On the heels of what is believed to be the first-ever felony cruelty to animals conviction related to birds used for food production in US history, another Butterball employee, Rueben Mendoza, has pled guilty today and was convicted of felony identity theft and misdemeanor cruelty to animals. He received a consolidated sentence of a minimum of 8 months, and a maximum of 19 months, in state prison. Both convictions stem from hidden-camera video secretly shot at a North Carolina Butterball factory farm by an undercover investigator with Mercy For Animals. Mendoza, along with several other Butterball employees, was documented violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their wings and necks, forcefully throwing turkeys, and bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars.
Mercy For Animals commends the Hoke County Sheriff's Department for its swift and decisive action in this important case. The cases against the other Butterball employees caught on video abusing animals are still pending.
Watch the undercover video that led to the cruelty convictions here:
While it is important to hold individual animal abusers accountable for their crimes, the ultimate responsibility in this case is with the Butterball Corporation for allowing a culture of cruelty and neglect to fester at its factory farms.
As MFA works with law enforcement to bring justice for farmed animals, the best thing consumers can do to reject cruelty to animals is to ditch Butterball turkey, and all animal products, by adopting a healthy and compassionate vegan diet.
