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Henhouse Faces Abuse Allegation (WARNING: Disturbing Images)

nbc11.com — An animal rights group releases an undercover video showing chickens at a major California egg farm being mistreated by workers and locked in cages so small they can't spread their wings.

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  • krc1, on 05/07/2008, -73/+29
    Buried because nbc11.com employees are submitting every other story from their website. There are approximately 2000 TV stations in the US and approximately 35,000 world wide. What if they all had employees doing this?

    BURY ALL NBC11.COM SUBMISSIONS

    Submitter: jboitnott

    John Boitnott
    Web Producer at NBC11/KNTV
    • jessjesscali, on 05/07/2008, -6/+31get a life, krc1
    • InfamousAtheist, on 05/07/2008, -2/+18I don't see the problem here? What rule says nbc11 can't do this?
      • MacEnvy, on 05/07/2008, -0/+4Honestly, it's probably a good thing. It kind of sounds like the beginning of a new trend in online news reporting. Automatically submit every new story on your network news site to digg. A few of them get picked up, and with name recognition, even more. You generate a LOT more online ad traffic, generate web "mindshare", and all it costs is an internship for some college student ("Web Producer") to submit the stories after they get posted on the site and maintain the accounts/shouts/etc.
    • HarryBauzonia, on 05/07/2008, -6/+8So some groups game Digg. Yep. Been happening for a looooong time, buddy.

      Great that you have your principles though. Since you do you can get started burying every story exalting Obama since they're pretty much in the same category.
    • DaDrake, on 05/07/2008, -2/+21a lot of groups do this. Check out some of the Obama forums... they literally organize themselves to digg up certain articles (as well as to skew the results of on-line polls). You should always take anything you read on the web with a grain of salt.
    • afx1, on 05/07/2008, -0/+8reminds me i'm out of chipotle tobasco
    • Fallout911, on 05/07/2008, -3/+2Hey Krc go ***** a sword
    • danconia, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3Hey I did it when Ron Paul was the rage on here. I'd be a hypocrite to get mad at a news organization, of all the types of possible groups, submitting NEWS...
      Good for them.
    • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 05/08/2008, -0/+4These pictures are exactly what every egg farm I have ever been to look like (about a dozen, no pun intended).

      I worked one summer for a guy who was contracted by egg farmers to remove all old hens from a barn (about 75 yards long) and replace them with chicks. We would pull out the birds, often breaking their wings to get them out because their spread wings are larger then the small cage doors, and then stuff them in "batteries" (the cages on wheels in picture 13) so they could go to the soup factory. I have killed a few myself like in picture 11.

      I love meat, and I grew up on a farm where we raised meat for ourselves, so I'm not "soft" when it comes to eating meat, but there is absolutely no reason to treat animals like this. Buy cage free eggs. They are only about 75 cents more.
  • AussieCynic, on 05/07/2008, -8/+38If you think this is bad you check out the free range chicken farm on the East Cost Tasmania... there eggs gave people food poisoning.... the hens were left dyeing on the floor and they were crambed in so bad they could not move....
    shameful
    • pseudononymist, on 05/07/2008, -2/+48really? What color did they dye?
      • RealmDown, on 05/07/2008, -5/+14Be more sensitive to these drying hens, ok ?
      • dubhousing, on 05/07/2008, -6/+1thanks for completely missing the point.
        • anti_hax0r, on 05/07/2008, -3/+1that's crazy stuff they do over their
    • MisterFreeze, on 05/07/2008, -0/+23I din't think that's called "free range".
      • CiXeL, on 05/07/2008, -3/+5i dont see anything shocking about these pictures. i live in a area where there is alot of agriculture and such. chickens will peck each others eyes out on a regular basis. they are cruel to each other even in an open setting. theyre dirty animals and have no personality like a dog or cat would have they are probably less unique than white mice turkeys have a hell of alot more personality than a chicken i feel nothing wrong with killing and eating chickens.
      • sp4zzj4zz, on 05/08/2008, -0/+4That's one hell of a run on sentence.

        "white mice turkeys"
        "chicken i feel"

        Also, I wonder if chickens feel pain at all? Heh.
    • IglooBurner, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1I'm sure this will help a lot on food pricing.
    • Spanktacular, on 05/07/2008, -2/+25WTF? Is English your fourteenth language?
      • dubhousing, on 05/07/2008, -11/+1If it is, I'm guessing his English is better than your Aussie.
    • twinklyJesus, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1Where eggs?
      • RealmDown, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1There eggs. *points right*

        There castle. *points left*
    • Myonosken, on 05/07/2008, -0/+6Uh, thats not Free Range.
  • Eskapismus, on 05/07/2008, -9/+93that's why I always buy "happy" eggs from happy chickens although it costs a little bit extra. I also buy meat from happy cows... you can taste how happy they were before they got a bullet in their head.
    • trickygrin, on 05/07/2008, -3/+21yep, and if you want really happy cows you can actually go to farms, pick out a cow and have it butchered for you. steaks for everyone! buy small-farm beef, peoples!
      • MaddieCakes, on 05/07/2008, -0/+6I'll only eat beef if it's from a small farm. Screw factory farms and feedlots.
      • elliott9, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Now that is a vacation I could get excited about!
    • RanIntoTheDevil, on 05/07/2008, -2/+20I love devouring happiness.
    • themadhatter444, on 05/07/2008, -0/+22Maybe I should start getting Happy Meals?
    • hydrodev, on 05/07/2008, -2/+6Bullets are expensive and wastefull. They use electrodes up the ass to kill them. Not very happy.
      • Teh1337Pirate, on 05/07/2008, -1/+10most places that i've seen use a metal rod that's shot at a high speed through the skull.
        • blackolive, on 05/07/2008, -4/+3Maybe you should ask actual slaughterhouse workers?

