In October 1999, PETA conducted an undercover video investigation into Crestview Farm, a division of Willmar Poultry Company that has four turkey houses, each with approximately 10,000 to 12,000 male birds in New London, Minnesota.

On the tape, a farm manager is seen wringing the necks of young birds and haphazardly bludgeoning the heads, necks, and bodies of dozens of others with what he calls his “killing stick” and a pair of pliers. The tape shows at least 36 individual birds being bludgeoned, but many others, who were not seen on the tape, also suffered this abuse. Many birds did not die immediately and suffered slow, agonizing deaths after they were put in the “dead pile,” sometimes while they were still fully conscious.

PETA submitted a formal complaint to the Kandiyohi County attorney’s office , but inexplicably, animal cruelty charges were not filed, and the industry did not condemn the killings. In an apparent attempt indicate that the situation was being addressed, the National Turkey Federation pledged $25,000 for research into “humane, effective culling methods to be used on all turkey farms” but, to date, still refuses to share its findings. There is no indication that the same methods are not widely used on turkey farms across the nation.