11 people working for one of the nation's leading turkey producers have been charged with animal cruelty in Pennsylvania after state police said they were caught on video kicking, stomp and beating turkeys.
Pennsylvania State Police said Thursday that the turkeys were captured and crated by the workers. They launched the investigation in response to a complaint.
An undercover investigator from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals worked on a Plainville Farms crew for three weeks and captured graphic video of workers mistreating birds.
Police said that the mistreatment happened at farms in Chester, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, and Union counties. There were 69 felony counts of animal abuse and 76 misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.
There was a lengthy, detailed investigation that involved reviewing a lot of evidence.
The company was suspended from an animal welfare and labeling program.
Matt Goodson, the company's chief executive officer, said that Plainville has zero tolerance for anything like the actions of the former employees. He said that the company started using body cameras and fired employees implicated in the abuse.
Plainville is committed to the highest welfare standards. It is important for incidents like this to come to light so that we can challenge our industry to do better.
The company sells turkey products at supermarkets.
According to WATT PoultryUSA, Plainville slaughters 90 million live pounds of turkey a year.
That's right.
The name of one of the supermarkets has been changed.
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