Agricultural News
HSUS Wants Smithfield to Meet Commitment
Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:41:57 CSTThe Humane Society of the United States is asking Smithfield Foods to honor its commitment made in January, 2007 to convert its gestation-sow housing system from stalls to pens over a course of 10-years. The severe economic downturn that hit U.S. agriculture and the pork industry in particular from 2007 through early this year has delayed that course and Smithfield says it will not reach its goal. Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer.
Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, says - now that Smithfield has just posted its highest-ever quarterly profit, it's a good time to make a public pledge to honor its previous commitment. According to Pacelle, - the company can no longer claim that economic circumstances don't allow for facility improvements.
HSUS has taken full advantage of the situation by releasing another undercover video. This time of a Waverly, Virginia facility owned by Murphy-Brown Farms, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. An HSUS undercover investigator worked inside the one-thousand sow production system, and, according to a background document prepared by HSUS, - documented the inhumane treatment of sows - in a stall housing system.
Chris Novak, chief executive officer of the National Pork Board, says - Smithfield Foods is conducting an internal investigation and has retained a third-party expert to conduct an independent investigation and has vowed to take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and well-being of their animals and employees.
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