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Animal Cruelty In Perdue Farms

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Throughout the Perdue farms across the country, there has been evidence of overcrowding and unethical treatment to the chickens kept in the barns. This past December, footage of workers stomping on the necks of chickens in a North Carolina Perdue chicken farm was released by Mercy for Animals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty in the food industry (“Watch”). With the introduction of this video, the organization stated that the only direct solution to this problem is to become vegetarian, but I refuse to believe that that is the only option. I am personally concerned with what foods and chemicals I am putting into my body, and it makes me uncomfortable knowing that I am consuming chicken that has been covered in …show more content…

The employees are not the only ones to blame as “Frank Perdue is directly responsible for more animal suffering and deaths than perhaps any other human in history” (“Frank Perdue’s Legacy”). Since the emergence of chicken farming, Frank Perdue has been at the forefront of it all. He developed many of the cruel techniques that are now used throughout the chicken farming industry. Because of these techniques, the inhumane killing of billions of chickens are at hands of Perdue and his company. (“Frank Perdue’s Legacy”). This killing happens prematurely in the barns as well because of the workers’ ignorance to the chickens’ …show more content…

According to Farm Sanctuary, the chickens, and the large barns they are raised in, are covered in feces. Even under these conditions, Perdue still believes they are healthy enough for human consumption (“Factory Farming”). Over the years, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has travelled around the country to protest with other disgruntled Perdue employees. During one of their protests at the Perdue slaughterhouse in Salisbury, Maryland, Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA president, came across chickens dying from heatstroke in exposed crates. After further investigation, she found that if the chickens can’t handle the unethical conditions created by the employees and are dead, dying, diseased, or disabled, they will be thrown like lifeless beings into bins labelled “4D” (“Frank Perdue’s Legacy”). The awful fact of the matter is that most of the chickens are disabled as the majority of them suffer from broken bones. This occurs because of the rapid breast growth the company sets as standards for production. The number of hormones and antibiotics that the company infuses into the chickens makes them grow at abnormally fast rates. The normal chicken’s life span is about ten to fifteen years (“Frank Perdue’s Legacy”). Perdue typically slaughters its chickens once they reach the age of two months. At this age, their breast size is approximately the same as a ten-year-old

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