages the investigator to pretend that one of the pigs scared off a voluptuous and willing 17- or 18-year-old girl, and then beat the pig for it.
Natural Pork Production II referred questions to AMVC Management Services, which managed the farm under its ownership. Mark Jones, AMVC's network manager, said the video showed "unacceptable practices" and that his company is working with the new ownership to investigate.
Craven, the Hormel spokeswoman, said the farm became a Hormel supplier only after the change in ownership, and that MowMar "shares our commitment to animal welfare and humane handling. Our industry is committed to handling pigs humanely," she said. "My industry is full of good people."
At one point in the video, workers are shown slamming piglets on the ground, a practice designed to instantly kill those baby pigs that aren't healthy enough. But on the video, the piglets are not killed instantly, and in a bloodied pile, some piglets can be seen wiggling vainly. The video also shows piglets being castrated, and having their tails cut off, without anesthesia.
Temple Grandin, a leading animal welfare expert who serves as a consultant to the livestock industry, said that while those are standard industry practices, the treatment of the sows on the video was far from it.
