Tyson Foods Factory Farm Targeted With Torture Accusations, Disturbing Footage

A Tyson Foods factory farm in Wilmington, Delaware, was allegedly captured on video by animal rights group Mercy for Animals (MFA).

In the disturbing footage you’re about to see, there are some significant instances of animal abuse.

Among them, MarketWatch reports, are workers violently clubbing animals to death, breaking their necks; leaving severely sick and injured animals to die without food or water; and baby birds thrown to the ground from transport crates, suffering broken bones and other severe injuries.

“Tyson Foods is literally torturing chickens to death,” said MFA’s president, Nathan Runkle in a press release.

“They are crammed into filthy, windowless sheds, thrown, kicked, and brutalized by careless workers, and bred to grow so fast they suffer from painful leg deformities and heart attacks. This is sickening animal abuse no company with morals should support. Tyson Foods has not only the power, but also the ethical responsibility to end the worst forms of cruelty to animals in its supply chain.”

The video was shot at McGinnis Farms in Dagsboro, Delaware — reportedly a contract farm for Tyson Foods.

If animal abuse is too hard on the eyes, you may want to not click the play button. The video below is graphic in nature.

Global Meat News carried a response from Tyson Foods, after first noting that MFA claimed more than 52,000 birds died from “sickness and injuries” at the plant in question.

Dr. Christine Daugherty, the Tyson Farms vice president of animal well-being programs and technology, issued a response on behalf of the company.

“Animal well-being is a top priority for us. We will not tolerate animal abuse and take claims like this very seriously…. We have policies in place to help protect our animals. This includes the Tyson Farm Check program. This program involves third party auditors who go on the farm to check for things such as animal access to food and water, our human animal interaction, and worker training.”

Tyson Foods said they would be willing to meet with MFA for a discussion, but that the group “chose to hold news conferences instead.”

“Our farmers work hard to raise healthy birds,” the company said in an official statement. “However, sometimes chickens — just like people — get sick. At the time the video was shot this past spring, this farm had birds that were sick with a respiratory illness. As a result, what was shown in the video is not typical for this or any other farm. It was also not a food safety issue.”

Do you think Tyson Foods is doing all it can to create a humane environment for the birds, or is MFA right to be outraged? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image of Tyson Foods factory farm via Mercy For Animals, linked above]