Compassion Over Killing Investigations
COK’s powerful undercover animal cruelty investigations shine a bright light on cruelties kept hidden behind the closed doors of animal agribusiness. In addition to garnering international media coverage reaching millions of viewers, our video exposés have led to a slaughterhouse shutdown, animal cruelty charges, groundbreaking lawsuits, and animal rescues. Please watch and share the footage below.
PA: Nightmare Behind Nestlé
Date: April 2019
Location: Pennsylvania
Working inside Martin Farms, a Pennsylvania dairy factory farm, COK’s investigator documented senseless and violent abuse of mother cows and their defenseless calves. This is some of the worst abuse we’ve ever documented, and yet it also shows practices representative of what life is like for animals on a typical dairy farm.
In this case, COK’s investigator followed a truck from this factory farm to an ice cream facility, owned by the world’s largest dairy company: Nestlé, the maker of ice cream brands including Dreyer’s, Edy’s, and Häagen-Dazs.
COK’s video exposes:
- “Downed” cows, unable to walk or stand, hoisted by their hips with metal clamps, to be moved or chained and dragged by tractor
- A manager shooting a “downed” cow in the head, who remains conscious for almost a minute before she’s finally shot for the last time
- Farm manager sadistically stabbing a cow with a sharp instrument in a botched attempt to supposedly treat a stomach ailment. The cow bleeds heavily and receives no pain relief or veterinary care.
- “Downed” cows abused, killed, and butchered on site, the meat distributed to workers in garbage bags
- Workers spraying cows in the face with scalding hot water to force them to move faster
- A cow with a teat that had been sliced off, bleeding as she’s being milked
- Cows, many sick and injured, being hit, stomped on, or kicked by workers
- Cows suffering bloody, painful uterine prolapses and open sores denied vet care
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
MD: High-Speed Chicken Slaughterhouse
Date: November 2018
Location: Maryland
This gut-wrenching video filmed by a Compassion Over Killing investigator working inside Amick Farms reveals egregious cruelty at this USDA-approved high-speed chicken slaughterhouse.
COK’s powerful investigation broke in a hard-hitting story from The Washington Post.
Amick Farms is one of 24 chicken plants running at slaughter line speeds of up t0 175 birds killed each minute under the US Dept. of Agriculture’s high-speed slaughter program.
COK’s video exposes:
- Workers punching, shoving, or throwing birds down the quickly moving line
- Birds slowly drowning in electrified stunning baths during equipment break-down
- Evidence of birds who were scalded alive in vats of hot water
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
NC: Factory Farms Hit by Hurricane Florence
Date: September 2018
Location: North Carolina
Compassion Over Killing investigators were on the ground and in the air in North Carolina to document the devastation on countless factory farms in the wake of Hurricane Florence.
This powerful video reveals how the severe toll of this deadly storm was multiplied by factory farms.
Massive manure lagoons have overflown, spilling tons of untreated waste into waterways and surrounding communities.
Abandoned in locked cages and sheds, with no chance to escape the rising waters of the relentless floods, millions of farmed animals — treated as mere commodities — were simply left to die.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
VA: Chicken Factory Farm
Date: December 2017
Facility: Atlantic Farm
Location: Temperanceville, VA
This heart-wrenching video, featured in a powerful breaking exclusive by the Washington Post, exposes shocking abuse of birds, including the painful effects of rapid growth, at a Virginia factory farm supplying Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest chicken producer.
COK’s video reveals:
- Workers violently kicking, slamming, or throwing live birds
- A worker impaling live chicks with a metal nail at the end of a pipe
- Birds run over and crushed to death by forklifts
- Workers killing sick or injured birds by stepping on them
- Sick or injured birds piled on top of each other in buckets, often with dead birds, and left to suffer and die
- Birds unable to walk because of by painful leg injuries or deformities related to rapid growth
This latest investigation marks the second time in little more than a year that COK has exposed horrific cruelty to birds within the poultry giant’s supply chain.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
PA: Dairy Factory Farm
Date: May 2017
Facility: Mason Dixon Farms
Location: Gettysburg, PA
This heartbreaking video reveals violent abuse of gentle mothers cows at Mason Dixon, a supplier to some of the biggest names in dairy.
