DxE documented dead pigs at the facility as well as animal bones. The group said the conditions that members found constitute 'criminal animal neglect', based on reviews from an attorney and veterinarian.
DONNELLE ELLER: ‘An animal rights group says members found animal neglect when they entered a pig facility co-owned by a state senator who was a leading supporter of Iowa’s new but contested “ag-gag” law. “Inside the barns, we documented severe rectal prolapses and intense overcrowding with noxious ammonia in the air and excrement coating the floors,” activists from Berkeley, California-based Direct Action Everywhere [DxE] said in a statement. “One piglet was unable to stand, gasping for air while thrashing wildly for several minutes, before dying before our eyes,” they said…
Direct Action documented dead pigs at the facility as well as animal bones. The group said the conditions that members found there constitute “criminal animal neglect,” based on reviews from an attorney and veterinarian. Sherstin Rosenberg, a California veterinarian who has worked with Direct Action, said the video showed “extreme confinement and overcrowding” that led to some pigs being trampled. One piglet had two 6-inch gashes across its back. “This overcrowding is certainly done with knowledge and intent, in order to maximize pig numbers and increase profits,” said Rosenberg, who has written assessments in other Direct Action probes…
Direct Action said it targeted Rozenboom, a Republican, because he was among the legislators who helped pass last year’s ag-gag law. The law makes it a crime for animal welfare activists, journalists and others to go undercover at meatpacking plants and livestock facilities to document conditions. “He’s the epitome of the problem here,” said Matt Johnson, an Iowan who led the group’s research. “He’s trying to grow and expand factory farming while shielding it from transparency”…
The activists, who entered the facility near Oskaloosa without permission in April, released selected photos and videos of their findings today. They said they had filed a complaint with the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office, the county attorney and the Iowa Department of Agriculture… While acknowledging some problems at the facility, state Sen. Ken Rozenboom said Thursday the investigation was a “professional hit job” designed to undermine consumer support for the pork industry’. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: