Guilty! Turkey factory farm convicted of animal cruelty following shocking undercover video

Hybrid Turkeys Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty Following Hidden-Camera Footage from Mercy For Animals Canada Showing Turkeys Punched, Thrown, Kicked, and Beaten

WOODSTOCK, ON, Aug.24, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Hybrid Turkeys, the world's largest primary turkey breeder, pled guilty to one count of animal cruelty under the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act late last week. This conviction stems from video footage released by Mercy For Animals Canada in early 2014 showing several Hybrid Turkeys employees kicking and throwing turkeys, crushing their spines, and viciously beating them with shovels and metal rods as well as turkeys with gaping, pus-filled wounds and rotting eyes left to suffer and die.

This conviction marks the first time that a Canadian factory farm has been found guilty of animal cruelty as a result of hidden-camera footage obtained by an animal protection organization. Hybrid Turkeys was fined $5,600 payable to the Ontario Court.

Mercy For Animals Canada is now calling on the National Farm Animal Care Council, the Canadian agricultural industry organization that establishes codes of practice for producers, to amend the turkey codes to ensure that all sick or injured birds be provided with immediate treatment by a qualified veterinarian; the turkey industry immediately stop breeding turkeys to grow so rapidly they become crippled under their own weight; and video monitoring systems be installed in all facilities that handle farmed animals and footage streamed live onto the internet in an effort to help prevent abuse.

"This case graphically illustrates the cruel, inhumane, and illegal abuses that turkeys and other farmed animals are forced to endure on Canada's factory farms," said Mercy For Animals Canada's president, Nathan Runkle. "While we praise law enforcement for securing a landmark cruelty conviction in this case of horrific animal abuse, the meager fine doesn't fit the crime. This factory farm got a slap on the wrist for clubbing animals over the head. We must do more to protect animals on factory farms from sickening cruelty."

To view the undercover video, visit www.TurkeyTorture.ca.

SOURCE Mercy For Animals Canada

Krista Hiddema: 416-666-3093