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Butterball fires four employees for animal cruelty
Story Date: 2/16/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 2/16/12
Butterball LLC officials said Wednesday that the company has fired four employees found to have violated its animal welfare standards at a turkey breeder farm in Shannon, N.C.
The terminations followed a December raid on the facility by Hoke County law officers, prompted by a Mercy for Animals video showing employees beating turkeys.
Butterball said three of the four former employees have been charged with animal cruelty. Additionally, two current Butterball employees have been charged with animal cruelty, and the company has suspended them pending final disciplinary action.
“Animal care and well-being are central to who Butterball is as a company, and we are committed to the care and well-being of our turkey flocks,” Butterball CEO Rod Brenneman said. “We are closely re-evaluating our animal care and well-being policies and practices and have already established several new initiatives – including reviewing scientific literature and enhancing the company program, re-training associates on animal care and well-being, elevating animal care and well-being to a position that reports directly to me, and conducting extensive third-party audits by national experts – that reinforce this commitment.”
As another fallout of the incident, Sarah Mason, director of animal health programs in the N.C. state agriculture department’s poultry division, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor charges related to initially failing to answer investigators truthfully about leaking information about their impending probe to a Butterball employee.
Mason admitted to informing a Butterball employee about the video and that it had been turned over to the Hoke County District Attorney’s office, according to her department’s statement. The statement clarifies, however, that Mason "did not tell anyone that Hoke County authorities were conducting a criminal investigation as a result of the video, nor was she aware or did she tell anyone that there was going to be a search warrant served at any of [Butterball's] facilities."
Mason received a two-week suspension without pay, effective Monday. In addition, she has to attend ethics training courses specific to relations with regulated businesses, and have monthly meetings with her supervisor to review industry contacts.
Butterball said the company cooperated with Hoke County investigators in their probe of Mason.
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