Another disturbing video documenting inhumane treatment of Tyson chickens was released August 11th by Compassion Over Killing, an animal advocacy group. The footage shows workers from several different breeding facilities, all owned by Tyson Foods, abusing chickens in various horrific ways. Supervisors are also shown demonstrating appalling handling (and unnecessary killing) techniques in front of new employees. 

The carnage can be broken down into two categories: irresponsible handling and inexcusable abuse. 

Irresponsibility

The first category is demonstrated by footage of chickens being run over by forklifts, crushed by cages, and general handling by the employees. One shot shows a chicken, partially skinned and fully mauled, still breathing and twitching on the ground after being hit by a vehicle. Another instance shows a still alive male crushed by a large container. 

In situations like these, where the chickens are too damaged to recover, workers would toss them into what were called “dead piles”, where, as the name implies, any mortally injured chicken would lay until their last breath. Some of these piles, as shown in the footage, would be piled over twenty chickens high.

While we can find some excuse for these actions in the fact that in a warehouse full of chickens some are bound to be hurt, the problem comes from the fact that there appear to be no regulations in place to stop these vehicles from driving into such a heavily chicken populated area with zero regard for their safety. There are no barriers in place, no safety precautions around potentially life threatening machinery.  

Equally important, and infinitely more heart-wrenching, is the way such distraught animals are dealt with: by simply tossing them aside to die both slowly and in agony. The fact that such a massive pile of such “byproducts” of this system of food production exists should be testament to the fact that the system itself is flawed, most especially since such a necessary byproduct is the slow, tortuous extinguishing of life. 

In such cases as these, regulations for accidental death and debilitation should be tightened. Block off the chickens where you mean to drive the carts. Prohibit them from entering any area where containers might be dropped. Frankly, the solution seems as simple as chicken wire, and deciding not to take action does nothing but furthers an atmosphere of systematic violence and cruelty.

Inexcusable Abuse

The other category of violence involves a much deeper problem, which is an ingrained system of inexcusable abuse. Take for instance one portion of the video which shows workers hurling chickens into cages, usually with such inaccurate force as to smack their heads damagingly against the enclosure. For instance, throughout the video you see workers repeatedly overhanded throw live chickens into cages more than five feet away, hitting the edges as they fly in. Such disregard for the animal’s safety is inexcusable.

Other instances show workers indiscriminately abusing chickens for no apparent reason. One such scene shows workers kicking chickens literally into the air to get the out of the way. Another shows a worker punching chickens that happen to be in the way. One more, even more alarming than the rest, shows what seems to be the random torture of these creatures is a breaking of their necks for no apparent reason, especially since the chickens are left alive afterwards. Such acts seem to be nothing more than, as gruesome is it is, pure fun on the part of the workers.

The most concerning details of this piece though are the fact that supervisors, individuals in charge of animal cruelty regulations and proper conduct, are also seen violating the animals’ basic rights. In one instance, a supervisor is shown stepping on the head of a chicken to suffocate it while simultaneously saying, “let nobody see you doing this, ‘cause it will get you terminated.” Supervisors, models for behavior, exhibit patterns of ingrained violence that go against what Tyson professes as company regulations.

The practice of “boning” is also documented in the video. This involves shoving a plastic pipe through the nasal passage of breeding males so as to keep them from eating food meant for the females, as well as to keep the males in a frenzied state.

What Tyson Says…

To their credit, Tyson has already fired 10 of the employees featured in the video for inhumane practices and has openly condemned many of the violent acts portrayed in the footage. According to Dr. Christine Daugherty, Tyson Vice President of Sustainable Food Production, Tyson does “not tolerate animal abuse and … [the employees were] trained in proper animal handling, yet chose to ignore it.”

Such claims though seems to contrast with the pattern of abuse recently documented in their facilities. As many Tyson undercover videos show, this pattern of violence seems to imply not simply an isolated incidence of abuse, but rather company-wide culture of violence and inhumanity.