Australia: Video of poultry workers mistreating turkeys turned over to police
A screengrab from a video showing workers at the Inghams Enterprises plant in Sydney kicking birds, stomping on their heads until they are still and slamming them up against machinery.
Video footage of poultry workers mistreating turkeys at an Australian slaughterhouse has been turned over to police.
The video shows workers at the Inghams Enterprises plant in Sydney repeatedly kicking birds, stomping on their heads until they are still and slamming them up against production line machinery.
Sometimes co-workers kick or hit the same bird as it moves along the production line.
The footage was taken from a camera hidden in the plant by Animal Liberation then turned over to the media.
Animal Liberation's Emma Hurst told Australia's ABC:
"I think this is definitely some of the worst that we've [ever] seen… It is as though these animals are mere objects and that they are there for their enjoyment to torture them."
The Murdoch press cited Sydney veterinarian Dr Mark Simpson as agreeing that the footage was some of the worst evidence of animal abuse that he had seen.
CCTV monitoring of slaughterhouses should be mandatory, he added.
Inghams is Australia's biggest poultry producer.
The ABC cited a statement by its chief executive Kevin McBain as condemning the animal abuse seen in the footage.
He said the company would carrying out its own investigation and and would "review, retrain and reinforce our animal welfare standards throughout the organization."
In February 2012, disturbing video was released of apparent extreme cruelty in a Sydney pig slaughterhouse.
More from GlobalPost: Animal cruelty caught on camera in Australian slaughterhouse
The footage was released six months after Australia suspended livestock exports to Indonesia over animal cruelty claims.
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