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EC, IN | Friends,
You should be aware of this showing. Please note Mr. Henderson’s comments at the bottom.
Death on a factory farm
By Drovers news staff
An 87-minute documentary titled “Death on a Factory Farm” will air on the premium cable TV channel Home Box Office beginning March 16. The undercover video was captured at an Ohio hog farm and will be shown several times next month.
The film originated with a group known as the Humane Farming Association. HFA turned to a young man named “Pete” who makes his living doing undercover investigations of suspected animal cruelty. Pete obtained a job at the farm, and the film shows his investigation over the course of six weeks, during which time he used a hidden camera to document numerous disturbing scenes: piglets being hurled across a room into a crate where they crash into each other or onto the floor; an unhealthy piglet being taken by the feet and slammed against a wall to euthanize it; impregnated sows crammed into pens that don’t allow them to move for up to 116 days; and finally, a sick hog being hung from a forklift by a chain, where it is seen convulsing for five minutes, according to a public-relations representative for the documentary.
As a result of this undercover investigation, 10 counts of animal cruelty charges were filed. Five were dismissed before trial. The defendants were acquitted of the remaining charges, except one. The owner’s son received a $250 fine and a year of probation for “improperly carrying or transporting animals.”
While this documentary is about a hog farm, the producers craftily paint all of livestock agriculture with the same brush. Clearly, the message from the film is that livestock producers are the bad guys, and the animal-rights groups are the good guys.
Certainly, many of the practices caught in this undercover investigation are unacceptable. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t distinguish between the minority of animal abusers and the majority of producers acting in a humane and responsible manner.
If we don’t police ourselves, our industries will continue to be hit by these undercover videos. – Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
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HBO, documentary, this is going to hurt
