An animal-welfare group on Monday filed complaints with three government agencies against Tyson Foods after a 21-day undercover investigation and a video shot at a chicken facility in Texas.
"We're still reviewing the video, but can tell you we're absolutely committed to proper animal handling and workplace safety," Tyson said in a statement.
The complaint, submitted by the Animal Legal Defense Fund to the Securities and Exchange Commission, claims that Tyson has overstated to investors the priority the company puts on animal welfare.
"While Tyson claims that it has maintained a 'longstanding commitment to responsible farm animal care,' and that it prioritizes worker safety, these assertions are contradicted by systematic and institutionalized practices that make these goals impossible," the complaint letter to the SEC states.
Nicole Roth, deputy director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said this is the organization's first undercover investigation.
The 3 minute, 19 second video shows chickens transported by conveyor belt and workers rapidly hanging the birds by their feet on a moving rack.
The group argues that the fast speed at which workers slaughter chickens makes it impossible to handle the animals humanely.
"Our investigation proves that the cruel treatment of chickens by Tyson Foods are not isolated incidents, but a systematic, company-wide problem," said Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, in a statement.
The animal-welfare group also filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Occupational Safety and Health Administration and asked the attorney general of Delaware, the state where Tyson is incorporated, to investigate the company.
Yvonne Thaxton, director for the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing at the University of Arkansas, said filing complaints with government agencies is a change of tactics for animal-welfare groups that have lobbied against Tyson Foods and other large meat producers.
"It's not a common practice," she said.
No employees reported animal-handling violations during the time the video was shot, the company said in a statement.
"Everyone who works with live animals in our plants -- including the person who secretly shot this video -- is trained in proper animal handling and instructed to report anything they believe is inappropriate," the company said. "They can report to their supervisor, the Tyson Foods compliance and ethics hotline and even one of the USDA inspectors who have access to all parts of the plant, including live animal handling areas."
Last month, Tyson Foods ended its contract with a farm in Tennessee after another animal-welfare group, Mercy for Animals, released an undercover video. Mercy for Animals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other animals-welfare groups submitted a petition earlier this month to the USDA to change some regulations on how livestock is treated on the way to slaughter.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund used an undercover Tyson employee at a plant in Carthage, Texas, to shoot the video. The animal-welfare group has not released the name of the employee.
Business on 09/15/2015