tagged w/ Compassion Over Killing
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ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become synonymous with turkey. But how do the millions of turkeys who end up in the grocery store, or served at restaurants, under the Butterball brand, really live and die?
A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals the truth: extreme cruelty and violence is the harsh reality for birds on Butterball's factory farms.
Between November and December of 2011, an MFA undercover investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in Shannon, North Carolina.
Hidden-camera footage taken at Butterball reveals:
Workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or into transport trucks in full view of company management;
Employees bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars, leaving many to slowly suffer and die from their injuries;
Turkeys covered in flies, living in their own waste, with some unable to access food or water and suffering from severe feather loss
Birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, rotting eyes, and broken bones; and
Severely injured turkeys, unable to stand up or walk, left to die without any veterinary care, because treating sick or injured birds was too costly and time consuming, as the farm manager explained to MFA's investigator.
After viewing the undercover footage, Dr. Sara Shields, research scientist, poultry specialist and consultant in animal welfare, said, "Turkeys are fully capable of feeling pain, fear, stress and of suffering, and the way they are treated in the video is clearly abusive."
Dr. Debra Teachout, a practicing veterinarian with experience in farmed-animal welfare, agrees, stating, "The birds are not living a life remotely worth living. Their world is full of fear, distress, pain, injury and illness as witnessed by this video. A culture of blatant and severe animal mistreatment has been allowed to flourish unchecked, and for that reason, this facility should be shut down immediately."
Following the investigation, MFA immediately went to law enforcement with extensive video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the routine violence and cruelty documented by the investigator at this Butterball facility. On Thursday, December 29, state law enforcement officials obtained a warrant and raided the facility on grounds of cruelty to animals.
Unfortunately, the lives of turkeys in Butterball's factory farms are short, brutal and filled with fear, violence and prolonged suffering. While wild turkeys are sleek, agile and able to fly, Butterball's turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities, and fatal heart attacks.
This genetic manipulation creates birds that are so large they cannot even reproduce naturally, meaning that artificial semen collection and insemination have become the sole means of turkey reproduction at Butterball facilities.
Even though domestic turkeys have been genetically manipulated for enormous growth, these birds still retain their gentle, inquisitive and social natures. Oregon State University poultry scientist Dr. Tom Savage says that turkeys are "smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings." In fact, animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and scientists now agree that turkeys are sensitive and intelligent animals with their own unique personalities, much like the dogs and cats we all know and love.
While MFA works to expose and end animal abuse at Butterball and other giants of the meat, dairy and egg industry, consumers can help prevent the needless suffering of turkeys and other animals by adopting a compassionate vegan diet.
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http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/ht_butterball_abuse_tk_111228_wg.jpg
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Click here to view undercover video:
http://www.butterballabuse.com
.ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become... more
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Market Watch...
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press release
Sept. 27, 2011, 10:13 a.m. EDT
Hagens Berman and Compassion Over Killing File Antitrust Class Action Against Dairy Industry Groups
Class-action complaint alleges an industry-wide scheme to raise the price of milk by killing over 500,000 cows
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LOS ANGELES, Sep 27, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Hagens Berman, on behalf of several dairy consumers, including Compassion Over Killing (COK) members, yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of consumers alleging that various dairy companies and trade groups, including the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, Land O'Lakes, Inc. and Agri-Mark, Inc. combined to form Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) in order to fix the price of milk in the United States.
CWT is a massive trade group representing dairy producers throughout the country who produce nearly 70 percent of the milk consumed in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Sept. 26, 2011, alleges that between 2003 and 2010, more than 500,000 cows were slaughtered under CWT's dairy herd retirement program in a concerted effort to reduce the supply of milk and inflate its price nationally. According to the complaint, the increased price allowed CWT members to earn more than $9 billion in additional revenue.
The plaintiffs in the case are represented by leading class-action law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLP. The case was initially researched and developed by Compassion Over Killing, a national animal protection organization.
"We believe this case serves two important causes," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. "A resolution to this case will protect consumers from artificially-inflated milk prices and also will prevent the unnecessary and shameful killing of tens of thousands of cows each year."
"The dairy industry has consistently shown its lack of regard for animal welfare and the environment," said Compassion Over Killing general counsel Cheryl Leahy. "Now it's milking its own consumers by unlawfully jacking up prices. The dairy industry must be held accountable for these illegal profits."
