Abuse Results in Loss of Poultry Deal

A poultry farm in Madison County will lose its contract with Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken producer company, after a video surfaces showing workers abusing animals at the facility. The video depicted farm workers hitting a chicken with a metal rod and tossing a chicken back into a flock of other chickens, according to the Humane Society. A man representing the Humane Society filmed the video at Plainview Farm in Hull, Georgia. Pilgrim’s Pride has “taken steps to suspend the delivery of birds to the farm and provide proper notice of contract termination to the grower,” a Pilgrim’s Pride spokesman said last week. When deciding to end the farmer’s contract, Pilgrim’s Pride said it independently investigated the matter and determined that the actions portrayed are in conflict with animal-welfare training it provides to farm owners who sign contracts pledging to treat livestock according to its standards.