          "I've seen thousands and thousands of cows go through the slaughter process alive."
          -- sworn affidavit from a slaughterhouse worker

          http://www.hfa.org/hot_topic/slaughter_laws.html

          "Imagine being hit on the head and finding yourself dazed but still fully conscious. A chain is attached to one of your legs and you're hoisted upside down onto an assembly line. Gigantic clippers are used to snip off the lower parts of your arms and legs."

          "Atrocities like these have been familiar sights at IBP, according to sworn affidavits from almost two dozen plant workers."
          -- http://www.hfa.org/hot_topic/slaughter_laws.html
        • Myonosken, on 05/07/2008, -2/+6Yes we'll trust the HFA. As we all know they're TOTALLY unbiased.
        • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1My Dad worked at a slaughterhouse. They use metal rods like Pirate described.
        • blackolive, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3Drink, here's a hint: #1 seeing one slaughterhouse doesn't prove anything - there's obviously a wide variety of slaughterhouse conditions.

          And #2: *Every* cow farmer tells their kids it's all humane even when it's not. Daddy lies.
        • logan074, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2Federally inspected slaughterhouses shot a bolt into the cows head to render it unconscious then the throat is cut.
      • disabled4diggin, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I know two guys that would beg to differ.
    • fatTJ, on 05/07/2008, -1/+10And Everyone Knows that Happy Cows come from California
      • twinklyJesus, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Happy chickens are in Arkansas! o+O
    • raindogmx, on 05/07/2008, -3/+1But if you want a really, really happy cow or chicken you should buy on$e and share your home with it.
      And don't eat it.
      • HellifIno, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1How the hell did you get a $ in there by accident? O.o I know it's near the e, but the shift key ain't...
    • koft, on 05/07/2008, -4/+7Who gives a *****? It's food, shut up and eat it.
    • emflory, on 05/14/2008, -0/+0Free range meat is actually not more expensive. When you buy food from factory farms, you're not taking into account the ENVIRONMENTAL costs (American commercial farming methods basically rape the earth) and you're not taking into account the LIFE costs, not just of the animals so much as the poor agro-economic methods that contribute to the spread of world poverty.
  • davidkeithjones, on 05/07/2008, -45/+7Don't hurt the walking food.
    Nom nom nom, tastes like abuse.
    In Russia chicken abuses you!
    (insert ASCII) Its a trap!
  • sterntastic223, on 05/07/2008, -40/+59sure it's a cliche, but "yet another reason to go vegetarian"
    • dodgejon, on 05/07/2008, -9/+19http://digg.com/world_news/A_look_into_an_Animal_m ... Ill give you one more reason to go vegetarian
      • BrosDuCK, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Wow that was ***** up 0_0
      • LoveAndSeagulls, on 05/07/2008, -3/+3you gotta watch out for those "investigative videos"
        they can be skewed to be ridiculously insane
        look at PETA. while it may be the most beautiful form of propaganda ever, that ***** is just scare tactics. when you read closely, you notice that captions in pictures never tell you what's happening. it tells you what the group said was happening. and when a band of people who want the same thing make a video, some stuff can get skewed.

        but don't get me wrong, this ***** is ***** up. and it does happen in some places. but really, the only way you can be sure if to check for yourself.
        • twinklyJesus, on 05/07/2008, -2/+4you realize PETA kills more animals than the ASPCA, right?
    • saxreturns, on 05/07/2008, -18/+39Doesn't bother me. I'll eat anything no matter how it died, as long as it doesn't make me sick.
      • Jus7in, on 05/07/2008, -7/+11Agreed.
      • Fartag, on 05/07/2008, -8/+5Hey, save some room for hobo steaks then!

        Seriously though, when did indifference in support for better conditions for livestock became something to be proud of? Does it come from a religious view that all animals except people are just "soulless" and "unfeeling"? Or from an inability to empathize?
        • Jus7in, on 05/07/2008, -2/+4Probably the fact that they're chickens.
        • saxreturns, on 05/08/2008, -3/+5Well, I'm definitely not religious, and I find empathy comes very naturally... but it doesn't extend to animals.
          • Jus7in, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2My empathy extends (greatly) to animals, save for specifically cats and, in this case, chickens.
      • twinklyJesus, on 05/07/2008, -3/+1what's eaten cannot be un-eaten...or can it? hmmmmmmm? O_o
    • woofers07, on 05/07/2008, -6/+14it's more of a reason to buy locally organic.
      • alexkball, on 05/07/2008, -16/+2yeah because local organic cows/chickens aren't killed to get their meat. idiot.
        • srondizzle, on 05/07/2008, -3/+14Well, obviously they're killed. People buy organic/free range meat because the animals aren't crammed into cages or fed hormones while they're alive. Idiot.
        • arobicha, on 05/07/2008, -4/+3They also pay 300% markup for an inferior product that has a shorter shelf-life and is harder to produce with no real benefits. Not everybody in the world has the luxury of treating their food like a king.
    • tacojohn48, on 05/07/2008, -13/+30We need to put these animals out of their misery, by eating them.
    • RomeyRome, on 05/07/2008, -8/+4I like to take good healthy ***** thank you very much.
    • walkingdogs, on 05/07/2008, -1/+8I won't go vegetarian but I don't eat any poultry knowing how most chickens are raised. They are dirty disease ridden animals and this is just another example of it. Raised in deplorable conditions and then sold to the consumer.
      • superwife, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Do you actually think any other sort of farm animals are raised in any better conditions? Think again...
    • Zera, on 05/07/2008, -3/+7I'm glad someone took these photos. The owners of these farms will be punished by the Federal Animal Welfare Act, and most likely be forced out of business.

      This type of treatment represents an extremely tiny proportion of all farms. My uncle pets his cows while he's hooking up the milker. Treating your animals in a friendly way is not only ethical and moral, but also reduces the odds they'll kick the crap out of you, also makes them less jumpy, less likely to damage the barn, and less likely to hurt themselves. Real Farms aren't breaking these laws, just like most people aren't beating their wives and children.

