Undercover Investigation Reveals Cruelty for Sale at Costco, Major Grocery Stores

This week, Mercy for Animals released their latest undercover investigation, which took place at an Iowa Select Farms facility in Kamrar, Iowa. The company is one of the nation's largest pork producers, supplying major grocery chains like Costco, Hy-Vee, Kroger and Safeway.

The investigator documented the all-too-common trauma of sows confined to gestation crates barely larger than their bodies, unable to turn around or lie down comfortably, suffering from untreated sores from the cages, and going insane from the confinement. In addition, baby piglets were castrated without any painkillers and were thrown around, which management claimed was fun for the animals, like a "roller coaster ride."

(It's important to note that this type of investigation is what Iowa legislators are trying to outlaw, when they should be focusing on the real issue: the shocking everyday treatment of farm animals.)

There have been many of the usual reactions from the facility and industry, claiming that the abuse was staged or edited. But here's the red flag: They aren't saying that the extreme confinement of gestation crates or the practice of castrating without anesthesia are anything but business as usual.

Leon Sheets, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, even tried to justify it by saying they couldn't use anesthesia during castrations because you need a licensed vet for that and there aren't enough vets around. So, the industry's solution is to perform amateur surgery with no pain management, hundreds of times a day, resulting in horribly botched procedures.

Howard Hill, a veterinarian with Iowa Select Farms, told the Des Moines Register: "We certainly want to treat our livestock humanely. But they are not pets. There is a difference." Accepting that pigs are just as capable as dogs of feeling pain and of suffering in extreme confinement shouldn't be a stretch of the imagination. It's not like the pork industry is being asked to hang out on the couch with their pigs while they're watching tv.

While the footage of Iowa Select Farms is appalling, it's not an isolated case. Yes, the employees and managers who think it's okay to swing piglets around, toss them through their air and bash them against the ground should be held accountable for animal cruelty. But on the larger scale, the industry needs to be held accountable for its cruel production system. And it can start at your local supermarket.

Mercy for Animals stated: "[We are] calling on grocery stores nationwide to take a stand against animal abuse by requiring its pork suppliers to phase out the inherently cruel gestation crates. Kroger, Safeway, Costco, HyVee and other grocery chains have the power and the responsibility to ensure that products sold in their stores come from producers who have committed to abandoning some of the most abusive factory farming practices."

Mercy for Animals met with representatives from the grocery chains prior to releasing the undercover footage, asking them to commit to requiring pork producers to phase out gestation crates by 2017. It's an utterly reasonable request, yet none of the grocers have responded with any substantial commitments yet.

Gestation crates have been banned in several states and the European Union. Now is the chance for these stores show some compassion and lead the movement to abolish this form of cruel confinement.

Tell Kroger, Costco, Safeway and Hy-Vee to stop purchasing from companies that use gestation crates.

Photo credit: Mercy for Animals