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Pork companies respond to HSUS allegations
Story Date: 2/1/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 2/1/12
Seaboard Foods Inc. and Prestage Farms Inc. said a video that the Humane Society of the United States released Tuesday to expose alleged abuse of pigs on their farms in Oklahoma rather affirms their commitment to proper and humane treatment of animals.
HSUS claimed such abuses as hitting animals with iron rods, but the video, the companies said, didn’t show any such abuse and instead stands as another of the activist organization’s salvos against sow gestation crates.
In a statement, officials at Shawnee Mission, Kan.-based Seaboard Foods said they “strongly dispute” the allegations. Temple Grandin, who also is quoted in the video, is quoting in the Seaboard statement as saying “there was no bad behavior by people” in the operations depicted at Seaboard Foods.
“We are pleased that our employees are following proper industry-supported protocols and procedures,” Seaboard President and CEO Terry Holton said.
Clinton, N.C.-based Prestage Farms said it has launched an internal investigation to determine whether any of its employees abused animals and whether to take necessary actions, but head veterinarian Ron Prestage told Meatingplace that after multiple viewings of the video he saw nothing that would constitute abuse.
“The video’s focus is primarily on the use of gestation stalls and depicts this production practice as being cruel to the animal,” the company said. “Prestage Farms has production systems for both group housing and individual housing. We respect the right of farmers to use different housing systems because we know that good animal care is the result of the individual commitment of those who care for the animals as well as sound production practices. Whether raised in groups or individual housing, we are committed to sound animal care.”
Seaboard also said it uses both stalls and group pens to house gestating sows.
“Animal welfare experts and professional groups have found no one method for housing gestating sows that is clearly better than the other when managed properly,” the company said, noting that it continues to research best management practies for alternative sow housing in its system.
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