      Federal Animal Welfare Act: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/awa.htm
      • koft, on 05/07/2008, -3/+1Wasn't aware that chickens kicking around can hurt people. Your uncle pets the cows during the day because he's stuffing his dick in their asses at night.
      • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2Are you kidding? Every single one of these egg farms look the same. I used to work in them, see my above comment. This is nothing out of the ordinary.
    • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -5/+6vegetarians are annoying. people always have to go out of their way to accomodate them.
      • RomeyRome, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1As the natural people with their wooden floors in their special section of the supermarket.
    • BetterOffEd, on 05/08/2008, -2/+3Buried for cliché.
    • logan074, on 05/08/2008, -2/+3How do you know that plants can't feel pain? I think we should all starve to insure we disgusting humans stop ruining our living brethren!
      • BetterOffEd, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2I don't think plants have a central nervous system.

        (But hey--I'm no scientist.)

        ,
  • NCSUspoon, on 05/07/2008, -7/+71Farm fresh free range. Go to the farmers market and get some. They are bigger and healthier and much more humane.
    • CrazedLeper, on 05/07/2008, -1/+13Mmmm, chicken. Tastes like chicken.
    • volz0r, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3.
    • blix797, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3"free range" only means they need access to the outdoors, and it doesn't specify for how long. Technically a bird that spends all of 5 minutes a day outdoors can be called free range.
    • koft, on 05/07/2008, -7/+3All I care about is price. Cheaper is better. I don't give a ***** about the chickens, I eat them.
      • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2You wouldn't want to eat these chickens if you saw them IRL.
    • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3These pictures are exactly what every egg farm I have ever been to look like (about a dozen). I worked one summer for a guy who was contracted by egg farmers to remove all old hens from a barn (about 75 yards long) and replace them with chicks. We would pull out the birds, often breaking their wings to get them out because their spread wings are larger then the small cage doors, and then stuff them in "batteries" (the cages on wheels in picture 13) so they could go to the soup factory. I have killed a few myself like in picture 11. I love meat, and I grew up on a farm where we raised meat for ourselves, so I'm not "soft" when it comes to eating meat, but there is absolutly no reason to treat animals like this. Buy cage free eggs. They are only about 75 cents more.
  • stuartgoff, on 05/07/2008, -8/+22Nice banner ad for McD's Chicken Sandwich Om nom nom nom
    • IglooBurner, on 05/07/2008, -6/+3I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce
      Don't be frontin' son no seeds on the bun
      We be up in this drive thru
      Order for two
      I got a craving for a number nine like my shoe
      We need some chicken up in here
      In this hizzle
      For rizzle my nizzle
      Extra salt on the frizzles
      Dr. Pepper my brother
      Another for your mother
      Double double super size
      And don't forget the FRIES...
  • ndesantis, on 05/07/2008, -30/+19lets not forget, they are chickens.. they have no souls
    • FunnyBunnyBo, on 05/07/2008, -22/+14How do you know chickens "have no souls"? What a totally arrogant, ignorant thing to say.
      • talonstriker, on 05/07/2008, -1/+8buried for not detecting sarcasm
        wait was your post sarcastic too?
      • Machismo, on 05/07/2008, -2/+7Because the absence of a soul is delicious!!!!
    • InfamousAtheist, on 05/07/2008, -6/+9He's a fundie. The bible told him animals have no souls.
    • SuperWinner, on 05/07/2008, -6/+24Neither do humans, whats your point? They DO feel pain however, just like us, and that is the point.
      • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -1/+6Exactly what I was about to point out. What does having a soul have to do with not inflincting needless pain on another living thing?
      • Startemus, on 05/07/2008, -1/+3How do you know? Do you speak Chicken?
    • BadseedJR, on 05/07/2008, -1/+5/joke
      For everyone who replied.
  • shadowspawn, on 05/07/2008, -17/+10tastes like chicken.
  • SpaceDreamer, on 05/07/2008, -17/+71Whenever you buy something containing chicken
    and it's not labeled "free-range",
    you're encouraging that kind of practice.

    Next time you see the stupid smile on the KFC logo, visualize these pictures.
    THAT is why he's smiling.
    • jmpeagle, on 05/07/2008, -20/+8why do people have this random empathy for animals? Maybe I have no soul, but no story about animals being tortured has ever had an effect on me.
      • liah, on 05/07/2008, -1/+7Have ypu ever had a pet...?
      • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -1/+8It may be random to you, but some people feel empathy for animals who do feel real pain. Nothing wrong with not being egocentric.
      • mrbeagle, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1Farm animals are just machines made out of meat. When was the last time you saw a chicken express any emotion other than "cluck cluck squauk"?
        Cruelty to animals can be an indicator of underlying mental issues, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not inherently "wrong". I endorse any farming practice as long as the meat is tender and free of disease.
    • shutaro, on 05/07/2008, -13/+14Nope... Still delicious.
    • BLiSTeD, on 05/07/2008, -0/+22Actually the USDA does not regulate the phrase "Free Range" which means that producers that use the label can do whatever they want and apply that label to their product. So you actually are paying more for something that may not exist. Free range at some farms means the building has a window or the cages are 1inch bigger or some other mundane item.
      • staticneuron, on 05/07/2008, -4/+10shhhhh! They think they are making a difference. Let them ease their souls by eating food that they 'think" has been treated nicely.
      • Chongo, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2ok you may be right... so then the alternative is...?
        this is not in jest or being sarcastic, please tell us.
        • funkyloki, on 05/07/2008, -1/+0All though I wouldn't subscribe, I guess the alternative would be to go vegan!
          • BLiSTeD, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1That would be correct.
          • Chongo, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I actually do not eat eggs but again for the sake of factual information... what is the alternative specifically relating to eggs. How can we know what truly is free range and what isn't?
            Dont get me wrong, I believe you... I once saw a rabbi for hire bless an entire aisle of dehydrated food in a warehouse, followed by myself stamping the products kosher. (did I say once? i mean multiple times a year)
          • BLiSTeD, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Depends on a few things. For one your own ethics and/or morals, and also how you are using the eggs.
            Skipping ethics/morals. There is an egg replacement product from a company called Ener-g which is used when baking/cooking with eggs. While you cannot make scrambled eggs with it, I haven't noticed any difference in any meals I've made with it.

            As for the free range question, the short answer is you don't. Until the big government steps up and says what IS and what ISNT free range you are at the whim of whomever is packaging/producing the eggs to determine what is free-range. Unless of course you live close to the farm where the hens live and see them running about with your own eyes.
      • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -1/+3it's just like organic food. i don't even know what the word "organic" really means. all i know is that it is usually more expensive and it sometimes tastes better.
        • BLiSTeD, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Organic is regulated by the USDA actually, not to say they are the best source of good information, but it basically means they foods are produced without the use of pesticides. It's worth the extra dime too IMO.
      • duser4, on 05/08/2008, -2/+0OOOOOOOOO someone's been reading wikipedia...... Might as well just give a link to the wikipedia page if you're gonna copy and paste it here
        • BLiSTeD, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Actually no, all it takes is some knowledge about the food you eat. Really amazing how much stuff is in our food that we don't even know.
    • Hekate666, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2just like blisted says they are also just required 1-2 hours of that window open per day. So if you really don't want to encourage that practice buy usda certified organic or if that doesn't suit you just buy directly from an organic farm.
      • BLiSTeD, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3Thats the thing there are NO regulations for being labeled as "Free Range" its a marketing gimmick at the moment. As for Organic it just means that no pesticides have been used in the production of that item. Organic can still mean crammed in a cage swimming in poop.
    • arobicha, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1You're sick. Not everybody gets pleasure out of torturing animals, and just because you have a personal vendetta against KFC doesn't mean that you should slander it. I suppose Ronald McDonald is smiling because of the horrible way the corporation he represents treats their animals... Or that Walt Disney was smiling because he was secretly instilling racism into the minds of children. The next time you pass judgment on someone based on their smile, consider the possibility that you know ***** ALL about them.
    • fangor, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1Free-range farming practices have not been economical since roughly the industrial revolution. In order for farms to be competitive, they must create the largest volume of food with the smallest overhead. Can you imagine trying to keep track of all those millions of chickens if they were just set loose?? There would be an explosion of predatory animals in the region, they would feed on the livestock, farmers would start killing the predators, then you would start bitching about that. I agree that I would not like to be treated like these chickens are being treated, but until we figure out how to make eggs and chicken meat in a vat, this is the only realistic option.
    • logan074, on 05/08/2008, -1/+0Does the use of a dipping sauce make it ok? Because then i'm safe.
    • HayString, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Popeyes >> KFC
  • SpaceDreamer, on 05/07/2008, -1/+7... and same thing for eggs.
    • koft, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1Eggs should be treated well, they have a tendency to break.
  • Kisama, on 05/07/2008, -35/+21Who gives a ***** how chickens are treated? They're food stock. We breed them to eat them, or their young, or both. I care how miserable that chicken is, as long as it's dead by the time it hits my plate.
    • gotterdammerung, on 05/07/2008, -3/+25That's extremely short-sighted. Which do you think is more nutritious for you - a chicken that has been walking and flying around, eating the stuff its body has evolved to eat, or a chicken that has been crammed into a cage with thousands of other chickens (some of them wounded or dead) and their excrement? This isn't just about animal abuse.
      • shutaro, on 05/07/2008, -5/+2Because, you know, it's not like the modern day chicken isn't the product of centuries of selective breeding by humans...
        • gotterdammerung, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Clearly, but how long have humans been stuffing them in cages and feeding them commercially produced, substandard chicken feed? How long have humans had industrialized agriculture and livestock? And do you think humans have selectively bred chickens for how nutritious they are to eat, or for how big they get or how many eggs they produce?
          • shutaro, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1Since about the late 19th or early 20th century. Call it 100 years, give or take... At any rate, my point is that you're attributing the characteristics of a wild animal to a species that owes it's present existence entirely to humankind. It's evolved to eat what we feed it and live where we put it. If it doesn't like that arrangement, then it should evolve a bigger brain and do something about it... Or evolve to be less tasty.
      • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1veal is made from baby cows that have been confined to tight quarters and massaged while their muscles atrophy, and it tastes better than steak.
    • talonstriker, on 05/07/2008, -6/+11Wow... I'm speechless... All I can say that you have cold, cold heart.
      • Stroggoth, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1You felt his heart? Ew. Of course it was cold! You murdered him you bastard!
    • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -1/+11In some countries, dogs and cats are treated as food stock, and personally, I see nothing wrong with that if that's their custom, but here, it's generally considered cruel and strange. I actually have chickens (real free range) that I do not eat. I know that they feel pain. I have seen it (when the neighbor's dog jumped the fence). But when you don't see the reality of the situation, you can't feel empathy because all you see is the packaged meat going from your grocery cart to your skillet. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing wrong with seeing chickens as alive, rather than just objects, either.
    • thedogfatherx, on 05/07/2008, -8/+5I'm going to call you a "loser" then walk away with my palm to my forhead. ***** prick.
    • Brad324, on 05/07/2008, -10/+3Pamela Anderson, and various other bimbos. I'm sorry, bleeding heart diggers, but little old cold hearted me really has a hard time having sympathy for chickens. Besides, they should learn to get organized and fight back like they do in Zelda.
    • einstevo, on 05/07/2008, -5/+3i agree. if people like being able to buy chicken for $2.50/lb, this is how things must be done. if you're willing to pay extra for your food to have been treated better before it hit your plate, then knock yourself out. food is a business, the animals are a commodity. and what the hell is wrong with breaking a chicken's neck? people have been doing this since we figured out that birds are tasty. from this slideshow it looks like diseased birds are simply allowed to live. are the animal rights supporters claiming that sick birds should be euthanized? in nature they'd be allowed to live with their diseases and have blood on their feathers just the same. granted, some of the diseases are probably the result of their treatment, but that goes back to how much you like your cheap chicken. the bottom line here is that it doesn't look like people are mistreating the animals because they are cruel, they are mistreated for economic reasons.
    • rocketoner, on 05/07/2008, -1/+4I suppose this is where I type my angry reply to your ignorant comment. Oh forget it! You'll enjoy your life of GMOs and genetically altered meats!
      • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1genetically altered food has saved millions, if not billions, of lives by vastly increasing food production. and it doesn't taste any worse than regular food. you can't get sick from a different genetic code inside the cells of your food.
    • Nature1, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0That's as ignorant as saying we breed wolves to wear them as coats. Chickens are animals that occur naturally in nature without help from humans breeding them "so they can be eaten"... Let alone choosing to keep them in awful conditions while they could easily be treated decently.
    • Moshma4n, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0You are an ass hat on so many levels. Chickens have feelings too, and are not just meant to feed your tyrant fat face.
  • Shawshanksr, on 05/07/2008, -3/+6the video was shown on a local news channel a while ago, im not sure if its the same place but from the pictures it looks very similiar. the news station was flooded with emails and phone calls and texts pledging support against cruelty to animals...
    but i doubt if these videos even turned one person who wasnt a vegetarian into a vegetarian.
    if you dont want to become a vegetarian buy free range and do not go to places like KFC that promote this kind of torture...
    • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -1/+5I was a veg for 6 years after I read the jungle, and started to look into current animal treatment practices in our food industry. Because I've always been someone who respects all forms of life, it just really turned me off to eating any meat. I was never militant about it toward others though. It was my choice. The thing is, I would have bought free range meat if it had been available for a reasonable price back then. Now, it's more widely available, at least in my area, so I do eat meat again.
      • superwife, on 05/07/2008, -1/+0there is no government regulation of 'free range'. This so-called "happy meat" is treated just as inhumanely as any other... they just have a 2x2 window to look out of to wish they weren't being subjected to such torture.

