What's really in a McDonald's Egg McMuffin? An MFA undercover investigator exposed appalling cruelty at the fast-food giant's major egg supplier. Hidden-camera footage shot at Sparboe Farms - the fifth-largest egg producer in the country and a significant egg supplier to McDonald's, Target, Sam's Club, Supervalu, and Hy-Vee - revealed hens crammed into filthy battery cages and dead hens left to rot alongside birds still laying eggs for human consumption. The investigator also documented workers burning off the beaks of chicks without painkillers, sadistically and maliciously torturing animals, and throwing live birds into plastic bags and leaving them to suffocate.
The investigation received unparalleled international media attention - airing on ABC's Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and 20/20 - and prompted McDonald's, Target, Sam's Club, and Supervalu to immediately discontinue their relationships with Sparboe Farms. Following the investigation, MFA filed a legal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Sparboe for making false and misleading public claims regarding animal welfare practices.
At Reichardt Duck Farm, one of the largest duck factory farms in the country, a Mercy For Animals undercover investigator exposed rampant abuse and neglect of hundreds of thousands of animals. Workers burned off the bills of baby birds with searing-hot metal and left ducks painfully trapped in cage wire or manure pits to slowly suffer and die from lack of food and water.
Like factory-farmed chickens and turkeys, from the time they hatched until the moment they were violently killed at the slaughterhouse, these ducks endured horrific cruelty. The investigation broke with an exclusive story by ABC NEWS in San Francisco and then captured even more media attention from CBS, Fox and more, helping raise awareness about the tragic plights of factory-farmed birds.
Working undercover at Iowa's largest pig factory farm - which confines thousands of mother pigs to barren metal crates barely larger than their own bodies and supplies pork products to major grocery chains, including Kroger, Safeway, HyVee and Costco - MFA's investigator documented management training employees to use dull clippers to cut off the tails of piglets, to castrate them without painkillers and to throw piglets across the room - comparing it to a "roller coaster ride." The investigation also revealed mother pigs - physically taxed from constant birthing - suffering from distended, inflamed, bleeding, and usually fatal uterine prolapses, and sick and injured pigs often left to languish and slowly die without proper veterinary care.
Stirring massive mainstream media attention, the investigation also raised awareness among millions of people about how the majority of pigs are raised and killed for food in the United States.
This undercover investigation exposed the inherent cruelty of crated veal production - whereby baby calves are chained by their necks in filthy stalls, where they can't turn around, walk or engage in natural behaviors. The majority of veal sold in the U.S. comes from calves raised in this abusive manner, yet five states and all 27 countries in the European Union have outlawed the practice.
Immediately following the investigative release, Costco Wholesale, the third largest grocery chain in America, adopted a policy against purchasing veal from producers that use the create-and-chain production method, and Bob Barker, Emmy Award-winning host of The Price is Right, urged consumers nationwide to boycott veal and dairy. The expose prompted Ohio decision-makers to vote in favor of a veal crate phase-out in the state.
Hidden-camera video footage secretly recorded by an MFA undercover investigator at a Burger King cheese supplier has led to the arrest of a manager and two other workers at Bettencourt Dairies, one of the largest dairies in the country. Workers were caught on video viciously beating and shocking cows, violently twisting their tails in order to deliberately inflict pain, and dragging a downed cow by her neck using a chain attached to a tractor.
Following the release of the investigation, Kraft Foods, the largest food company in the United States, announced a new policy requiring all its dairy suppliers to phase out the cruel practice of tail docking cattle, among other important animal welfare policies. Unfortunately, while Kraft has taken a step to help end many of the shocking abuses caught on tape at this dairy factory farm, Burger King — another major food retailer linked to Bettencourt Dairies — has yet to require its cheese suppliers to make any meaningful animal welfare improvements.
Hi, my name is Miye Brodie and i am 17 years old attending North Mecklenburg High School. This is my Senior Exit Blog about the harmful effects the Meat Industry causes to our animals, bodies, and enviroment.