The first dairy facility to implement “robo-milking” of cows by machine, Mason Dixon supplies Land O’Lakes and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).
COK’s undercover footage reveals:
- egregious cruelty to animals: cows being kicked in the face, punched in their udders, excessively shocked, jabbed, and having their tails twisted or bent
- cows living in hazardous conditions, routinely getting stuck on water troughs or inside stalls
- worker safety concerns: workers handling formaldehyde with no protective clothing or masks
Genetically manipulated to produce huge quantities of milk, dairy cows are sometimes also given bovine growth hormones that unnaturally boost milk production even more. Cows at Mason Dixon produce up to 25 gallons of milk a day, more than twice the amount on other dairy factory farms.
To keep producing milk, dairy cows are continually artificially inseminated. Time and again, their newborn calves are taken away, and the milk intended for these baby animals is sold for human consumption.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
CA: Lamb Slaughterhouse
Date: February 2017
Facility: Superior Farms
Location: Dixon, CA
This video filmed by a Compassion Over Killing undercover investigator offers the first hidden-camera look inside a US lamb slaughterhouse. At Superior Farms, the largest lamb producer and a supplier to the nation’s top two food retailers: Walmart and Kroger, COK documented egregious cruelty to young lambs and alarming food labeling practices.
Our footage uncovers:
- Multiple violations of the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act
- Ineffective stunning, leading to some animals experiencing the shock of the electric stunner more than once
- Even after having their throats cut, many lambs are kicking or thrashing their heads – signs they can feel pain – as their tails are cut off
- Workers changing “best by” dates on refrigerated meat labels, deceiving consumers about the freshness of the products.
Each year, approximately 2 million sheep are slaughtered for food in the US, yet until now there has not been an undercover look inside this industry. The story of COK’s gut-wrenching video first broke in a powerful exclusive in The New York Times.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
VA: Tyson chicken breeding factory farm
Date: August 2016
Facility: Tyson Foods (contract farms)
Location: Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Buckingham Counties, VA
In 2016, a Compassion Over Killing investigator wore a hidden camera while working behind the closed doors of several Tyson chicken breeding facilities throughout Virginia. We uncovered the brutal and unnecessary practice of “boning,”–which, due to our investigation, Tyson has since discontinued. Our video footage also uncovered the following day-to-day horrors:
- Tyson workers and even a supervisor torturously suffocating birds by standing on their heads
- Tyson workers punching and kicking live birds
- Birds being crushed to death by transport crates and run over by forklifts
- Workers shoving and slamming birds into transport cages
Each year in the U.S., approximately 9 billion chickens are abused and killed for food. Yet, until now, little was known about the conditions of breeder chickens. Our undercover footage reveals that these “parent flocks” suffer some of the worst abuses in the chicken industry.
