Sickening Treatment of Pigs

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Comment by Leith on September 24, 2008 at 6:10pm

[I]t
appeared as if at least a few inches of the cane went inside of her. He used the straight
end of the cane to penetrate her, and this end is the end that would touch the ground as he
walked. … [T]his end had feces and urine on it from other animals. He then hit her on the
back with the cane fairly hard approximately six times. … She then turned down the
aisle to the crate she was going to, and he continued to run after her and threw his whole
body into swinging the cane. He struck her extremely hard on her back several more
times. … He then took me over to the sow who he had chased and repeatedly hit so hard
and pointed out the marks that he had left on her.
Monday, September 8, 2008
While moving the sows, [the farm manager] had a hotshot in his hand the entire time. He
was constantly shocking them to get them to move, mostly in their faces. At one point
after [he] walked a bunch of animals to the truck by shocking them in their faces, I asked
him if it was OK to hotshot them in the face. He told me that it was because they are
culls. … When we got back to the pens …, there was one sow … lying in a pen who was
not able to get up …. [The farm manager] pushed her with his foot and then asked us if
she wouldn’t get up. I said no, and he went over to pick up the [electric shocking prod].
She tried to stand up as he walked over, but both of her back legs were in very bad
condition. … Both of her legs were underneath the left side of her body. [The farm
manager] continuously stomped on and kicked her bad legs and shocked her the whole
time he was doing this. He was trying to get her up in order to sell her as a cull, instead of
just killing her. This went on for a considerable length of time, and finally she was able to
stumble to her feet. As she did, she fell across a large distance in the pen and was trying
to walk, but her back legs would not support her.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The six sows who were unable to get up and therefore weren’t culled yesterday were not
killed today. … The sow who [the farm manager] was abusing yesterday … was lying in
the same spot all day today. … It looked as if her toe had come off somehow. There was
a bloody hole in her foot where it appeared as though a toe would go, and there was what
appeared to be a toe lying a few feet from her.

Comment by Leith on September 24, 2008 at 6:09pm

by closing her eye
At one point … I
heard the piglet make a crying sound.
Investigator 2
Friday, July 25, 2008
There was one sow who was dead in her crate today. ... I asked why she had died, and
they said that she has been very lame lately and not moving for a period of a couple of
days. … [A worker] … said that he hoped she was in a “lot of pain” when she died. He
said that he hoped her “insides were causing her lots of pain.”
Monday, July 28, 2008
The condition of the sows at the farm appears pretty bad. There are a lot of sows with
crate sores, most of which are on their shoulders.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
There were approximately three pigs who [my supervisor] kicked or hit in the face and/or
head. … There was one time that he took a running start, pulled his leg back, and kicked
a pig so hard in her rear that afterwards he had to take off his boot and rub his foot.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
[My supervisor] was extremely abusive today toward a sow who he told me had a broken
hip. … She ended up falling down, and he spent a long time kicking her in the face ….
She squeal[ed] in anguish as he d[id] this. He then grabbed the underside of the top half
of her snout and tried yanking her up by that. He finally decided to leave her in an aisle
that was next to us, but he had to back her up a little bit to get her in there. He did this by
continuously kicking her in the face and yanking her by her tail. He also grabbed her by
both of her ears and proceeded to try to drag her a few feet into the aisle. He then kicked
her in her vagina over and over again to make her move a little bit more.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
There was one [pig] who would not walk through the hallway … to the breeding barn.
She did not appear to have any form of injury, she was just very scared. [My supervisor
and a worker] spent over 20 minutes beating and abusing her. I was [told by my
supervisor] … to “stick your finger in her butt.”
Monday, August 11, 2008
I [witnessed a worker] as he shot a sow today with the bolt gun. She was lying in her
crate not moving, and apparently she hasn’t been eating. He told me that she has been
like this for a few days. He shot her, and she shook very violently for a few minutes. I
asked him how many he had shot, and he replied about seven. He then said, “One bitch I
had to shoot eight times.” I asked him why he had to shoot her so many times, and his
reply was that “she wouldn’t die.”
Friday, August 15, 2008
There was one sow who would not get up for a few days due to what seemed to be a
broken pelvis or hips and/or legs. … [My supervisor] kicked her, and then grabbed her by
both of her ears and attempted to drag her out of the gestation crate in the breeding barn.
She screamed in pain and protest. He then jumped on her back and was kicking her as he
stood on her back. … [He was] riding her like a surfboard with one leg on her back and
one on her neck. He then grabbed her by her tail, lifted her body, and forced her to walk
out of her crate. As she did this, it was a horrific site. The back half of her body was
unable to move, her two back legs were coming out from under the right side of her body.
She was supporting her weight with her two front legs and in obvious torture and
torment. [My supervisor] was then trying to kick her and push her to keep her still as he
shot her. She turned to the sows in crates alongside her as if asking for help. They kissed
and sniffed, and then she was shot.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
There was one time that [my supervisor] urinated in the aisle where the head gates of
occupied crates are. His urine rolled into the front of the crates, where the sows’ food
drops, and where their heads are. There were animals who were in these crates that he
urinated next to.Sunday, August 31, 2008
When [a sow] ran past us, we got her into the hallway in between the two barns. [My
supervisor] then came over and shoved the end of the cane inside her vagina. …