        I'm sure the cows in the pastures aren't too stoked about being butchered either, even though they had a normal cow life. Not many creatures like being murdered.
        • artliquide, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Here in AZ we have a few ostrich ranches. They sell free range ostrich meat (which is a lot healthier than beef), and I assure you that I have seen them in their free range state. I'm sure that there are supposed free range ranches that are lying, but there are also many that are truly free range.

          And yes, you're right. No animal wants to be butchered, but people aren't going to stop eating meat, so we might as well give them the most life they can have until they're butchered, and butcher them in a humane way.
        • lilrabbit129, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I agree. I'm not into the whole "killing any animal is murder" group. I like meat and these kinds of things are just part of it.

          I am for going the extra mile to keep the animals at least comfortable before they're processed.
  • BruisedGhost, on 05/07/2008, -17/+8Its called factory farming and is not illegal. Sorry, but thats what those chickens a bread for so I could care less, neither should you. What we should care about is the massive amount of antibiotics they give the chickens because of how sick they get living in these factories that gets into our food doing god knows what to our bodies.
  • BigManOnCampus, on 05/07/2008, -16/+16Too many people have never lived on a farm. They've never seen how animals treat each other.
    chickens raised on a farm, in cages for meat, or in a egg-laying sweatshop have it easy by comparison.
    • talonstriker, on 05/07/2008, -3/+9Thats like saying a prisoner has it easy compared to a hobo. Freedom accounts for something, don't ya think?
      • IglooBurner, on 05/07/2008, -1/+5Those chickens, you may take their eggs, but you'll never take their FREEDOM!
      • Machismo, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2Not really, when that freedom leads immediately to territorial instinct where they killed and maim eachother constantly. In some farms, Free-range chickens sent to market tend to be the ones that lost the fight and are dieing on the field.
      • TheStooge1, on 05/07/2008, -1/+8Prisoner- Human
        Hobo- Human
        chicken- umm...chicken?

        Dude, don't try to give human rights to a chicken. Though I do thank you as I laughed each of the five times I read this statement.
        • onestrawplz, on 05/07/2008, -5/+2the right to have an abuse existence is only available to humans?
          it doesn't matter if they're human or not, no living thing deserves that kind of treatment.
        • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2onestraw:
          have you ever used soap before? well, then you're a mass murderer for killing all those innocent germs!
          • onestrawplz, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1i wasn't aware that germs are sentient.
    • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -0/+6Yeah, roosters will tear each other apart, but that doesn't mean we should not allow them to live some sort of natural life.
    • koft, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2Animals are miserable creatures who tend to wallow around in their excrement.
      • stepcoach, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0Another good reason not to eat them!
    • ohpleasereally, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1oh, and you grew up on a farm? what the hell do you think you are talking about? this kind of mass farming is pure greed, it is not responsible stewardship and it is not sustainable. if you really grew up on a farm you would know that.
  • Cajole55, on 05/07/2008, -22/+8Who gives a ***** how they are kept? They will be slaughtered and consumed by humans anyway.
    • BadseedJR, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Based on the pictures, They will be slaughtered and thrown into large dumpsters, not consumed by anything.
      • VenDrake, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1According to a recent article, most egg laying chickens are turned into fertilizer (or dog food?). They are so worn out and scrawny by the time they're dead that isn't cost effective to process them for consumption.
    • Nature1, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0Why should I care how your living conditions are then? You're just going to die and be put in a box in the ground anyway.
  • Nhmarine, on 05/07/2008, -24/+8Nobody should care if these animals are being abused, it isn't like they are intelligent beings. Cows, meh, Chickens, meh. We shouldn't try to protect dumb animals like livestock from death by our hands, it puts food on our plate and they wouldn't really matter to anyone if they didn't. People should care about intelligent beings like, say, other humans, or even dolphins.... Kill the cows, save the dolphins..
    • talonstriker, on 05/07/2008, -2/+11How the hell do you know that they are(n't) "intelligent"? Just because some animals pass tests that are concocted by humans, they are intelligent? Intelligence is a relative term that based based upon the functions of a species, it has nothing to do with being compared to humans.
      Still, I find your "get the ***** on my plate" mentality disturbing....maybe because I'm a hippy..
    • artliquide, on 05/07/2008, -0/+7You know, birds, obviously are less intelligent than humans or dolphins. But that's beside the point. They feel pain. We could use your logic of "they don't matter because they're not as smart as we are" on humans. Let's give everyone an IQ test, and force all of the substandard humans into slave labor, inflicting needless amounts of pain on them in the process. Maybe in the grand scheme, they don't matter, but is it ethical to continue these methods, if there's a more ethical way to treat animals meant for consumption?

