COK Investigation Exposes Chicken Industry Cruelty
Undercover Footage of Perdue Slaughter Plant Reveals Routine Abuse

From September 16, 2004 through October 1, 2004, a COK investigator worked undercover in the hanging room of the Perdue Farms slaughter plant in Showell, Maryland. Using a hidden camera, he documented horrible—yet routine—cruelty to animals on a daily basis, including:

• Workers violently throwing birds around the slaughter plant's hanging room;
  
• Birds—many who were dying—left unattended on the conveyor belt during workers' lunch breaks;
  

• Read the Latest News Reports: Updated February 2005

  Dead and dying birds on the grounds outside of the plant; and
  
• Birds flapping violently after having their throats slit.

Despite Perdue's claim on its website that "individuals handling poultry must be trained in animal husbandry," COK's investigator did not receive one moment of animal care training before working with live animals.

On his first day of employment, he watched videos pertaining to food safety and worker safety, but not a single minute was devoted to animal care or proper handling. The investigator asked other workers in the hanging room if they had received any training or guidance in animal welfare and learned that none did.

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