UPDATE: For Pigs, This Indiana Farm Is Still the Stuff of Nightmares
In October, this struggling piglet moved millions of people after we released whistleblower footage showing pigs forced to live in filth and endure agony and prolonged deaths at East Fork Farms near Brownstown, Indiana, which supplies another farm that fattens the animals for slaughter. Because of some humans’ belief that their food cravings are more important than others’ lives, this little piglet only ever knew pain and suffering.
And for pigs like her, the misery is far from over. Just after releasing the initial video, we received additional whistleblower footage revealing even more horrors at the Indiana pig farm (including a trash can overflowing with piglets’ corpses and teeming with maggots).
Now, nearly half a year later, a new inspection report from the Indiana State Board of Animal Health confirms what we already suspected to be true: East Fork Farms is still a hellhole for pigs.
The footage above shows that pigsâwho are naturally very clean and, given sufficient space, don’t normally soil the areas where they eat or sleepâwere forced to live amid their own feces and just above the reeking pit that held their manure, which continuously backed up beneath the slatted floor. According to the new report from an inspection that was announced in advance, two of the many holes in the floor over the manure pit that a whistleblower observed nearly five months ago âŠ
⊠still have not been mended. In September, several piglets were seen struggling to stay afloat in the manure pit after falling into it through such holes:
The new report also reveals that mother pigs still suffer from shoulder sores âŠ
⊠and are still crammed into crates so small that their noses and hindquarters touch the ends of the crate âŠ
⊠or their legs extend under the bars of the crate when they lie down:
Last fall’s whistleblower footage showed that workers cut the tails off piglets and ripped out the males’ testiclesâwithout any pain relief, as is common in pig factoriesâand just tossed them on the floor, which the recent inspection report confirmed as being the farm’s standard procedure.
The report also reveals that 15% of piglets born at East Fork Farms die there before they can be shipped out to be “finished” for slaughterâlike this piglet âŠ
⊠and this one âŠ
⊠who just wanted to be left in peace to run across sprawling pastures, bask in the sun, and breathe fresh air.
Dogs are considered “man’s best friend”âand equally smart and sensitive pigs deserve the same respect and consideration.
No sensitive being deserves to be confined at an animal-feeding operation (like East Fork Farms); forced to endure stressful, cramped, filthy conditions; or trucked to a slaughterhouse and killed.
A day after we released the initial video in October, JBS USA permanently banned the farm and the co-op that owns these pigs (White River CO-OP) from its supply chain. Since JBS USA and White River either failed to inspect the farm or just didn’t care how horrific the conditions there were, a brave whistleblower had to contact PETA before any sort of action was taken. White River also had ample time to improve conditions for mother pigs and their babies at East Fork Farms prior to the recent inspection, including after we contacted it directly and erected a billboard in January âŠ
⊠calling out the Indiana State Police, who also failed to help these pigs.
Clearly, East Fork Farms isn’t likely to change. But humans canâby going vegan.
Helping pigs like these is as simple as leaving them off our plates. And with so many delicious, healthy, animal-free options, it’s never been easier to do so. For a little extra help, order a free vegan starter kit. Click on the link below to do more to help spare pigs pain and suffering.