      Besides that point, I raised a baby chick (still have him) because he was the runt and his mom abandoned him as he was hatching (which is normal...leave the slower one to save the others). He is a lot smarter than I ever thought chickens could be. I'm not saying he's a genius or anything, but he surprised me. But you wouldn't know that if you've never had a pet chicken.
      • Nhmarine, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Yeah, that IQ test thing is a pretty good idea. I have thought of that before. =P
        • DanMiller, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I don't know why but the thought of you walking around with a retarded runt chicken made me laugh so hard. The fact that you had to concede that he wasn't a genious....lol
          • artliquide, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2He's not retarded. I'll kick your ass for saying that ;)

            No, by chicken standards, he's quite brilliant...he comes when I call him, plays with me (he'll chase a stick). But the fact that chickens are obviously not rocket scientists doesn't mean that this particular one is retarded. After all, if the runt is to survive, he has to make up for his lack of physical strength somewhere.

            Oh, and his name's Turbo, by the way (because he would duck his head and run really fast after me when he was little)
          • DanMiller, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Sweet, my dog won't chase a stick. I'm getting a pet chicken now, I'm going to name him Nugget and he is going to help me protest McDonalds. Can you knit a sweater for a chicken?
          • artliquide, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Of course you can, but good luck trying to get it on him.
    • xkingADROCKx, on 05/07/2008, -0/+4Do some research into pigs, they have been proven to be one of the most intelligent animals yet are kept and slaughtered in terrible conditions.
    • thedogfatherx, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2That's what god thinks of you. "Meh"
    • TheThirdLevel, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2If we're going by intelligence, you should be left FAR FAR behind.
  • HarryBauzonia, on 05/07/2008, -4/+48I don't think we should be torturing our food, and I don't have any illusions that chickens on egg farms are treated well.
    However, the pic of the guy killing the chicken by wringing it's neck doesn't depict cruelty. That's a quick, humane, and effective way to kill chickens.
    • erikmarcus, on 05/07/2008, -11/+1How could an idiotic and totally misinformed statement like that possibly be dugg up? The investigation video made a point of showing that the hen was still alive several minutes later. You can't get any more cruel or incompetent than that.
      • moonglaive, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3Chickens frequently move around after they're technically dead. Its cheaper to keep them in such conditions and kill them if they get diseased or wounded than it is to medicate them. Of course, then they couldn't claim **insert organic buzzword here** and sell them for twice as much.
      • richporter, on 05/07/2008, -0/+6Ever hear the expression "like a chicken with its head cut off"? The body stays alive for several minutes after "death."
    • diggrnumber1, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1first time i've ever dugg someone with a confederate flag as an icon
  • reddevil3, on 05/07/2008, -13/+3http://www.meat.com
  • reddevil3, on 05/07/2008, -13/+4^ Wrong link...this is the correct one:

    http://www.meat.org
    • nreynolds, on 05/07/2008, -0/+5http://www.meatspin.com
    • theskillwithin, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2OpenDNS: Site blocked. www.meat.org is not allowed on this network.
      This site was categorized as:
      Tasteless
    • D0m0kun, on 05/07/2008, -2/+3Precisely the video I saw a few months ago which was the final push for me to convert to pesci-vegetarianism. Nothing, however, compared to a fur trade video I saw. :(
      • DanMiller, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1So, you aren't concerned for the well being and treatment of fish?
    • TheThirdLevel, on 05/07/2008, -4/+1Pfft, I laugh at PETA videos. Turning into a vegetarian after watching a video isn't going to do *****, because not enough people care to shut down the industry.
    • BetterOffEd, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Is that Alec Baldwin? Didn't he call his daughter a pig?

      .
    • DanMiller, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1This is horribly sad and does make you think, however, I don't really have a problem with the slaughtering of animals, every meat eating creature on the planet exacts some amount of pain in the act of hunting. I would like to see more humane practices in the actual "storage" and transport of these animals.
  • TeasasTips, on 05/07/2008, -8/+1thanks for sending the shout to me...good stuff!
  • duddy, on 05/07/2008, -11/+47I just got a major craving to eat some Chicken McNuggets while watching Schindler's List.
    • xkingADROCKx, on 05/07/2008, -14/+1Referencing the holocaust in a joke is a really really sick thing to do.
      • SpaceDreamer, on 05/07/2008, -1/+7it's called "bad taste"
        and there are clearly more important problems than bad taste to solve in this world.
    • VenDrake, on 05/07/2008, -4/+2Hey xKing - how many Jews can you fit in a VW Bug?

