Hormel stops taking pigs from farm shown in undercover video
Published 3:21 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2017
OKLAHOMA CITY — Hormel Foods Corp. says it has stopped accepting hogs from a pork supplier in Oklahoma after an animal rights group released video from a farm the supplier owns there.
The company says it learned of the undercover video Tuesday and is investigating the farm owned by The Maschhoffs, one of the nation’s largest pork producers based in Carlyle, Illinois.
Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel said third-party auditors would go to other Maschhoffs sites to check animal care standards.
Maschhoffs President Bradley Wolter said his company is also investigating and will re-train all Oklahoma employees on production procedures. The company says it does not tolerate animal abuse.
The footage was released by Mercy for Animals, which called the treatment abuse. The video shows pigs in crowded pens and being hit with gas cans.
