McDonald's, Target drop egg supplier after animal cruelty report

[alp227]

Source: CNN

McDonald's and Target dropped an egg supplier this week after an activist group released disturbing video showing what it says shows animal cruelty at three of the company's barns.

The undercover video, released by Mercy for Animals, was allegedly shot between May and August at facilities run by Sparboe Farms in Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota. It shows hens crammed in crowded cages, workers burning beaks and one, trying to shove a bird inside the pocket of a co-worker, apparently for fun. Another worker presses his thumb against the back of a chick's neck until it breaks.

"Regarding the undercover videos, the behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers. We take this responsibility -- along with our customers' trust -- very seriously. It's important to note that the most alarming actions on video did not occur at Sparboe's Vincent, Iowa, facility that supplies McDonald's. Nonetheless, our extremely high standards for our suppliers prohibit this conduct," McDonald's said in a statement, announcing its decision to cut ties with Sparboe Farms.

Target similarly said it was dropping Sparboe Farms, which describes itself as the fifth-largest shell egg producer and marketer in the United States.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/19/business/sparboe-farms-animal-cruelty/index.html

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Article and video of investigation at ABCNews.com

[virgogal]

1. Good. I couldn't even finish the video.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. KFC & Tyson have/had the same kind of incidents. n/t

[Pachamama]

3. I love my supplier...

4 beautiful hens.....2 Rhode Island Reds, 1 White leghorn and a beautiful Araucana.....

Get 3-4 eggs a day....organic & they make great pets.....

My hens run around and they love Annie's Organic shell pasta with White Cheddar.....and slugs.....love the slugs....

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

4. I love my suppliers, too

3 gorgeous buff orpingtons. I highly recommend checking out your local laws on keeping a few backyard chickens.

[Pachamama]

8. We are so lucky - our Town alllows them as long as there are no more than 10, no rooster & they are

In an enclosure at least 30 feet from any other house.....i must say, i never thought I could get attached to some chickens....i love them, talk to them and even in their little brains, they know who Mama is....they love to follow me around and squat for me to pick them up & even though the White Leghorn is a bitch, she knows I rescued her from the clutches of a racoon who wanted dinner one evening and the coop wasnt shut. Nursed her to health although she was a naked mess for a long time before the feathers came in. My husband wants no part of them, but admits he thinks they are funny to watch and he enjoys the fresh eggs.

:hi:

[demmiblue]

5. All factory farming involves cruelty. This is just a case of CYA. n/t

[Mendocino]

6. You got that.

McD's-"I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, to find cruelty going on."

They didn't drop them because they were apalled, they were just worried about their public image.

[RebelOne]

12. Agreed. n/t

[HopeHoops]

7. "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins (heir to Baskin Robbins) documented almost all of that.

He was heir to the entire Baskin Robbins empire and grew up with an ice-cream cone shaped pool in his back yard. He turned it all down in the mid 80's when he went vegan. The book is about half morality-based and half health-based. In the "morality" part, he discussed overcrowding, de-beaking, thowing males in trash cans, and stacked cages (so they poop on those below). The whipping the bird around by the feet is an isolated incident, but there's no way in HELL that McPuke's wasn't aware of what goes on at McChicken farms. They just got caught and needed PR cover.

Take note that many states (particularly in the south) are trying to get "no photograph of farm property" laws past. This shit is big money for them and I know there's one Atlantic coast state that has it in place right now - SC, GA, or FL - can't remember which. You can't even stop on the side of the road and take a picture there. Well, you can, but they can arrest you for it and put out a warrant if you left the state. That's fucked up.

Don't even get me started on what they do to other "food" animals. And no, I'm not a PETA member. I used to like what they were doing, but they've gotten a little extreme in recent years (and "a little" is generous).

[Pachamama]

9. I think when humans get to treating animals inhumanely, its when we all lose as a society our

...humanity. No one suggests animals on a farm that are being raised for milk, eggs, meat need to be in luxury stalls and groomed daily, but there are basics like fresh water, uncontaminated food, room for movement and not being in their own excrement. Its money, profits and greed though, just like on so many other things everywhere in our society that is leading us to this ugliness. Whether it be the banks, even the Penn State scandal, its all part of the same root cause. And at the most basic level, how we treat animals is symbolic of ultimately our own treatment of one another.

I have never read the book by Robbins, but I imagine he felt & saw many of these same things. Im not a PETA member, Im not a vegan. But i think that how we treat animals is a direct reflection on us.

[HopeHoops]

10. Farms and "factory farms" are totally different things.

When we were in NH, we had several sources for free-range eggs. I can't even find them around here. We do dairy and eggs, but I still have mixed feelings about that. My wife and I have been vegetarians for over 20 years and all three of our daughters were raised that way and still are. It is a lot easier now than it was two decades ago, but you still have to ask. You don't always get the right answer and human digestive systems aren't well adapted to handle animal parts in the first place, but they REALLY get screwed up if they aren't used to them. Trust me - it isn't pleasant.

I'm sure the book is still out there. But the point I was making was that McCrap's HAD to have known what was going on and I'm sure it is going on in the other suppliers' locations. The under-cover video approach is being suppressed because the factory farms know what they do is far beyond "unethical". The only reason they took action is because it got public attention. The supplier will just change its name and McCrap's will still buy from them and if anyone finds out they'll claim they "didn't know".

As an industry, McCrap's is probably the best as far as catering to the beliefs of various cultures and countries. That's not an excuse, but compared to places like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Burger King they are saints. It's a sad fact of our society, but you really can't trust point of origin on foods or even the supplier. I used to love Marcal products (mostly for the price) until I found out they were a Koch brothers company. Shit. There's NOTHING on the packages that indicates that. I checked. Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and (can't remember what else) used to be owned by Melon-Scaife until they started saying they were "Yum!" brands. I doubt there was a change of ownership - just a change of name. Oh, Blackwater is called "Xe" now. Same shit, different name.

[alp227]

11. And remember, DEMAND generates profit...how many people ever really think about factory farms?

Either they just ignore the cruelty or dismiss it or just are blinded due to corporate suppression of the facts. At least Wikipedia has plenty of crucial info about factory farming, and I haven't heard of any agribusiness types trying to scrub the article and others yet. So how do we reduce demand in this country for cheap FF meat? In fact there are many areas in this country that rely on meat to avoid famine, such as food deserts (both inner city and rural) with more fast food restaurants or convenience stores than grocery stores or cold-winter areas.