      Answer: 1004 - four in the seats plus 1000 in the ash tray!
      • JayDoggy, on 05/07/2008, -2/+1Dude, KW, you are ***** OUT OF CONTROL!
    • SweetDee, on 05/07/2008, -1/+3There's a very real chance that I am hellbound for laughing at that. Thanks for damning my immortal soul...
  • saxreturns, on 05/07/2008, -39/+34***** 'em. They're just chickens.
    • Breticus07, on 05/07/2008, -2/+8yeah chickens are stupid, literally they are just plain stupid. Not as stupid as turkeys though
      • ConanTL, on 05/07/2008, -6/+4So I can abuse severely mentally handicapped people? What about if a far metally superior alien race were to visit us, would it be ok for them to abuse us, because we're stupid (in comparison)?
        • Breticus07, on 05/07/2008, -1/+3you've taken that out of perspective, for one I didn't say abuse I just said they are stupid, and two handicapped people aren't stupid they are "handicapped" soooo it seems like your a little insulting
        • danomagnum, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1Would we have a choice?
        • partysan, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1The Chinese abuse mentally handicapped people. I don't see you giving a ***** about it though. Maybe you will one day, IF it hits the front page of Digg...
      • ObscurePenguin, on 05/08/2008, -1/+0Are you kidding? Turkeys are so much smarter than chickens. Why do you think some are still wild?
        • Breticus07, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1you are definitely wrong turkeys are the dumbest birds. If you spray water on a turkey... he will simply look up and drown in the water you are pouring on him
        • dok333, on 05/08/2008, -1/+0you are both right, wild turkey are probably the smartest bird alive, but farm turkey are one of the dumbest
    • wafla, on 05/07/2008, -1/+6saxreturns gives us a little too much information about his private life.
    • JakeyG14, on 05/07/2008, -2/+3Imagine we said the same thing about morons, then you'd feel for yourself what we feel for the chickens.
  • DaDrake, on 05/07/2008, -10/+17Is that why they taste so good?
    • partysan, on 05/07/2008, -0/+3Yeah, you gotta shake 'em and stomp 'em to make the meat more tender...
  • dpcamp, on 05/07/2008, -14/+6i love watching my food get beat before i eat it.. makes me feel like a man.
  • Malnilion, on 05/07/2008, -8/+2Open wounds inflicted by other chickens in tight quarters? That shouldn't be happening. I'm not going to advocate requiring freerange chickens, though, because that is not practical or cost-effective, but chickens shouldn't be mashed into a cage where they can't move at all and get pecked at by the other chickens. Also I imagine freerange chickens would be a bit more gamey.
    • coreman, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2well...they kind of taste like...chicken, not gamey. But, if you do like store-bought chicken (i.e., from Perdue, etc), then it'll probably seem "gamey".
    • scout3801, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1Some chickens will wound each other even given plenty of space, particularly those bred as factory chickens. Some breeds will even kill each other: once they've injured another bird, they just keep pecking that spot until it's dead. A bird getting pecked to death will continue to stay near the flock, despite the treatment.
  • Jus7in, on 05/07/2008, -6/+13So, picture 26 looks like a bird *****, not an open wound.
  • davidkeithjones, on 05/07/2008, -9/+3BAUUUKKKK!!!! I've seen worse. If you cut their heads off they wont feel pain.
  • alexkball, on 05/07/2008, -10/+19How did you guys THINK the chickens got to your plates....like maybe the meat was removed without hurting the poor chickens in some way? Give me a break. They died so that you can enjoy mcnuggets, give it a rest.
    • wafla, on 05/07/2008, -5/+2When you turn 13 or 14 you'll understand why people are so concerned.
  • 9bpm9, on 05/07/2008, -8/+10Were this pictures taking with a cell phone? Because they suck.
    • TheStooge1, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Maybe yes were they!
    • MMaster23, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2i guess you can't really take spy-pictures with an huge ass DSLR now, can you?
  • xkingADROCKx, on 05/07/2008, -5/+10It's disusting, one of the reasons I only ever eat free range meat. What's worse than this are the slaughterhouses, where some truly twisted ***** goes down.
    • Jenny4, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2"Free range" animals go to the same slaughterhouses that "conventionally raised" animals go to. The exceptions to this are very rare. So don't think you aren't supporting immense cruelty to animals by eating "free range". Those labels are incredibly misleading anyway and there is no regulation of "free range". Unless you've been to the farm yourself and seen otherwise, "free range" animals are typically crowded into sheds by the thousands and they endure the same mutilations that the conventional animals endure such as debeaking. All chicks come from the same hatcheries as well where the male chicks are killed right after hatching. They are either ground up alive for feed or suffocated in bags. If you're serious about not contributing to these atrocities, then go vegan. It's easier than you think -- try www.chooseveg.com for tips and recipes...
      • xkingADROCKx, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1I was actually a vegetarian for about a year, but found it too difficult around friends houses as well the fact that everyone in my family eats meat. I agree with you, but find it too difficult to be a vegetarian/vegan, I do however only eat meat (free-range) when I have no other choice. When I move out and live on my own, I will consider being vegetarian then.
  • moolaismyfriend, on 05/07/2008, -11/+3No this is more disturbing

    http://www.electjohnmccain2008.com/images/bush-mcc ...
  • johnomaz, on 05/07/2008, -13/+7...They are chickens. And where are the Disburbing Images. You are in a chicken house, where they are raised to be killed to be eaten. Get a life people, animals = food.
    • Nature1, on 05/08/2008, -1/+0Chickens did not evolve to be put into chicken houses and treated like *****. And animals do not equal food, otherwise you would be eating dogs, cats, horses, pandas, zebras, ect... Don't to be such an ignorant jerk next time.
      • DanMiller, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I agree that we should treat animals as humanely as possible but letsnot act like nature doesn't happen. Of course animals equal food, that's what the food chain is all about. Humans have teeth which are evolved to eat meat, our ancestors hunted and ate meat. Many people do eat dogs, cats, horses, and zebras. Just because they don't sell it in the supermarket where you live doesn't mean it's not a food option for someone. Lets focus on humane treatment during the farming process and worry less about an animal which is quickly slaughtered at the end of it's life.
  • bigfinger, on 05/07/2008, -4/+2I live in the bay area so I don't mind at all, but don't we get a large amount of news from NBC11?
  • trollick, on 05/07/2008, -5/+18I saw even more disturbing stuff in a store the other day. Imagine, parts of killed chickens, like wings and drums, deep fried and offered for sale. Oh, the horror.
    • jdcrow, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1DUGG because I love Fried Chicken Liver.. MMm.. oops I mean.. OH the HUMANITY
  • bpeterson82, on 05/07/2008, -22/+17They're just chickens