Comment by Leith on September 24, 2008 at 6:07pm

Delete Comment Iowa Sow Farm: Hormel Supplier Investigation, 2008
Excerpts from the Investigators’ Log Notes
Investigator 1
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I watched as [a worker] killed two runts by slamming their heads into the concrete floor.
He grabs the piglet by the back legs and swings him/her high over his head. The piglet is
then slammed down, upside-down, so that the top of the head smashes into the concrete
floor. He would usually do this just once but occasionally twice. Most of these piglets are
still moving afterwards for several minutes before dying. Nothing is done if they are still
moving. They are just expected to die eventually, which they do, but their legs are almost
always kicking/convulsing until they die.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The waste pit, beneath the farrowing barn’s metal floor grates, is just 5 feet below the
floor. The stench of feces, urine, afterbirth material, rot, and ammonia from the waste pit
is overwhelming. The sows and piglets breathe in these noxious fumes 24 hours a day, as
they never leave the stalls while in the farrowing area. Many of the sows’ eyes appear red
and irritated. The waste pit is cleaned once a year, according to … the Unit Manager.
Monday, June 16, 2008
I witnessed a bloodbath today. … I witnessed at least 30 piglets killed today … Blood
soaked the concrete floors. Generally speaking, piglets are thumped and killed in view of
their peers. Many of the piglets were still moving after being thumped just once and are
left there to die a slow death. … I have yet to see anyone confirm thumped piglets’
deathsby confirming that they stopped breathing and that their hearts stoppedbefore
walking away from piglets or tossing them in the dead pile.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
All the tail-docking and castration of piglets on the farm is done without any anesthesia.
The piglets cry and screech at the top of their lungs. Their cries are piercing and
extremely loud. Without earplugs, the sound is deafening. They appear to be in a great
deal of pain. Never do I hear the piglets cry and screech like that at any other time during
their stay on the farm. When some piglets are taken from their mothers on the day they
are born, for purposes of fostering [by other pigs], they will cry until they are deposited
into the new sow’s stall, and then, thinking they are back with their mother, they will stop
crying. However, the intensity, sheer volume, and duration of these cries pale in
comparison to those I hear when piglets’ tails are docked and males castrated.
Friday, August 1, 2008 (video)
I witnessed [a worker who trained me] spray blue spray paint … into the face and nostrils
of a … sow. … [The worker] sprayed the toxic paint into the sow’s nostrils for a good 30
seconds at full blast. She would then spray it on the rest of the sow’s face, including on
her mouth, nose and around her eyes. Immediately afterwards, the sow slumped to the
floor.
Monday, August 11, 2008 (video & photos)
I [saw a new employee] castrating two male piglets and docking their tails, all without
anesthesia. The act was performed directly in front of the piglets’ mother and littermates.
[The worker] absolutely butchers these piglets as he repeatedly fails to locate and remove
the piglets’ testicles. The piglets can be heard shrieking throughout the entire process,
evidently in tremendous pain. [The worker was] seen using an unsanitized metal wrench
to rip out the testicles and dock the tails.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 (video, photos)
I [found] a thumped piglet who [was] … still alive on the floor of a farrowing room. I
believe she was thumped (by [another worker]) because there were pools of blood
beneath the skin of her head; her body was also limp and her tongue was hanging out of
her mouth. However, the piglet was moving (not convulsing or kicking) her legs, as well
as opening and closing her mouth. Also, when I touched her eyeball, she demonstrated a
blinking reflex by cl