UPDATE: Tyson Foods released a statement regarding the video:
"We’re appalled by the actions shown in this video and have been investigating a claim of animal mistreatment in this area of the plant since late last week. We have already terminated two of the workers shown in the video, who were clearly in violation of the company’s animal handling policy. Mercy for Animals has reportedly submitted a misdemeanor complaint with county officials over this matter, however, to our knowledge no criminal charges have been filed by any government agency."
The full statement is available on the company's website.
Dive Brief:
- Mercy for Animals allege 33 acts of animal cruelty committed by six employees of a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse outside Carthage, MS.
- A member of Mercy hired by Tyson shot hidden camera footage that appeared to show the workers "jabbing shackled birds like they were punching bags and tossing birds toward metal shackles like basketballs" as well as showing "an improperly shackled chicken missing the kill blade and having its head ripped off by a slaughterhouse worker," USA TODAY reported.
- Tyson has already fired one of the employees shown in the video. "We intend to take corrective action, which may include termination of the (other) workers involved and, if appropriate, may turn this matter over to local authorities," Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Dive Insight:
Matt Rice, director of investigations for Mercy, told USA TODAY "The investigator gleaned from conversations with his co-workers on the floor that some had built a stony disregard for animal welfare, because they felt it was necessary to have hate for the chickens to keep up with the demanding pace at the Carthage plant."
Mercy officials recommend other practices they feel are more humane than the current live-shackle method, such as controlled atmosphere killing, which uses an inert gas to kill the birds before they are hung upside-down and have their throats slit, or low atmospheric pressure stunning, which decreases oxygen to knock the birds unconscious before they are handled by workers.
Tyson doesn't entirely agree. "While (controlled atmosphere stunning) and other methods may be worthy of further study, we have not found them to be more humane than conventional electrical stunning," Sparkman said. "We plan to continue the use of electrical stunning in our poultry plants because we believe it is humane and effective."