Aug. 2017 update: COK’s video prompts unprecedented cruelty charges & convictions.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
MN: Pig Slaughterhouse
Date: October 2015
Facility: Quality Pork Processors, Inc. (exclusive supplier to Hormel Foods)
Location: Austin, Minnesota
In 2015, a Compassion Over Killing investigator wore a hidden camera while working behind the closed doors of a Minnesota pig slaughter plant which kills and processes animals for Hormel. This plant is one of the largest pig slaughterhouses in the U.S., and one of five plants enrolled in a pilot USDA program that allows for faster processing speeds with reduced government inspection. Our video footage uncovers the following day-to-day horrors:
- animals being beaten, shocked, dragged, and improperly stunned—all out of view of the few government inspectors
- sick and injured pigs unable to walk, known as “downers,” enduring particularly egregious abuses, since they cannot walk to the kill floor
- pigs covered in feces or pus-filled abscesses being slaughtered and processed for meat with a USDA inspection seal of approval
Each year in the U.S., more than 130 million pigs are shipped to slaughterhouses like QPP, where they will spend their last moments in terror and agony. Our undercover footage shows that abuse is systemic in the industry—and that minimal government oversight at slaughterhouses like QPP has devastating consequences for animals, workers, and consumers.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
CA: Turkey Hatchery
Date: March – April 2015
Facility: Foster Farms
Location: Fresno, CA
In 2015, a Compassion Over Killing investigator wore a hidden camera while working behind the closed doors of a California turkey hatchery owned by Foster Farms — one of the top poultry producers in the U.S. Our video footage uncovers the following day-to-day horrors:
- Newly-hatched chicks having their sensitive toes and beaks mutilated without pain relief
- Unwanted chicks being dumped into a giant blender-like machine, which grinds them up alive
- Other “inedible” chicks being slowly and ineffectively suffocated in cheap plastic bags
- Live baby birds with grotesque injuries left to suffer without euthanasia for prolonged periods
Each year in the US, more than 300 million baby turkeys are hatched and abused in hatcheries like this one. The undercover footage reveals that abuse is systemic in the industry—even among companies like Foster Farms that tout their commitment to “humane” values.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
NC: Chicken Slaughterhouse
Date: March – April 2015
Facility: Mountaire Farms
Location: Robeson County, NC
In 2015, a Compassion Over Killing investigator wore a hidden camera while working behind the closed doors of a North Carolina chicken slaughterhouse owned by Mountaire Farms, Inc. — the seventh largest chicken producer in the U.S. Our video footage uncovers the following day-to-day horrors:
- Birds being violently thrown around the facility
- Workers punching, shoving, and pushing birds who are hanging, upside-down in shackles
- A worker ripping out bird’s feathers and throwing them at another worker
- Birds being forcefully slammed into leg shackles
- Sick or injured birds being thrown into piles of dead and other dying birds like garbage material
Each year in the US, more than 8 billion chickens are abused and killed in slaughterhouses like this one. Yet, the North Carolina poultry industry is working feverishly to pass an “ag-gag” law in the state, to shield companies like Mountaire from investigations that would reveal animal abuse and other wrong-doings occurring behind their closed doors.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
NC: Chicken Factory Farm
Date: June 2014
Facility: Pilgrim’s Corp.
Location: Harnett County, NC
In early 2014, a Compassion Over Killing investigator wore a hidden camera while working behind the closed doors of a North Carolina chicken factory that supplies Pilgrim’s Corp. (formerly known as Pilgrim’s Pride) — the second-largest chicken producer in the world. Typically kept hidden from public view, our video footage uncovers the following day-to-day horrors:
- birds suffering from painful leg deformities, unable to walk
- sick or injured birds thrown around
- unwanted birds stuffed into buckets with dead or decaying corpses
- unwanted birds, many who are sick or injured, buried alive in mass graves
Each year in the US, more than 8 billion chickens are raised and killed for their meat, and countless more suffer and die before even reaching the slaughterhouse. Much of the suffering these birds endure results from standard industry practices. Few people have seen the daily miseries these baby birds are forced to endure — until now.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
MN: Turkey Breeding Factory
Date: November 2013
Facility: Hargin Inc., a turkey breeding factory farm
Location: Starbuck, MN
In 2013, a COK undercover investigator worked inside Hargin, Inc., a turkey breeding factory farm in Minnesota where an estimated 25,000 female turkeys are locked inside filthy, overcrowded sheds. These hens will spend their lives being artificially inseminated over and over again to continually lay eggs that will hatch young turkeys to be raised and slaughtered for food.
Sadly, these birds often get their wings, heads, or feet stuck in the mechanical nesting boxes — causing severe injuries as the desperately try to free themselves. To make matters worse, the squalid, cramped conditions cause many hens to suffer from various ailments, such as severe irritations covering their heads and faces. As is standard in the industry, sick and injured birds are typically left to suffer without veterinary care.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
CO: Dairy Calf-Raising Facility
Date: November 2013
Facility: Quanah Cattle Co., a calf-raising facility
Location: Kersey, CO
A COK undercover investigator uncovered egregious abuse to newborn calves inside Quanah Cattle Co., an animal agribusiness company that purchases calves from surrounding dairy factories and temporarily confines them before shipping them out to be raised for their meat.