    okay...bury me
  • coaster89, on 05/07/2008, -3/+7u think they would be shut down from all of the health code laws.
  • tofuMYtofu, on 05/07/2008, -8/+3FYI - for those of you not aware of this about free range chickens (this goes for factory farmed chicken as well). Farming practices have not evolved such that they can create female chicken eggs, therefore the birth rate is about 50% male. Males are useless so they kill them by less than humane means. Be it dumped in the garbage in a plastic bag or other inhumane method, every "happy female laying hen" is attached to one cruelly dumped male. Just something to think about when you're eating your happy eggs.
  • barkrawr, on 05/07/2008, -10/+5Man...anyone else in the mood for some KFC? ;D kekeke
  • cambob76, on 05/07/2008, -9/+4Holocaust chickens = Finger Licking Good!
  • homerj1965, on 05/07/2008, -3/+8mmmmmm Chicken parts...............
  • theright, on 05/07/2008, -3/+2If it isn't jboitnott again with another front page NBC11.com article...
    • AngeloM3, on 05/07/2008, -0/+2Read the first comment and it will all make sense :)
  • IpwnZnoobs, on 05/07/2008, -3/+3im gonna have to hold off on this diner i was gonna eat
  • fr3ddie, on 05/07/2008, -16/+11Im a vegan, and i say, who gives a *****?... people eat animals... who cares how they are treated. we kill them. by the millions. isnt that torture? WTF? shutting down one farm, will just make another one go up.... I dont give a ***** about some animal getting tortured... they all die anyway.
    • gtlogic, on 05/07/2008, -2/+4I think you and Bush think alike -- who gives a ***** about some human getting tortured... they all die anyway.
    • AngeloM3, on 05/07/2008, -2/+7fr3ddie said "I dont give a ***** about some animal getting tortured... they all die anyway."

      Humans die anyways... so should no one give a ***** about the human race or does it make it alright to torture and kill humans? Your logic fails... thats probably why you went vegan. Go eat some wheat-grass you hippy
    • sp4zzj4zz, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Being vegan doesn't automatically qualify you as a humane individual.
    • Zera, on 05/08/2008, -1/+3"I don't give a ***** about some animal getting tortured... they all die anyway."

      Here's a vegan who knows his *****. There are literally thousands more creatures killed by a vegan diet than from a meat eater's diet, they're just different animals. They're the creatures that live in fields... Mice, moles, voles, toads, frogs, snakes, thousands of species of field birds, rabbits, rats, millions of species of insect, crayfish, etc. Most of these animals don't die instantly, but slowly suffer to death when their legs are sliced of by a plow, or smashed by a tire, or buried alive when their nest is overturned under a furrow.

      I do however think that any creature's death we have control over, should be humane as possible, mostly because there is no reason to treat it otherwise. I also believe that you should only eat as much meat as you need to stay healthy, (2 servings per week) and you should make an effort to consume meat that was grazed in a pasture.
  • Akaziel, on 05/07/2008, -11/+31Yeah I'm going to go with the side that doesn't really care. I've spent time around chickens. While they don't deserve punishment, they're also not really intelligent animals. They are animals bred to be food. They are prey in the wild. As far as the guy swinging it by the neck to kill the chicken...how would you prefer he kill it? That's fast and fairly painless. Would you prefer something else? I think a much greater crime is the level of spelling and literacy displayed in this Digg thread...I am appalled.
    • wafla, on 05/07/2008, -2/+5Plus, there are kids on your lawn! That's the REAL holocaust.
      • SpectreFire, on 05/07/2008, -1/+4It's not just the terrible conditions. But look at it! They've got dead chickens stuck in the machines, brushing against live chickens, and passing on all sorts of disease and other crap.

        I would not want to eat anything coming out of that farm, not only because it's inhumane, but quite honestly, it looks dirty as hell.
  • Elliottx, on 05/07/2008, -7/+2Lol
  • mafftom, on 05/07/2008, -6/+4I feel sorry for the workers, I bet they don't get paid enough to deal with so many angry looking chickens.
    • stickybench, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0I bet the chickens have stupid yank accents.
      Now that's what i call cruel.
  • RomeyRome, on 05/07/2008, -10/+8I don't get the notion of being nice to animals that were bred just for the purpose of getting their head cut off at some point anyway.
    • Tuto, on 05/07/2008, -4/+7Many people understand that animals feel pain the same way humans do. These people also have sympathy which means that they understand the pain the animals feel by thinking how they would feel if they were treated the same way. So naturally if you think this way you cannot condole animals being treated like this.
    • MildApplause, on 05/08/2008, -1/+4If we're a civilized country (and I guess the jury's still out on that), and we have the ability to kill living things in a humane manner, why wouldn't we?
      When you die, would you prefer it to be quickly and painlessly? Or, would you prefer to suffer miserably and painfully for a long time before?
    • MildApplause, on 05/08/2008, -3/+0If we're a civilized country (and I guess the jury's still out on that), and we have the ability to kill living things in a humane manner, why wouldn't we?
      When you die, would you prefer it to be quickly and painlessly? Or, would you prefer to suffer miserably, painfully, and needlessly for a long time before?
  • RollandoMota, on 05/07/2008, -1/+2Chickens with open wounds on their ass=Lonely Employees
  • mKdiR, on 05/07/2008, -3/+1Anyone got a mirror?
    • kucing, on 05/07/2008, -0/+4I do. Its hanging on my wall.
      • ShinRaTDR, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1These images are a little too disturbing to be hung on your wall, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
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