Death on a Factory Farm
Encyclopedia
Death on a Factory Farm is a 2009 television documentary film concerning the animal rights
abuses at the Wiles hog farm
, and the subsequent investigation and trial.
. HFA then turned to an undercover investigator going by the name "Pete." The investigator wore a hidden camera while he worked undercover as a farmhand at Wiles.
Over the course of six weeks, the investigator secretly filmed numerous incriminating scenes, including piglets being tossed into crates from across a room, impregnated sows held in pens impeded their ability to move, an unhealthy piglet being hit against a wall to euthanize it, and a sick sow being hung by a chain from a forklift until it choked to death. Having obtained this evidence, Pete concluded the investigation and quit the job at the farm.
HFA brought Pete's footage to the Wayne County
Sheriff's Department, which then raided the farm. Prosecutors filed ten criminal charges of animal cruelty against the farm's owners, and a farm employee who participated in hanging the sow.
In the subsequent trial, the prosecutors and the defense fought about the legality and morality of these practices, described by the presiding judge as "distasteful and offensive". However, the Judge defended these practices as the reality of producing pork for consumption.
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
abuses at the Wiles hog farm
Intensive pig farming
Intensive piggeries are a type of factory farm ' specialized in the raising of domestic pigs up to slaughter weight...
, and the subsequent investigation and trial.
Synopsis
Death on a Factory Farm follows the undercover investigation of Wiles Hog Farm by the animal rights group: The Humane Farming Association (HFA), and the resulting court case against it. The organization received a tip from an employee at the farm that animals were being abused, including a claim that hogs were being hung by chains and strangled to death as a form of euthanasiaEuthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
. HFA then turned to an undercover investigator going by the name "Pete." The investigator wore a hidden camera while he worked undercover as a farmhand at Wiles.
Over the course of six weeks, the investigator secretly filmed numerous incriminating scenes, including piglets being tossed into crates from across a room, impregnated sows held in pens impeded their ability to move, an unhealthy piglet being hit against a wall to euthanize it, and a sick sow being hung by a chain from a forklift until it choked to death. Having obtained this evidence, Pete concluded the investigation and quit the job at the farm.
HFA brought Pete's footage to the Wayne County
Wayne County, Ohio
Wayne County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, and is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. As of the 2010 census, the population was 114,520. Its county seat is Wooster....
Sheriff's Department, which then raided the farm. Prosecutors filed ten criminal charges of animal cruelty against the farm's owners, and a farm employee who participated in hanging the sow.
In the subsequent trial, the prosecutors and the defense fought about the legality and morality of these practices, described by the presiding judge as "distasteful and offensive". However, the Judge defended these practices as the reality of producing pork for consumption.
External links
- Review from Nytimes.com