Foster Farms: Open the Doors and Let Us Help the Starving Turkeys

DxE activists, as part of a 6 month investigation, have obtained footage of crowded sheds, dead or dying animals, and one turkey with a massive grapefruit-sized growth on her body at Foster Farms, one of the largest turkey producers in the world and a supplier to Costco. The company claims animal welfare is a “top priority” and is required by the organic program to give animals access to the outdoors. Yet multiple investigations by animal rights organizations, including this one at a facility near Modesto, CA, have found routine abuse of animals in crowded indoor sheds (who never step outside), sick animals, and decomposing corpses among the living. Investigators rushed one bird to veterinary care, where she received emergency surgery. Now the turkey, whom they named Eliza, is living her life out with a piglet companion in a happy home.

In the wake of growing concerns about public health and animal cruelty in factory farms, DxE will be issuing a press release with our findings in the next few days, and demanding that agribusiness giants open their doors for public inspection. We’ll also be asking the administration to reverse its decision to allow agribusiness giants to market meat as “organic” when, contrary to the law, birds are not given outdoor access.