2014 North Carolina Ag-Gag Bill Is Dead
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Mercy for Animals (MFA)
July 2014

MFA has conducted three undercover investigations at multiple Butterball turkey factory farms in North Carolina, exposing workers maliciously kicking, beating, and throwing animals. Our 2011 investigation led to the arrest and conviction of several workers, including the first-ever felony cruelty to animals conviction related to birds used for food production in U.S. history. None of this would have been possible if the ag-gag bill had been in effect.

The North Carolina legislature just adjourned without passing the dangerous ag-gag bill that threatened to shield animal abusers from public scrutiny and keep people in the dark about where their food comes from. North Carolina was the last remaining state contemplating ag-gag in the 2014 legislative session. This important victory is due in large part to the efforts of compassionate MFA supporters across the country, and the behind-the-scenes efforts of a broad coalition of national groups working together.

The legislature is expected to reconvene for a few weeks later this year, so animal advocates will need to be vigilant to ensure the ag-gag bill does not rear its ugly head again. Of course, the ag-gag bill could still be introduced again next year. But, for now, animals and consumers alike can breathe a sigh of relief.

North Carolina's proposed legislation -- similar to an unsuccessful bill introduced last year -- is quite obviously a desperate attempt by the factory farming industry to keep its cruel practices hidden from public view. As numerous investigations by Mercy For Animals prove, factory farmers in North Carolina have a lot to hide.

In fact, MFA has conducted three undercover investigations at multiple Butterball turkey factory farms in North Carolina, exposing workers maliciously kicking, beating, and throwing animals. Our 2011 investigation led to the arrest and conviction of several workers, including the first-ever felony cruelty to animals conviction related to birds used for food production in U.S. history. None of this would have been possible if the ag-gag bill had been in effect.

MFA's 2014 investigation at a Butterball turkey hatchery in Raeford, North Carolina, shows newborn birds getting stuck and mangled in factory machinery, having their toes and beaks cut and burned off without any painkillers, and being dropped into a macerator to be ground up alive.

A 2012 investigation at multiple Butterball factory farms in North Carolina's Sampson, Onslow, Duplin, and Lenoir counties showed rampant animal abuse, including workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds.

A landmark 2011 investigation into a Butterball factory farm in Shannon, North Carolina, documented workers kicking and throwing birds and bashing in their heads with metal pipes. The abuses were so malicious that law enforcement raided the facility and ultimately convicted five Butterball employees of criminal animal cruelty.

Recognizing that their cruel and often illegal actions can't stand the light of day, factory farmers have been working hard over the past several years to keep cameras out of their facilities. But compassionate Americans continue to stand united against this multibillion-dollar industry and the corrupt politicians that do its bidding by working tirelessly to defeat these dangerous and un-American bills.

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