An animal rights group turned over its undercover video footage to USDA showing what the activists claim are clear depictions of inhumane and disturbing treatment of hogs at a Minnesota pork processing plant that supplies Hormel Foods.
Washington, DC-based Compassion Over Killing (COK) uploaded an edited version of the graphic footage to YouTube. In the full footage the group submitted to regulatory officials, COK claims animals can be seen beaten, shocked and improperly stunned. The video also shows what appear to be pigs covered in feces and pus-filled abscesses sent down the slaughtering line. At one moment in the footage, a worker is heard saying, “if USDA is around they could shut us down.”