What the Experts Say

Comments on PETA's Investigation Into Tyson's Chicken Slaughterhouse

Academic and professional experts in poultry welfare, veterinary medicine, and humane slaughter reviewed PETA's video footage from an investigation into Tyson Foods' chicken slaughterhouse in Heflin, Alabama. Below are some excerpts from these experts' statements:

Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University
Dr. Grandin is internationally regarded as one of the leading experts and industry consultants on farmed-animal slaughter, handling, and welfare. She has designed equipment and systems that are used in facilities across the country, and she serves on the animal-welfare panels of several leading corporations.

• "If I had been doing a welfare audit, this plant would have FAILED."
• "Live birds were observed entering the scalder. This is a total FAILURE on animal welfare. Allowing 40 birds per day to enter the scalder alive is not acceptable. This is a sloppy operation."

Dr. A.B.M. Raj, B.V.Sc., M.V.Sc., Ph.D.

School of Clinical Veterinary Science, Division of Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol
Dr. Raj has published more than 50 scientific papers on various methods of stunning and slaughter and served as a member of the working group on stunning and slaughter for the European Union Scientific Veterinary Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare. He is currently a member of working groups on stunning and slaughter for the European Food Safety Authority and the World Organisation for Animal Health.

• "Mutilation of live poultry by the killer is totally unacceptable on bird welfare grounds. The reality is that the killer not only mutilated the bird but also failed to cut the major blood vessels supplying oxygenated blood to the brain requiring cervical dislocation. . . . Cervical (neck) dislocation is extremely painful and distressing."
• "Evidently, due to the lack of appropriate [legislation] to protect the welfare of birds at slaughter, people seem to get away with [these] cruel and unethical practices."

Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook, D.V.M.

Avian Veterinarian, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis
Dr. Siperstein-Cook has a veterinary practice specializing in birds, including chickens, and has testified before the California legislature on poultry welfare issues.

• "Many of these birds were likely conscious when they were lacerated, having missed the stun bath and contorting their bodies trying to escape. They would then have felt the pain of the laceration and would have suffered for many minutes until being killed later in the process."
• "Another section shows those birds who were missed by the stun bath, the mechanical blade, and the backup killer. These conscious birds then enter the scalding bath to experience the pain, suffering and fear of being burned over their entire bodies while held under water. One of these birds is vocalizing beforehand, clearly demonstrating that he/she is fully conscious."
• "This video demonstrates egregious failings on the part of the design, staffing and training at this slaughterhouse. NO birds should be allowed to miss any of the steps that would ensure PROPER stunning to unconsciousness before being cut or caused any painful step in the slaughter process. This means rapid and complete loss of consciousness. This video clearly demonstrates lapses in this facility and the resulting inhumane treatment of these animals."

Dr. Brenda Forsythe, M.S., Ph.D., D.V.M.

School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis
Dr. Forsythe has a private veterinary practice, holds both master's and doctoral degrees in animal science from California Polytechnic State University and Auburn University and recently accepted an appointment as co-chair of the Animal Welfare Task Force for the California Veterinary Medical Association.

• "[T]here have been numerous violations of generally accepted humane standards at this slaughtering plant. The methods as employed result in unnecessary pain and suffering."
• "By far the most potentially painful problem with this plant was … conscious birds scalded to death in the defeathering tank. These animals that somehow avoided being properly stunned in the stun bath as well as a rapid and humane death on the line are subjected to a slow and excruciating death by scalding in the defeathering tank. This is inexcusable in a well-run slaughter plant and simply should not happen."

Dr. Christine Nicol, M.A., Ph.D.

Professor of Animal Welfare, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, Division of Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol
Professor Nicol is one of the leading poultry welfare experts in the world and has published dozens of articles on the subject.

• "[T]he footage suggests that basic regulatory mechanisms to ensure a swift and pain-free death are not being implemented at this slaughterhouse."
• "Even if only a relatively small proportion of birds are injured by poorly managed or calibrated equipment, this will result in the suffering of a very large number of individual animals."