Former USDA Inspector Reveals Slaughterhouse Horrors

Appalled by what he observed for years at Perdue and Allen's Family Foods poultry slaughter plants in the Delmarva region, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) slaughterhouse inspector approached PETA to blow the whistle on the routine and systematic animal abuse that he observed while plant veterinarians looked the other way.

According to the inspector, trucks arrived at the plant piled high with birds who had died from exposure—many animals froze to death after spending hours in subzero temperatures during the winter or died from the heat in the summer. Among those who survived the trip, diseases from inhumane farm conditions and severe bruising from abusive handling were sometimes so rampant that nearly half the birds were condemned as unfit for human consumption.

The inspector described how workers forced birds into shackles so hard that many of their legs were obviously broken. Sometimes live birds were thrown in the condemned barrels to suffocate under the dead birds. Workers sometimes kicked birds who fell off the line. During frequent equipment failures, many birds died in their shackles while waiting for repairs to be made. Even when things were working, the electrical stunner was ineffective and birds would avoid the mechanical knife. Workers had to slit the throats of these conscious birds by hand; many still did not die and were scalded to death in defeathering tanks while they were still conscious.

According to the whistleblower, the USDA veterinarians he worked with at the plants were “completely useless” and showed absolutely no interest in animal welfare. Almost uniformly, they were hired from third-world countries and had dubious credentials and little knowledge with regard to veterinary care. One plant veterinarian slept in his office all day, and workers knew he was not to be disturbed.

Federal inspectors and veterinarians complain that those who are concerned about animal welfare face threats from their superiors if they try to do their job; inspectors have been sued for stopping slaughter lines and punished for refusing to falsify documents. Read more about the role of USDA inspectors and veterinarians in slaughterhouses.

Read the inspector's statement.

Birds froze to death or died of heatstroke while waiting to be unloaded from cramped transport cages.

What You Can Do

The inspector told us, “[A]fter coming home from work, I'd grab my little dog and just cry. In the past couple of years, I've become a complete vegetarian.” The most effective way to stop supporting cruelty to animals is to choose a healthy, humane vegetarian diet. Order a free vegetarian starter kit today!

These abuses are standard at slaughterhouses. Recent undercover investigations revealed that birds were being mutilated and decapitated at a Tyson plant; birds were being stomped on, slammed against walls, and ripped apart limb from limb at a Pilgrim's Pride plant; and birds were being slapped in the face and spiked like footballs at a Perdue plant. Farmed animals are exempt from protection under the federal Animal Welfare Act, so their fate is in your hands.