PETA investigator accuses Butterball workers of sexually abusing turkeys before slaughter

An undercover investigator with animal rights group PETA says people may want to think twice about buying a Butterball turkey for Thanksgiving amid shocking revelations of animal abuse, including sexual abuse, at the slaughterhouse.

“When people go to the grocery store and see Butterball or other turkeys all wrapped in plastic, they just don’t know what happens to the birds before they end up in the meat case,” the undercover detective said in a video on the PETA’s Instagram page detailing the horrors he uncovered after recently infiltrating an unspecified slaughterhouse for Butterball LLC.

“I mean, how could they,” added the man, his face hidden behind a shadow.

The investigation revealed a number of disturbing incidents at the plant. Workers were reportedly observed engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with restrained turkeys, including groping and encroaching on the birds’ cloacas.

The footage also showed other cases of physical abuse, with one employee manhandling a turkey and another admitting to violently kicking a bird. In one disturbing scene, a worker appeared to be sitting on one of the turkeys.

The secret investigator even recorded a conversation between him and a slaughterhouse worker who bragged about mistreating one of the turkeys.

“I kicked the f— out of the m———-,” the work said to the investigator, who responded, “His f— eyeball popped out.”

The video is the latest in a long line of outspoken campaigns by the animal rights group to persuade the public to reconsider eating turkey on Thanksgiving. This includes placing billboards near elementary schools displaying a bloody and decapitated “hand turkey” drawing in 2022.

On Monday, PETA plans to take to the streets of Washington, D.C., ahead of the White House turkey pardon tradition with a “Hell on Wheels” turkey delivery truck that will blast the sounds of distressed turkeys wailing in pain, as well as messages , which will encourage people to become vegan.