McDonald’s,Tyson cut ties with poultry farm over alleged animal abuse

Disturbing undercover video footage of gruesome animal abuse at a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget supplier was released this morning at McDonaldsCruelty.com by the national animal protection charity Mercy For Animals.

Mercy for Animals has done more than 40 similar investigations, Cooney said. T&S Farm raises chickens for the Tyson Foods slaughterhouse plant in Union City, Tenn., which in turn supplies meat for McNuggets, according to the group.

But on Thursday, McDonald’s released a statement regarding its expectation for suppliers, saying Tyson had cut ties with the farm.

McDonald’s said in a statement that Tyson Foods has terminated their contract with the farmer. “There are now no chickens on the farm”, Mickelson wrote. “We’re especially concerned about the inappropriate methods used to euthanize sick and injured chickens”, the representative said. The group’s video showed farm workers using a long stick with a spike on its end to strike chickens, and stepping on birds’ heads while pulling on their bodies to break their necks.

In the new video, Bala said the group decided to obscure the faces of the individuals that appear to be clubbing the birds out of abundance of concern that they not violate state privacy laws.

What Mercy for Animals called an investigation started July 28 and ended last Sunday, said Matt Rice, a spokesman for the group.

Mercy for Animals is asking McDonald’s to adopt a number of animal welfare policies, such as giving chickens more space, ending breeding practices designed to make chickens grow so quickly that they develop health problems, and the installation of video monitoring on farms.

What’s REALLY in Chicken McNuggets?

“We’re committed to animal well-being but don’t believe this video accurately depicts the treatment of chickens by the thousands of farmers who supply us”, Sparkman said in a statement. “We support Tyson Foods’ decision to terminate their contract with this farmer”, McDonald’s statement read. Randall McGowan, investigative captain with the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office, said officials reviewed the video and gave a copy to the local district attorney, who will decide whether or not to press criminal charges.

“A few years ago, we documented sickening cruelty to animals at a major McDonald’s Egg McMuffin supplier, including hens crammed into filthy wire cages so small they could barely move for almost their entire lives, rotting carcasses of birds left in cages with live hens still laying eggs for human consumption, and workers burning off the beaks of young chicks without any painkillers”, he said.

McDonald’s, based in suburban Chicago, is the latest of several high-profile companies that Los Angeles-based Mercy for Animals has targeted to reform their practices by releasing video footage captured by undercover operatives.

The farm in Tennessee identified by Mercy for Animals could not immediately be reached.