The complaint further alleges that the program, which paid smaller farm owners to kill their entire dairy cow herds, unfairly increased the profits of agribusiness giants.
Dairy herd retirement ended in the summer of 2010, but CWT's tactics may affect the price of milk for years, according to the lawsuit. The end of the program came shortly after Land O'Lakes agreed to pay $25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against the United Egg Producers and its members. That case alleged that egg producers were encouraged to reduce their flock size as part of a program disguised as an animal welfare initiative.
Hagens Berman is interested in speaking to consumers who purchased milk or milk products from 2004 to the present. Consumers can contact the firm by calling (206) 623-7292 or by emailing CWT@hbsslaw.com. More information about the case can also be found at www.hbsslaw.com/CWT .
Compassion Over Killing has released additional information about the case, which can be found at http://www.cok.net/camp/inv/dairy-price-fixing .
According to Compassion Over Killing, the most effective way consumers can safeguard animals and put an end to cruel factory farming practices is simply to choose meat, egg and dairy-free foods. For more information, visit COK.net.
About Compassion Over Killing
Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal protection organization based in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Since 1995, COK has worked to end the abuse of animals in agriculture through undercover investigations, public outreach, litigation, and other advocacy programs. COK is on the web at COK.net.
.Market Watch...
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press release
Sept. 27, 2011, 10:13 a.m. EDT
Hagens... more
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Video shot by hatchery employee includes scenes of chicks gasping for air as they slowly suffocate in plastic bags. While employed at a North Carolina turkey hatchery that now supplies Butterball, a COK investigator documented the conditions forced upon newly-hatched chicks.
As the investigation video shows, from the moment they're hatched, these turkeys are submerged into a world of misery. Dumped out of metal trays and jostled onto conveyor belts after being mechanically separated from cracked egg shells, the newly-hatched turkeys are tossed around like inanimate objects -- they are sorted, sexed, de-beaked, de-toed, and in some cases de-snooded before they are packed up and shipped off to a "grow out" confinement facility.
The video further reveals that not all chicks survive this harsh process. Countless chicks become mangled from the machinery, suffocated in plastic bags, or deemed "surplus" and dumped (along with injured chicks) into the same disposal system as the discarded egg shells they were separated from hours earlier.Video shot by hatchery employee includes scenes of chicks gasping for air as they... more
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From Compassion Over Killing.........
Despite our efforts, along with thousands of calls, letters, and emails from caring consumers like you, Dunkin' Donuts is still refusing to take this issue of animal cruelty seriously. So Compassion Over Killing created a 30-second commercial to further expose the reality behind a Dunkin' Donuts' egg supplier as well as encourage even more people to urge the company to start offering vegan donuts!
Please watch our new ad now, and help us raise enough funds to air this ad in Boston, the company's hometown.
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Dunkin' Donuts is the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain serving more than 3 million customers daily. There are an estimated 6,400 stores in the U.S. alone, offering more than 52 varieties of donuts--each one made with egg and dairy products from animals forced to endure miserable conditions on today's massive and mechanized factory farms.
After successfully working with Morningstar Farms, Lightlife Foods, and BOCA to begin removing eggs from their products and add vegan options, Compassion Over Killing reached out to Dunkin' Donuts about this important issue. The company has not yet replied. That's why we're asking you to contact Dunkin' Donuts:
* Email Dunkin Donuts now!
* Call the Company: 800-859-5339
* Send a Letter to the CEO: Dunkin Brands, Attn: Nigel Travis, 130 Royall St., Canton, MA 02021
Please share your concerns, letting the company know you want it to offer vegan donuts and other vegan options to meet the growing demand for healthier and more humane foods.From Compassion Over Killing.........
Despite our efforts, along with thousands... more
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Since 2004, COK's hard-hitting commercials have encouraged and inspired countless viewers to stand up for animals every time they sit down to eat. Thanks to your support, our 2009 campaign has been perhaps our biggest yet!
"Exploring Your Food" and "A Side of Truth."
This past February, COK's ads aired nationwide on MTV for several straight weeks. We received such positive responses—with letters from viewers, record-breaking visits to TryVeg.com, and skyrocketing orders for our free Vegetarian Starter Guide— that after sharing this with you, you helped us raise much-needed funds to bring our advertising campaign back this fall!Since 2004, COK's hard-hitting commercials have encouraged and inspired countless... more
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ajrmy
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added this
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2 years ago
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