A nearly 20-year-old video posted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alleging turkey abuse at one of the nation’s foremost providers of Thanksgiving birds has triggered an online uproar.
The 2006 footage appears to depict employees of Butterball abusing live turkeys at a plant in Ozark, Ark., and drew a slew of comments from outraged turkey-lovers who took PETA at its word.
“Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before they were killed?” PETA captioned its Instagram video that went up Nov. 22.
In the video, a silhouetted speaker, his voice disguised, alleges plant employees sexually abused the turkeys and roughed them up before the birds were slaughtered and sent to market. One clip appears to show a man sitting on a turkey as it struggles. Others show people manhandling them. The speaker claims some “bragged” about the abuse.
The uproar led to both unfounded recall rumors and calls for a boycott. Butterball insisted neither move is necessary, and confirmed there’s no recall — corroborating the lack of any recall notices on governmental and public health websites.
“We are aware of a video from nearly 20 years ago, which is being re-shared across social media,” a spokesman told the Daily News in an emailed statement. “This video is not current and was taken prior to Butterball becoming a private company and prior to our engagement and certification through American Humane. Animal care and well-being is central to who we are as a company, and we are committed to the ethical and responsible care of our flocks.”
The company noted it received American Humane certification 11 years ago.
“We are proud of this designation that no other turkey company can claim and have a zero-tolerance policy for animal mistreatment,” the Butterball spokesman said.
PETA, however, is determined to confront turkey buyers at the grocery store — deploying its Hell on Wheels “life-size, hyperrealistic turkey transport truck,” complete with images of crate-crammed gobblers, hoping to “intercept shoppers before they make a purchase they can’t take back,” PETA said in a media release.
The truck will broadcast the birds’ cries, while every 10 seconds urging in a “subliminal message” that people go vegan.
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