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Animal Abuse Suspect Arrested After Undercover Video At Perdue Contract Farm

A picture of a poultry house.
Joe Valbuena
/
USDA
The US poultry industry is often used as an example of corporate farming due to the influence of large integrators like Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms.

A worker at a Perdue Farms contract poultry operation in Richmond County has been arrested and charged with four counts of felony animal abuse. An advocacy group's undercover videoshowed workers kicking the birds like footballs and spinning them by their heads to break their necks.

Perdue issued a statement condemning the abuse, and said the company has moved the flock and will review oversight operations.

Matt Rice directs investigations at Mercy for Animals, which recorded the video evidence. Rice says the organization will turn its attention to fighting anew North Carolina law banning secret filming at farms as of January 2016.

"This ag-gag bill is designed specifically to prohibit undercover investigations at factory farms across North Carolina. So once this bill takes effect it will help to perpetuate animal abuse in North Carolina's factory farms," he said.

Perdue spokeswoman Julie DeYoung says the company has not taken a position on the legislation.

A federal court overturned a similar "ag-gag" law in Idaho this summer, citing First Amendment protections for free speech.
 

Rebecca Martinez produces podcasts at WUNC. She’s been at the station since 2013, when she produced Morning Edition and reported for newscasts and radio features. Rebecca also serves on WUNC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) Committee.
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