The largest pork producer in the state of Iowa has killed thousands of pigs by the mass-extermination method. The producer stated that it is due to the coronavirus-fueled oversupply. The pigs were slowly roasted and were suffocated, according to an investigation that was revealed on May 29.
Mass extermination caught on cam
The farmers of Iowa Select Farms used the "ventilation shutdown" method where they closed off the airways to the pigs and they pumped hot steam into the barns overnight to slowly suffocate them, according to the new site The Intercept. The whole incident was caught on a surveillance camera.
The footage showed how the pigs slowly succumbed to death after they cried out for hours. The temperature in the farms was more than 120 degrees. It was also revealed that there were some animals that survived the extermination and spent the night surrounded by dozens of pig corpses.
According to Des Moines Register, the farmers shut the ventilation fans off and deliberately heat up the building. It was a horrific plan but the farms have been euthanizing the animals for months.
The method was being practiced by the farm since April in their attempt to depopulate the pigs because meat processing plants were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A whistleblower said that the pig farm did a number of experiments before they proceeded with the method. According to the whistleblower, the first thing that the farmers did was shut off all of the fans, then they turned the heat up as hottest as they could, which was 120 degrees.
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The employees left the farm for five hours, yet when they came back, the pigs were still alive. They then added steam into the building, aside from leaving the ventilation off and increasing the temperature. That was how the farm came up with the method.
Since April, other farms in the US began killing newborn piglets, gassing chickens, and giving the cows abortions because of the unbalanced supply and demand chain, according to NY Post.
Animal rights group infuriated
Direct Action Everywhere stated that the pigs were crying in agony after the farm shut down the ventilation to euthanize them. The CEO of the Iowa Select Farms, Jeff Hansen, said that they've used every possible option before they decided to euthanize the animals.
Hansen added that the employees were in pain knowing that they had to make the heartbreaking decision. The organization Direct Action Everywhere said that they are working with the whistleblower to film the employees of the company secretly.
The company later confirmed that the video showing the mass-extermination of the pigs was taken at the Grundy Center facility where Iowa Select pigs were taken to be killed.
Hansen said in a statement that the animal rights group infiltrated their facility and installed cameras to record the euthanasia process and employees.
According to the state, around 600,000 pigs in Iowa could be destroyed as they can't be processed into food. Iowa is the largest pork producer in the US, as the state raises 50 million pigs every year.
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