McDonald's McRib Supplier Sued For McFibbing
Last week, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed a legal complaint against McDonald's pork supplier Smithfield Foods alleging the company is making false and misleading claims to its customers and shareholders about the way pigs are treated at its facilities.In a video series titled Taking the Mystery out of Pork Production, Smithfield claims that the living conditions provided for pigs is "ideal" and that their "every need is met." Yet undercover investigations at Smithfield facilities document workers tossing baby pigs like footballs, denying sick or injured pigs veterinary care and mother pigs confined for nearly their entire lives inside tiny metal gestation crates barely bigger than their own bodies.
Far from ideal, gestation crates are considered to be so cruel that they have been banned in the entire European Union, New Zealand, and eight U.S. states. Dr. Temple Grandin, one of the world's leading experts on farmed animal welfare and advisor to Smithfield, says gestation crates are inhumane and should be phased out. Corroborating the HSUS's findings, MFA's own investigations have revealed gestation crates to be perhaps the cruelest form of institutionalized animal abuse in existence:
According to Dr. Donald Broom, Cambridge University professor and former scientific advisor to the Council of Europe, pigs "have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so than dogs and certainly [more so than] three-year-olds." They have the ability to express friendships, use vocalizations and body language, and are particularly fond of playing games with one another. But to Smithfield and other pork producing giants, pigs are treated like mere commodities and profit is always put ahead of animal welfare.
Don't buy the lie. We all have the power to help end needless cruelty to pigs and other farmed animals by adopting a healthy and humane vegan lifestyle. Order your free Vegetarian Starter Kitfor helpful tips and recipes.
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