{"id":1072,"date":"2016-07-22T10:07:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T14:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2016-07-22T15:57:21","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T19:57:21","slug":"death-and-drugs-at-a-farmer-john-pig-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/?p=1072","title":{"rendered":"Death and Drugs at a Farmer John Pig Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>

The Hormel Foods-owned Farmer John slaughterhouse\u00a0and\u00a0processing plant in Vernon, CA, just south of downtown L.A., is known for its colorful mural of happy pigs enjoying themselves on lush green fields under a bright blue sky. But the pigs inside the 900,000-square-foot facility are anything but happy; and the Hormel-owned farm in Kings County, CA, 180 miles northeast of LA, where 150,000 pigs spend their short six-month lives without ever setting foot outdoors, is nothing the company wants consumers to see.<\/p>\n

\"Pigs<\/a>

Pigs at the Hormel-owned Farmer John farm were found covered with dirt and feces. \u00a0Photo\u00a0by DxE.<\/p><\/div>\n

A recent eight-month investigation from mid-2015 into early 2016\u00a0conducted\u00a0by the international animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) found and documented filthy, inhumane overcrowding at the pig farm, just outside Corcoran, CA.<\/p>\n

Investigators documented at least five different antibiotic drugs administered to the pigs through their water or food, despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that this practice has produced antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a serious hazard to human and animal health.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/a>

Former “Baywatch” star and longtime activist Alexandra Paul rescuing a\u00a0pig at Farmer John farm. Photo by DxE.<\/p><\/div>\n

DxE engages in \u201copen rescue,\u201d which was pioneered in Australia by the animal rights activist Patty Mark. During an open rescue, activists walk into a farm or slaughterhouse in the middle of the night, document the conditions using high-quality video and still cameras, and rescue one or more sick or injured animals to receive veterinary care. When the results of the investigation are released to the public, the activists publicly announce themselves, stepping forward to talk about what they saw.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen rescue differs from other forms of investigatory work in that we do not attempt to trick farmers into getting access to the farms,\u201d said Wayne Hsiung, DxE co-founder and lead investigator. \u201cWe just walk right in. We don\u2019t wear masks. And our central goal is not just to document but to rescue. We share the stories of the individuals we rescue because we know that stories \u2014 powerful, emotional narratives \u2014 can transform the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

Large\u00a0abscesses were found on many of the pigs at the farm. Photo by DxE.<\/p><\/div>\n

Footage<\/a> shot by DxE shows pigs crowded so tightly they can\u00a0barely move. In some cases, piglets are seen eating other still living piglets. Many of the animals have tennis ball-sized abscesses, and documents found by DxE at the facility indicate that pigs there suffer twice the rate of infections allowed by Hormel\u2019s own quality-control standards.<\/p>\n

According to DxE\u2019s investigative report, \u201cSuperbugs in<\/a>\u00a0America\u2019s Pig Farms,\u201d<\/a> released in late June, \u201cmany pigs were covered with feces\u201d and investigators witnessed \u201clame animals being trampled to death and piles of dead piglets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hormel, one of the biggest pork suppliers in the nation, pioneered the use of antibiotic drugs beginning in 1950 to speed the growth of pigs, and they\u2019ve been using massive amounts of antibiotics to fatten animals and keep them alive in unhealthy indoor environments ever since. Shortly after Hormel scientists discovered the growth promoting property of antibiotics, the rest of the pork industry began using them at their own farms.<\/p>\n

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some 80 percent of all antibiotics in this country are used on animals raised for food. Typically, they are not administered to sick individuals but rather delivered to an entire facility to not only prevent disease in significantly unhealthy environments but to promote animal growth.<\/p>\n

Despite being dosed with these drugs, many of Hormel\u2019s Farmer John pork products are billed as \u201cnatural\u201d (the company has an entire \u201cCalifornia Natural\u201d<\/a> line). Stores that sell Farmer John brand meat include Wal-Mart, Target, Sam\u2019s Club, Bel Air, Food Maxx, Vons, Ralphs, Lucky, Safeway and Costco. Farmer John also produces the LA Dodgers\u2019 high-profile Dodger Dogs.<\/p>\n

At Hormel\u2019s 420-acre Farmer John farm outside Corcoran, DxE investigators discovered that pigs were being fed Pre-11 Pellet Mx whose active ingredient, Carbadox, has been found to be carcinogenic, even at trace levels (the FDA, in early April, began the process of banning it). In its report, DxE wrote that a United Nations\/World Health Organization agency, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, has determined that there is no safe level of residues of carbadox or its metabolites in food that represents an acceptable risk to consumers.<\/p>\n

In addition to carbodox, internal documents from the farm show that the pigs receive the antibiotics NeoMed 325 (Neomycin), GenGard (Gentamicin), Pennchlor 4 (tetracycline) and Penicillin G Potassium in their water.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Robert S. Lawrence, an M.D. and the director of the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Consumer Reports<\/em>, \u201cWhen you give low-dose antibiotics for growth promotion or for prophylaxis of infection, you end up killing off the susceptible bacteria, whether they\u2019re E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter,<\/em> or other bacteria. And you continue to select for those bacteria that, through spontaneous mutations or transfer of genes from other resistant bacteria, allow them to be resistant to antibiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n

