Duckling’s head torn off in PETA video
Clandestine footage, filmed on behalf of activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), shows horrifying conditions at an abattoir of Middlebury, Indiana-based Culver Duck Farms, Inc.
PETA claims Culver Duck Farms is the second-largest duck slaughterer in the US, while business data firm Hoover states Culver Duck Farms hatches 3.5 million ducks per year, which are processed for fresh and frozen meat products.
Ammonia burns
In the video, an undercover factory worker films unsuspecting colleagues slamming ducks’ heads against brick walls and, in one instance, ripping the head off a live baby duckling.
The supervisor PETA says committed the act is claimed to have said that “twirling” ducks by their neck was his preferred killing method. In the video, the man can be seen picking up a baby duck and “twirling” its head and body apart and exclaiming: “I got it. I got it.”
Some ducks were in large sheds with some space, although minimal, to move around. However, this open area was not regularly cleaned, leading to a build-up of waste where ammonia burns caused ducks to lose the feathers on their chests, claims PETA. On camera, someone whom PETA claims is a manager at Culver Duck Farms admits that “my eyes were watering when I came in, so the ammonia was bad – really bad”.
‘Stop the cruelty’
“PETA’s exposé reveals that birds at Culver Duck Farms are packed into ammonia-filled sheds, bludgeoned, and decapitated,” said PETA’s senior vice-president of cruelty investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “We urge people to help stop this cruelty by rejecting duck meat, down, and feathers - which is easy to do.”
Culver also supplies about 30,000 tonnes of duck feathers every week to China, which uses them in down products.
PETA has submitted the video to Indiana State Police, which is investigating the claims.
“I am appalled and deeply saddened by the activities shown in the undercover video, which was obtained between December 2015 and January 2016,” said John Metzger, president of Culver Duck Farms. “These activities are not consistent with our commitment to animal well-being and we have taken action to ensure they are not repeated.
“I became president of Culver Duck Farms this past April and our new leadership team recognises that we have an ethical obligation to provide outstanding care for our animals. We have made major changes, such as investing more than $1.5m to improve facilities and the quality of life for our ducks. We have a new Duck Care Manual and have retrained every employee and contractor who comes in contact with our ducks to ensure they understand our zero tolerance policy for animal neglect and abuse.
“Proper animal care is important to me, personally, and I agreed to take the job leading this company because I saw a genuine commitment to improvement. Much has changed at Culver Duck Farms and more work needs to be done, but we are dedicating ourselves every day to providing excellent animal care.”