Just days old, many of these calves – some of whom still have their umbilical cords hanging from their bodies – are too feeble or frightened to walk steadily, and our investigation documented these fragile animals being dragged by their legs, pulled by their ears, lifted by their tails, thrown, kicked, and slammed.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
PA: Chicken Hatchery
Date: October 2013
Facility: Bell & Evans., a chicken hatchery
Location: Belleville, PA
A Compassion Over Killing investigator worked inside a chicken hatchery owned by Bell & Evans, a company that prides itself for its so-called “humane animal welfare.” Our undercover video, however, exposes the harsh realities forced upon these baby birds on their very first day of life as they emerge from their shells, destined to be raised for their meat.
Inside this Bell & Evans facility, where an estimated 20 million baby birds are hatched each year, our video shows chicks being treated like mere inanimate objects — some unwanted baby birds are even ground up alive.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
CA: Dairy Cow Slaughter Plant
Date: August 2012
Facility: Central Valley Meat Co., a cow slaughterhouse
Location: Hanford, California
A COK investigator working inside Central Valley Meat Co. in June and July of 2012, documented inhumane treatment, improper slaughter methods, and intentional cruelty forced upon these animals in the last moments of their lives, including:
– Downed cows, unable to walk to the kill floor, shot in the head and workers often walking away while the animal continues to struggle and kick
– Some downed cows who were still alive after being shot in the head were then suffocated by workers who stood on their mouths and nostrils preventing the cows from breathing
– Cows being tortured – repeatedly hit, jabbed, electrically shocked, and sprayed with hot water – in a narrow chute leading to the kill floor.
Following our investigation, which received large-scale media coverage including features on ABC World News Tonight and by the Associated Press, the USDA temporarily shut down the slaughter plant. McDonald’s, In-N-Out and Costco also severed supply ties with the facility.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
IA: Pig Breeding Factory Farm
Date: February 2012
Facility: Hawkeye Sow Centers, a pig breeding factory farm
Location: Leland, Iowa
A COK undercover investigator to documented the day-to-day miseries forced upon thousands of female pigs at this facility—who are intensively confined in tiny crates where they can’t even turn around—and their piglets, who endure painful mutilations without any relief. The video footage revealed:
– Poorly performed castrations that resulted in herniated intestines
– Workers pushing the herniated intestines back inside the piglets, then wrapping the area with tape
– Countless sick or injured piglets left to suffer without veterinary care, many of whom later died
– Sows languishing with uterine prolapses and later dying
– Forced cannibalism: intestines from dead piglets are pulled out and turned into “gruel” to feed back to pigs
– Layers of feces caked on the floor of crates and filthy, fly-infested conditions
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
CA: Chicken & Duck Hatchery
Date: 2009
Facility: Cal-Cruz Hatcheries, a chick and duckling hatchery
Location: Santa Cruz, California
COK’s investigator witnessed and painstakingly documented miserable conditions forced upon thousands of newly hatched birds at Cal-Cruz Hatcheries, including:
– A chick drowning in a bucket of liquid waste
– Birds entangled in machinery
– Sick or severely injured birds left to suffer for hours
– Unwanted hatchlings dumped down the egg shell disposal chute, then sprayed with a high-pressure hose
– Birds thrown five to six feet across the room into buckets where they often languished for hours
Following the COK investigation, the hatchery was permanently shut down, and 88 ducklings were taken from the hatchery. While several of these newly-hatched birds were too sick or injured to survive, more than two dozen were given a new chance at life at a nearby sanctuary.
In court, COK argued that the evidence documented in this undercover video of the hatchery constituted unlawful animal cruelty, in violation of the California Business and Professions Code, undermining the integrity of the market. The legal settlement reached marks the first time allegations of animal cruelty were successfully resolved using this civil law.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
MN: Egg Factory Farm
Date: August 2009
Facility: Michael Foods, an egg factory farm
Location: Minnesota
At Michael Foods, a COK investigator documented horrific abuses including:
– Hens immobilized in the wires of their cages, unable to access food or water
– Decomposing and “mummified” corpses left in cages with live birds
– A Michael Foods employee decapitating a hen
Michael Foods supplies eggs to several national restaurant chains, including Dunkin’ Donuts. Compassion Over Killing has reached out to Dunkin Donuts numerous times to inquire about the treatment of hens in its supply chain and to encourage the company to make meaningful changes for by making vegan donuts.
