More Than 275,000 Young People Ask Meat Company's CEO if He Would Stand for Factory-Farm Atrocities if the Victims Were Dogs

For Immediate Release:
September 24, 2008

Contact:
Pulin Modi 757-622-7382

Austin, Minn. -- Prompted by an undercover factory-farm investigation in which workers were videotaped routinely beating and mutilating pigs at a Hormel supplier, PETA's youth arm, peta2, has sent a petition with 275,000 signatures to Jeffrey M. Ettinger, CEO of Austin-based Hormel. The petition states, "The only difference between pigs and dogs is the way we treat them." Many abuses committed against pigs would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges if dogs were the victims. The petition continues, "It's wrong to do these things to dogs, and it's wrong to do them to pigs."

The signatures were gathered over the summer when a handful of peta2 organizers took to the road in a van emblazoned with a "barking" pig next to the tagline "Pigs Are Smarter Than Dogs—Go Veg!" The organizers traveled to concerts, festivals, and other places where young people congregate across the country.

PETA's recent undercover investigation of an Iowa factory farm that supplies pork to Hormel and other meat companies found widespread abuse. Among the abuses documented were the following:

 ◦ A supervisor shoved a cane into a sow's vagina and struck her approximately 17 times.
 ◦ A manager electro-shocked sows, including a crippled sow, whom he also kicked in order to force her to stand.
 ◦ A worker kicked a young pig in the face, abdomen, and genitals to make her move.
 ◦ Workers slammed piglets' heads against the concrete floor, and some of the animals suffered for more than 12 minutes before dying. 
 ◦ Workers castrated piglets and cut off their tails without using any painkillers.

"If pigs said 'Woof,' would we treat them like this?" asks Dan Shannon, peta2's assistant director of youth campaigns. "More than 275,000 young people answered that question with a resounding 'No!' so we're calling on Mr. Ettinger to take action against this egregious abuse before any more animals suffer."

For more information, please visit peta2.com.