America’s Turkey Farmers Are Committed to Animal Welfare
December 30, 2011 – A video released this week by an extreme animal rights group has led to allegations of animal cruelty on a turkey farm in Hoke County, NC. Viewers of the video should be aware that the vegan organization behind it, Mercy for Animals, is not truly concerned with issues of animal welfare, but in promoting a radical agenda. Its sole mission is to eliminate all animal agriculture.
Mercy For Animals Executive Director Nathan Runkle stated at a recent animal rights conference that “the lifeblood of Mercy For Animals is our undercover investigations of animal agriculture”. These investigations are not made with the goal of improving animal well-being. They are conducted to fundraise while attempting to run farmers and ranchers out of business with bad press and legislation.
In all animal agriculture industries, well-defined policies and practices are implemented with animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and food safety in mind. Butterball, LLC follows the National Turkey Federation’s Animal Welfare Guidelines and is committed to meeting or exceeding all turkey industry standards.
If you would like to learn more about today’s turkey farms, visit the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Youtube channel to watch a collection of videos, including farm tours and interviews with the people who care for their animals and the environment everyday – farmers and ranchers.
The Alliance has long condemned the abuse and mistreatment of animals raised for food and works to promote animal care guidelines on all farms across the United States. We believe the severest penalties allowed by law should be imposed on all parties found to be involved in animal abuse, as well as those who failed to stop and report these actions immediately to the proper authorities.
The Alliance believes it is critical that all food producers provide the best care and handling of their animals at all times. Farm operators should implement animal care policies, carefully screen potential employees, and hold all workers accountable for their actions. And the public should demand equal accountability from animal rights groups who hire activists to do “undercover” investigations yet fail to report alleged abuse to proper authorities at the time it occurs. Their irresponsible actions undermine established protocols to protect both the animals, employees, and food safety.
The Alliance also wishes to remind consumers that unfounded criticisms of the agriculture industry as a whole threaten both America’s farm families and our nation’s food security. For more information about farmers’ and ranchers’ commitment to animal care and to learn more about the real motives of animal rights extremist organizations, visit the Animal Agriculture Alliance website at www.animalagalliance.org.
About the Alliance:
The Animal Agriculture Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is a broad-based coalition of individual farmers and ranchers, producer organizations, veterinarians, scientists, suppliers, packer-processors, private industry and retailers. The Alliance’s mission is to communicate the important role of animal
agriculture to our nation’s economy, productivity, vitality, security and that animal well-being is central to producing safe, high quality, affordable food and other products essential to our daily lives. Find the Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.
Category: Press Releases
Tag: Mercy for Animals, Turkey,