***Read more about this investigation and urge Dunkin Donuts to offer a vegan donut***
NY: Foie Gras Farm
Date: 2008
Facility: Hudson Valley Farms, a Foie Gras farm
Location: Ferndale, New York
During a white-gloved, guided tour, a COK investigator documented the sheer barbarity of the foie gras industry. What our investigator documented can only be described as a torture chamber for birds. The undercover footage shows:
– Pipes being shoved down ducks’ throats and food pumped into their stomachs
– Ducks grabbed by their wings, shackled upside down, and their throats slit
COK is currently involved in a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for allowing the sale of foie gras since it is a diseased poultry product.
***Watch our VIDEO and read more***
NJ: Egg Factory Farm
Date: 2007
Facility: ISE-America, an egg factory farm
Location: New Jersey
The undercover footage at this facility shows:
– Birds overcrowded in cages
– Severely decomposing birds left in cages with live birds
– Ill birds denied individual veterinary care
– Hens stuck in between the wires of their cages, unable to access food and water
Eggs coming from this facility included a logo marking them as “Animal Care Certified.” Following the investigation, COK filed a lawsuit against the industry trade group United Egg Producers (UEP) and ISE America alleging violations of consumer protection laws based on the continued use of the misleading “Animal Care Certified” logo on egg cartons.
NC: Turkey Hatchery
Date: June – July 2006
Facility: Turkey hatchery that supplies Butterball
Location: North Carolina
From the moment chicks were hatched at this facility, they were submerged into a world of misery. Chicks at the hatchery were routinely:
– Dumped out of metal trays and jostled onto conveyor belts after being mechanically separated from cracked egg shells
– Newly-hatched turkeys were tossed around like inanimate objects
– Sorted, sexed, de-beaked, de-toed, and in some cases de-snooded before they are packed up and shipped off to a “grow out” confinement facility
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
PA: Egg Factory Farm
Date: November – December 2005
Facility: Esbenshade Farms, an egg factory farm
Location: Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
While undercover, our COK investigator found:
– Birds overcrowded in wire cages so small, they cannot spread their wings
– Hens left to suffer from untreated illnesses or injuries,
– Birds with their wings, legs, or feet entangled in the wires of cages, unable to access food or water
– Injured or dying birds removed from their cages and left in the aisles without access to food or water,
– Birds impaled on the wires of the cages with many already dead
This investigation resulted in 70 counts of animal cruelty being filed against the owner and manager, and it is the first case ever in which criminal charges for cruelty to animals were filed for the day-to-day operations at a factory farm.
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
Interstate Transport Investigation
Date: July 2005
COK investigators traveled throughout the United States to document the conditions endured by farmed animals shipped across the country on trucks and trailers. The investigators found:
– Farmed animals overcrowded onto vehicles and moved long distances
– Transport often exceeded 28 hours without food, water, rest or adequate protection from elements
– An untold number suffer in-transit injuries, illnesses, stress and even death
Following the investigation, COK filed a petition with the USDA challenging the Twenty-Eight Hour Law of 1873, which stated animals could not be transported via “rail carrier, express carrier or common carrier” for longer than 28 consecutive hours without being unloaded for five hours for “feeding, water, and rest.” After reviewing the petition, the USDA announced that it will begin protecting farmed animals transported long distances by trucks.
