When PETA went public with the findings of an undercover investigation at a pig-breeding farm that supplies Hormel in Iowa, we called on the company to ban gestation crates—pens so small that the pregnant sows who are confined to them can’t turn around or even lie down comfortably—and then introduced a shareholder resolution to that effect. Less than two years later, the meat giant has announced that it will phase out gestation crates, which cause so much suffering, by 2017.
Among other atrocities at the Hormel supplier, PETA’s investigators saw a supervisor shove a cane into a pig’s vagina and a worker slam newborn piglets’ heads against a concrete floor, leaving them squirming in agony. Referring to a sow, one supervisor remarked to an investigator, “You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry.” As a direct result of PETA’s investigation, six former employees of the Hormel supplier admitted guilt to charges of livestock neglect and abuse.
How You Can Help Pigs
Anyone who brings home the bacon—or the sausage, pork chops, or ham—is unwittingly supporting this atrocious abuse. So when PETA suggests that the best way to help stop the suffering of pigs and other animals raised and killed for food is to go vegan, it’s no bull. Order your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit today!
Written by Joe Taskel