DxE cited a Consumer Reports<\/em> 2013 investigation that found that 69% of the pork chops and ground pork sampled from farms including Hormel, Hormel Natural Choice and Farmer John tested positive for Yersinia enterocolitica,<\/em> a bacterium that can cause fever, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and arthritis. Additionally, Salmonella,<\/em> Staphylococcus aureus<\/em> or Listeria monocytogenes<\/em> were found in three to seven percent of the samples, and Enterococcus<\/em> was found in 11 percent. Some of the bacteria were found to be resistant to multiple drugs or classes of drugs.<\/p>\n

At the Farmer John farm, DxE investigators took multiple\u00a0samples from open wounds on the pigs that tested positive for Campylobacter <\/em>(a gastrointestinal infection that can be fatal for humans) and an antibiotic resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus <\/em>(which kills about 11,000 people in the US each year, according to the CDC).<\/em><\/p>\n

Not only can antibiotic-resistant bacteria be transmitted to humans via animal food products and produce that has been fertilized with manure, but the bacteria can also travel in the air.<\/p>\n

The American Medical Association, the World Health Organizaiton, the CDC, the FDA, the American Public Health Association and the Pew Charitable Trust Foundation all oppose the use of sub-therapeutic antibiotics to farmed animals.<\/p>\n

DxE investigators described a stench inside and outside the Farmer John barns that was more powerful than anything they\u2019d ever encountered. \u201cThe smell was sickening, a combination of filth and rotten flesh,\u201d Hsiung said. \u201cThe odor was so powerful that it stayed in our hair and on our\u00a0equipment for days afterwards,\u201d even after repeat washings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Pigs could barely move at the Farmer John farm. Photo by DxE.<\/p><\/div>\n

The DxE report also notes that \u201cthe cries, screams and squeals of the animals were almost deafening.\u201d More shocking \u201cwere the thousands and thousands of pigs packed shoulder to shoulder in hundreds of disgusting and filthy pens.\u201d<\/p>\n

DxE investigators \u201csaw numerous dead bodies and pigs who were lame and\/or languishing. A large number of the pigs were panting \u2014 an indication of difficulty breathing and acute distress. Some of the pigs were suffering from prolapse, a gruesome condition which is fatal if not treated where the uterus or intestines fall out of the pig\u2019s body.\u201d<\/p>\n

A doctor of veterinary science, Sherstin Rosenberg, stated in the DxE report, \u201cIt is my professional opinion, based upon viewing the video file provided, that the animals at the facility are being subjected to systematic animal cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the investigation, a Hormel spokesperson said in a statement, \u201cA third-party auditor completed an on-site assessment within 24 hours of the [DxE] video\u2019s release. The farm passed the audit and no animal welfare concerns were identified.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

DxE members found and rescued one piglet that was sick, and being eaten by other, much larger pigs, naming her Miley after the pop star and animal-rights advocate. \u201cThe investigators felt morally compelled to remove the piglet and rush her to receive veterinary care, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and septic arthritis,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

\"DxE<\/a>

DxE investigator Samer Masterson with one of the rescued pigs. Photo by Michael Goldberg.<\/p><\/div>\n

Miley, now healthy, lives with another rescued pig at an animal sanctuary which the DxE investigatory team visited in late February of 2016. The two pigs had the run of the place, where a number of dogs, as well as chickens and other rescued animals live. After munching on some broccoli in the sanctuary kitchen, Miley played with a treat dispenser toy, while the other rescued pig flopped on a dog bed for an afternoon snooze.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she enjoys having the freedom to go where she wants,\u201d said a sanctuary worker. \u201cShe goes on adventures in search of food and there\u2019s a shady spot under the Cyprus trees where she likes to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miley ran out through an open doorway to a field where she began rooting in the dirt, an activity that was\u00a0impossible at\u00a0Farmer John.<\/p>\n

\u201cDxE is trying to bring liberation to life, to put liberation in action,\u201d Hsiung said, watching her. \u201cIt nearly broke some of our team members to leave [tens of thousands of pigs] behind. We knew [going in] that we could only save a handful. But for the ones we could save, it meant everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may take a generation,\u201d Hsiung continued, \u201cbut we expect to see a day where this sort of abuse is no longer allowed and every one of these animals can be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Goldberg is a former\u00a0<\/em>Rolling Stone\u00a0Senior Writer. He is an animal rights activist and a member of\u00a0<\/em>DxE<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. His first novel,\u00a0<\/em>True Love Scars<\/strong><\/a>, was published in 2014; his second,\u00a0<\/em>The Flowers Lied<\/strong>, was published in March 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n

Leslie Goldberg, a former <\/em>San Francisco Examiner reporter who was nominated for a Pulitzer, contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An investigation by the international animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) found filthy, inhumane overcrowding at a Farmer John farm, a brand owned by Hormel that produces the popular LA Dodgers’ Dodger Dogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[89],"tags":[12,38,147,151,150,132],"class_list":["post-1072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-antibiotics","tag-direct-action-everywhere","tag-dxe","tag-farmer-john","tag-hormel","tag-pigs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/7-Dodger_Dog_by_Farmer_John1-e1469217342761.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p54Vzk-hi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1102,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions\/1102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}