An undercover video including footage from months of work at one of the United States largest pork processors has raised questions over how animals are killed, and sparked a government investigation.
“If the USDA is around, they could shut us down,” one worker is filmed as saying.
The jarring video shows pigs being dragged across the floor, beaten, and bleeding out while writhing. The law that requires pigs to be rendered unconscious before being killed appears to be ignored.
“That one was definitely alive,” one worker said.
The graphic video “USDA-Approved High Speed Slaughter Hell” was covertly filmed by an employee of the nonprofit animal rights group Compassion Over Killing.
The unnamed employee got a job at the Austin, Minnesota plant of Quality Pork Processors, a supplier of Hormel Foods, the company that makes Spam and a variety of other popular processed meats.
After releasing the footage, the group sent it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has since pledged a thorough investigation.
“The actions depicted in the video under review are appalling and completely unacceptable, and if we can verify the video’s authenticity, we will aggressively investigate the case and take appropriate action,” USDA spokesman Adam Tarr said in a statement.
Approximately 1,300 pigs are slaughtered at the plant each hour.
“That means this facility operates at faster line speeds than almost any other facility in the U.S.,” the nonprofit says on its website. “The excessive slaughter line speed forces workers to take inhumane shortcuts that lead to extreme suffering for millions of pigs. It also jeopardizes food safety for consumers.”
The footage also shows a supervisor sleeping on the job, and pigs covered in feces or abscesses still being killed and processed for human consumption with the department’s stamp of approval.
