Six workers at a hog farm near Bayard, Iowa, that contracts with Hormel Foods were charged Tuesday with animal abuse and neglect in the wake of a video released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Officials in Greene County, Iowa, began investigating the facility last month after the PETA video, which depicted workers hitting sows with metal rods and slamming piglets on a concrete floor, became public.
Misdemeanor charges against the workers include livestock neglect, livestock abuse and aiding and abetting livestock abuse. The most serious counts carry a maximum two-year prison sentence.
The farm is managed by Suidae Health and Production and owned by MowMar of Fairmont, Minn., although MowMar has said it owned the farm for less than a month before the video was released.
MowMar confirmed the six employees facing charges no longer work at the farm and that the manager of the farm, who was not among those charged, was terminated as well.
Source:
MeatingPlace.com, October 23, 2008
By Ann Bagel Storck