Congress: Criminalize Sadistic Slaughterhouse Abuse!

We, the undersigned, are concerned with the ongoing sadism displayed in U.S. poultry slaughterhouses. A recent investigation of a North Carolina Butterball slaughterhouse by Mercy for Animals revealed shockingly sadistic, unnecessary cruelty to turkeys. Slaughterhouse workers were caught on video kicking, stomping on and dragging turkeys, bashing their heads in with metal rods and neglecting severely injured birds.

The cruelty displayed in these videos mirrors sadism exposed during a 2006 investigation of an Arkansas Butterball slaughterhouse. The 2006 expose documented an employee crushing a bird's head until it exploded and another employee sexually assaulting a female bird. These disgusting, malicious acts were unrelated to meat production and performed only for the sick amusement of sadistic workers. Clearly, animal abuse is an ongoing issue in poultry slaughterhouses nationwide.

Despite the USDA-confirmed abuse in the 2006 case, Butterball was not charged with animal cruelty. The U.S. currently has no federal law protecting chickens and turkeys raised for food, and the prosecutor assigned to the case chose not to charge Butterball for animal cruelty under Arkansas state law. Without federal protection, the cycle of animal abuse will continue all over the U.S. Please create a law to protect chickens and turkeys from malicious abuse in the future. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.