New report highlights widespread PQA Plus certification failures, documenting atrocities at certified farms
LOS ANGELES (October 23, 2024) — Mercy For Animals exposes horrific, brutal animal cruelty at a Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus-certified pig farm in a new undercover investigation. A recently released white paper from Mercy For Animals in collaboration with Animal Outlook documents an analysis of a decade of undercover footage from Mercy For Animals and Animal Outlook, revealing a disturbing pattern of systemic violations across numerous certified facilities. The findings highlight significant violations within the PQA Plus program, challenging its credibility and raising serious concerns about its effectiveness in ensuring high standards of animal welfare and public health.
The investigation, conducted in early summer 2022, captured disturbing footage of extreme animal cruelty at a farm in the Midwest:
- Pigs designated for euthanasia incorrectly shot in the head multiple times with a captive-bolt gun, experiencing extreme pain, fear and a slow, agonizing death.
- Pigs suffering from painful prolapses subjected to violent treatment, including slapping, kneeing and being hit with paddles.
- Days-old piglets having their testicles ripped out and tails cut off without any pain relief.
- Pigs confined to cramped gestation crates.
- Sick and injured piglets callously thrown into piles to die, with dead piglets tossed on top of them.
“A mother pig at the farm was shot in the head three times with a defective bolt gun before she was killed, causing unimaginable fear and pain,” said Paula Tejeda-Moncrief, director of investigations, U.S., at Mercy For Animals. “This is not an isolated incident. When animals are hidden away in factory farms, the most devastating horrors become routine. Marketing labels designed to reassure the public are often just empty words.”
PQA Plus, developed by the National Pork Board, was intended to provide a reliable standard for pork production, reassuring consumers of the industry’s commitment to animal welfare and food safety. But Mercy For Animals research reveals that the program’s certification may be largely unreliable, as it does not prevent systemic cruelty or even ensure adherence to basic standards.
“Animal welfare science shows that industrial pig production is detrimental to the health and welfare of millions of pigs farmed each year in the United States,” said Dr. Walter Sánchez-Suárez, an animal welfare scientist at Mercy For Animals and a veterinarian. “This activity also raises significant concerns about zoonotic diseases, food security and environmental sustainability. Despite the industry’s claims, evidence shows that the Pork Quality Assurance Plus program is not an effective tool for mitigating these issues. As a result, the program is prone to misleading consumers through humanewashing.”
The investigative findings call for urgent regulatory reform and better enforcement of animal welfare standards. Mercy For Animals is advocating passage of the Pigs and Public Health Act (H.R. 8994), sponsored by Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, which seeks to establish enforceable standards for the treatment of pigs and enhance public health protections.
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For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Ronnika A. McFall at [email protected].
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Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Active in Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico and the United States, the organization has conducted over 100 investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses, influenced over 500 corporate policies and helped pass historic legislation to ban cages for farmed animals. 2024 marks Mercy For Animals’ 25th year of groundbreaking campaigns and programs. Learn more at MercyForAnimals.org.
