The Humane Society of the United States released undercover video footage revealing cruel treatment of animals and inhumane conditions at a Wyoming pig breeding facility owned by a supplier to Tyson Foods. The investigation revealed workers kicking piglets like soccer balls, swinging sick piglets in circles, and ruthlessly beating mother pigs. Along with individual acts of animal abuse, this investigation also highlights the suffering pigs endure when locked in metal “gestation crates” where they cannot even turn around for nearly their whole lives — a standard pork industry practice.
These cages, barely larger than the pigs’ own bodies, prevent the animals from even turning around. Mother pigs are caged like this during their four-month-long pregnancy, taken from the gestation crate and put into another crate to give birth, re-impregnated, and put back into a gestation crate so the cycle can repeat. It’s hard to imagine a worse existence.
Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Safeway, Compass Group (the world’s largest food service provider), and other major food companies have announced that they’ll remove gestation crates from their supply chains. As several leading pork producers are actively moving in that direction, Tyson lags far behind and still defends this extreme confinement. We need your help to move the company to do the right thing.
