Is this Animal Cruelty? Hy-Line Iowa USA

I am no greenie, I am no angel. I am not a vegan. What am I on about, you must be thinking?

I was reading some newspapers tonight and came across this article in 3 of them with the header being Chicks Ground Alive by Poultry Producer.

In reality animals have to die in this world to help feed us humans. We cannot all be vegans; I love meat as well as vegetables. I see animals as being on this earth for this purpose.

I have been guilty of being cruel to animals in a way; I have kicked and hit dogs I owned at times when I was angry at them for doing something I considered wrong. It was never over the top, more of just making sure the animals knew that it had done something wrong. But I am guilty of this.

I have shot many animals in my young life, both for fun and also hunting. Shooting for fun must sound unnecessary but we would often hunt wild pigs for fun with our pig dogs, these animals were pests for farmers and do so much damage to the environment. I was happy to hunt them and do not regret killing one of them.

I have shot too many kangaroos to count; these animals at times are in plague like numbers and also do so much damage to grazing pastures but more importantly fences. Again I have no regrets shooting them. We would use their meat to eat and also for dog food.

And the list goes on; I said ‘I am no angel.’ I have shot animals I shouldn’t have when I was younger (nothing endangered). I am not proud of it now and if I could go back in time, it is one of the very few times I would and change this. But I cannot and I live with this guilt if you like or my conscience.

What am I on about, well it is simply this. I never killed an animal in an inhumane way. This must sound absurd, I know. When I hunted the animal, it was always killed as quickly and humanely as possible.

If an animal had been injured and not killed instantly, it was killed as quickly and humanely as possible. I can honestly say I never tortured or put an animal through unnecessary cruelty. In the video that was taken in the Spencer Hatchery in Iowa, owned by Hy-Line, male chicks are put into a grinder alive, this to me is completely wrong. Maybe I am a hypocrite but this is why I gave a little background of what I have done in my life.

I know animal cruelty exists like this across the world, especially in developing nations (3rd world) but for this to be happening in a 1st world country where laws are usually strict, is disgusting.

Look, I also think, it is just a chick, it’s only an animal. But it has the right to be killed humanly, doesn’t it? I have seen many PETA videos before and thought they were over the top and biased but this video from Mercy for Animals I didn’t get this feeling.

Of course Hy-Line was contacted by Mercy for Animals about the secret footage and this was said.

Hy-Line International said that its "number one priority is the care and safety of our birds and our employees". "We have well-defined policies and procedures regarding poultry welfare and we are committed to meeting or exceeding all industry standards," the company said. Hy-Line said it has launched an "immediate investigation of the entire situation". "Following our investigation, if any violation of our animal welfare policies is found, the employee or employees involved will be disciplined per company policy, up to and including termination.

To me this is passing the buck for a fall guy already. Of course the executives knew nothing of what happened at this facility. I am sure they are disgusted and totally shocked.

Now if you want to go through the boredom of going to Hy-Lines’ website you can. This is from their Mission Statement.

Vision
At Hy-Line International, we strive to breed the most efficient laying hens that will produce the majority of eggs worldwide to nourish a growing population.

Values
The Hy-Line International team embraces a set of common values:
Integrity and honesty with everyone

Stewardship and welfare of our animals and the environment

And this from the Animal Welfare section:

We are committed to the humane and respectful treatment of each and every bird in our care. All of our employees are expected to be advocates for animal welfare.

Our employees and cooperators are specifically trained on the proper methods of handling birds to minimize distress or injury.

Look, maybe I am being a little harsh, maybe I am picking on this poor company. But I am a little bemused that this is happening in the USA. I am sure that there must be ways to euthanize these chicks before being sent into the grinder.

I am not against them being ground up, but being sent into the grinder alive isn’t the ideal way for these chicks to be killed.

I don’t believe in the Mercy For Animals Take Action advice. Becoming a vegan and adopting a meat and poultry free lifestyle. Also urging Dunkin Donuts to stop using caged eggs, to encourage them to use free range eggs, where would this stop?

Good on them for getting the footage and exposing the company to the cruelty, this is a win for them. You can only hope that the company gets huge fines and maybe severe conditions put on them over the coming years. Undercover operations by government agencies, maybe they can send in people to secretly document the going on's in these sorts of companies.

The fines need to be big, very big that can be paid over a time frame but make it hurt the company. We need eggs, cheap eggs as everyone cannot afford the so called free range egg prices. I will still eat eggs and I will buy the eggs that I consider the best deal, be them free range, caged or farmed.

If you want to watch the footage of the chicks being ground up, you can below. The footage isn’t graphic as in disturbing and sickening, well to me anyway. It depends on the person I suppose.

What is your take on this? Is it wrong? Is it okay?

Brunty