Death on a Factory Farm--On HBO Tonight

For those of you who haven't heard or read about this yet, or who need a reminder, tonight the documentary Death on a Factory Farm premieres on HBO. The film tells the story of an undercover investigation into an Ohio hog farm that revealed sickening and cruel (but not uncommon) practices and the court case that followed. (Continue to the end of the post for the trailer.)

Many in the pig-farming industry, as well as many in the animal agriculture industry at large, have displayed anxiousness about the documentary, which will air several times between the premiere and April 1 (see the schedule here). And they will undoubtedly make statements after the airing, assuring us all that the abuses caught by this undercover investigator are uncommon, that they are the exception and not the rule, that the industry takes animal welfare seriously--as they insist every time one of these undercover investigations reveals the inherent cruelties of the "business." Yet every time an organization goes undercover in such a facility, even when not a result of a tip, cruelties and abuses are found, not because the organizations and investigators have a sixth sense about which facilities to check, but because these practices are rampant.

-Read more after the jump-

Here's an excerpt from HBO's synopsis:

Each year, ten billion animals are raised for consumption in the U.S., mostly on sprawling, industrialized farms. . . . animals are frequently subjected to what many consider cruel treatment and inhumane conditions in the interest of economic efficiency. DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM chronicles an investigation into alleged abuses that took place at a hog farm in Creston, Ohio. . . .

Over the course of six weeks, [undercover investigator] Pete secretly filmed numerous disturbing scenes, including piglets being tossed into crates from across a room, impregnated sows held in pens that don't allow them to move, an unhealthy piglet being slammed against a wall to euthanize it, and a sick sow being hung by a chain from a forklift until it choked to death. Having obtained this key evidence, Pete concluded the investigation and quit his job. . . .

Prosecutors filed ten criminal charges of animal cruelty against Ken Wiles (the owner of the farm), his son Joe, and Dusty Stroud, a farm employee who participated in hanging the sow.

In the trial that followed, prosecution and defense waged a tense battle over the legality and morality of practices rarely seen by the public and described by the presiding judge as "distasteful and offensive," but defended by Ken Wiles and other members of the tight-knit Ohio farming community as the commonplace reality of producing livestock for consumption.

Last week, Time featured an interview with the undercover investigator who filmed the footage seen in the documentary.

And once again, lest this film make you think you just need to buy your meat and other animal products from "humane" family farms, please consider, among other issues, that "family farm" is an all but meaningless term anymore. Many residents of rural communities and investigators could tell you that the term "family farm" often says more about who is running the farm than what the farm is like. A business run by siblings or parents and children can be just as intensive and insensitive as any other (as this case demonstrates); plenty of family farms are factory farms. And intensive animal agribusiness is the only way to meet the current demand for animal flesh and products. "Local" does not mean "compassionate." "Family" does not mean "humane."

A trailer for the documentary appears below (double-click to start, and for a larger trailer video than what appears here, go to the HBO site for the documentary, select "Watch Video" on the right, and then select the Windows Media Player in the upper right corner of the pop-up). See also the documentary's YouTube channel for five short clips; note, however, that the trailer does not appear there.