US: Probation given in pig abuse case
Four people charged with abusing pigs at a farm in western Iowa have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to probation.
The abuse was uncovered by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which sent an undercover investigator to film the abuse and a graphic video of it was released last year.
The four employees at the farm, owned by MowMar Farms received 1-2 years probation and are to be prohibited from working with livestock during their probation.
The video released by PETA showed farmworkers castrating piglets and cutting off their tails without anesthetic, slamming unhealthy piglets on the ground and repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with rods. In at least one instance, a pig had paint sprayed into its snout.
“These convictions have let the pork industry and all its employees know that the courts won’t tolerate animal abuse,” Daphna Nachminovitch, a vice president of cruelty investigation for PETA, said in a statement. The investigation led PETA to call for increased oversight at factory farms.
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