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: February 2005
Facility: Redbird Egg Farm, ISE-America, County Fair Farms
Location: Maryland
COK investigators went into three Maryland egg farms to document the unthinkable cruelties egg-laying hens endure. In the farms, investigators found:
– Tens of thousands of hens crammed into tiny wire cages
– Hens denied veterinary care and left to suffer from illness and disease
– Deceased hens left in the cages, their bodies decomposing around live hens
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
MD: Slaughter Plant
Date: September – October 2004
Facility: Perdue Farms, a slaughter plant
Location: Showell, Maryland
Using a hidden camera, our COK investigator documented horrible—yet routine—cruelty to animals on a daily basis, including:
– Workers violently throwing birds around the slaughter plant’s hanging room
– Birds—many who were dying—left unattended on the conveyor belt during workers’ lunch breaks
– Dead and dying birds on the grounds outside of the plant
– Birds flapping violently after having their throats slit
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: May 2004
Facility: Red Bird Egg Farm
Location: Millington, Maryland
At this “Animal Care Certified” facility, COK undercover investigators documented:
– Extreme confinement: cages stacked upon cages
– Vast manure pits under the cages containing escaped birds
– Piles of dead birds
– Several birds were rescued by COK from this farm
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: May 2003
Facility: ISE-America, an egg factory farm
Location: Cecilton, Maryland
COK investigators documented egregious abuse:
– Hens stacked 5 tiers high with several hens stuffed into each battery cage
– Hens suffering from severe feather-loss and often living in the feces of those caged above
– Birds needing veterinary care left to suffer with injuries and infections
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: February 2003
Facility: ISE-America, an egg factory farm
Location: Cecilton, Maryland
Heavy snowstorms plagued the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area in February 2003, and tens of thousands of egg-laying hens at ISE-America fell victim as the roofs of some sheds at the ISE mega-egg farm in rural Cecilton, Maryland had collapsed due to the snowfall, and hens were trapped inside battery cages, some crushed, others mangled, both housing live and decomposing hens.
Many of the highest cages in the four-tiered sheds were flattened, hens crushed beneath metal sheeting and plywood. Other wire battery cages were smashed, and still live hens were found amidst badly rotting corpses.
***Read more***
Multi-State: Broiler Farm
Date: 2003
COK investigators found:
– Farms riddled with such filth, ammonia fumes, and other serious air pollution that breathing can be painful and difficult
– A painful slaughter procedure in which the birds are hung upside down, electrocuted into paralysis, and have their throats slit open
– Birds living in their own waste where they cannot escape the high levels of ammonia and bacteria
– Bodies often scalded by ammonia, and many suffering from respiratory infections
***Read more***
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: August – November 2002
Facility: Red Bird Egg Farms
Location: Millington, Maryland
COK investigators found:
– Hens in battery cages that never touch the earth and live suspended over unsanitary manure pits
– Unhealthy cysts on many birds
– Overgrown nails, making walking and standing difficult
– Deceased hens discarded like trash
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: April and May 2002
Facility: County Fair Farms, an egg farm
Location: Westminster, Md.
Using video and still cameras, the investigators documented numerous cases of neglect and animal cruelty including:
– Countless dead hens in cages with live hens
– Hens stuck in the wires of their cages, dying from dehydration
– Hens with serious infections, growths, prolapsed rectums and other health problems
– Hens suffering massive feather-loss
The COK investigators at County Fair Farms openly rescued ten hens from the facility who were in desperate need of immediate veterinary care.
MD: Livestock Auctions
Date: October – December 2001
Location: Maryland
COK conducted an investigation throughout the state of Maryland, documenting the conditions for animals at three livestock auctions: Westminster Livestock Auction, Four State’s Livestock Sales, and Frederick Livestock Auction, all of which are owned by B&J Auctions.
Violence and intimidation toward animals are the norm at livestock auctions.
***Watch the VIDEO and read more***
MD: Egg Factory Farm
Date: May 2001
Facility: ISE-America, an egg factory farm
Location: Cecilton, Maryland
COK activists rescued eight hens from ISE-America who were in dire need of veterinary attention. These hens now live in safe homes where they can feel sun on their backs, scratch the earth with their feet, and fulfill their needs and desires, free from the horror of their previous existence. They will never again be abused by the egg industry.
While several of these newly-hatched birds were too sick or injured to survive, more than two dozen were given a new chance at life at a nearby sanctuary.