Butterball defends practices after disturbing old video of turkeys goes viral

Warning: This article contains disturbing details about suspected animal abuse.

People on social media are calling for a boycott of Butterball brand turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving after People for Ethical Treatment of Animals resurfaced an old video, causing confusion and unrest.

The video, posted to PETA’s Instagram account last week, highlighted disturbing allegations from an investigation into a Butterball factory that reportedly took place nearly 20 years ago.

According to PETA’s website, the “undercover investigation” that allegedly took place at a Butterball slaughterhouse in Ozark, Arkansas in 2006 found that workers were physically and sexually abusing live turkeys.

However, Butterball said these allegations were made before the company was privatized and certified by American Humane.

The resurfaced video focuses on the alleged sexual abuse of the live turkeys.

The video’s caption reads, “Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before it was killed?” However, PETA did not state that the content was 18 years old.

Still, a majority of the comments are encouraging people to boycott Butterball ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Videos of other people on social media discussing PETA’s post have sparked confusion that there is a recall associated with it, but there are currently no active recalls for Butterball turkeys.

Scripps News reached out to Butterball and its spokesperson issued the following statement:

“We are aware of a video from almost 20 years ago that is being re-shared on social media. This video is not current and was recorded before Butterball became a private company and before our involvement and certification with American Humane. Animal.” Care and wellbeing are central to us as a company and we are committed to caring for our herds ethically and responsibly. Eleven years ago, Butterball became the first and, to date, only turkey company to be certified by American Humane. That means we have annual third-party audits to ensure compliance with our 200+ science-based turkey care best practice standards, significantly exceeding industry best practices. We are proud of this distinction that no other turkey company can claim and have a zero-tolerance policy on animal mistreatment.