February, 2012 update: Dr. Sarah Mason, director of animal health programs in the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Poultry Division, has pled guilty to obstruction of justice and resisting, delaying or obstructing officers. She was suspended without pay for two weeks and will be required to take ethics courses, but will continue to be employed by the Department. Mason also received a 45-day jail sentence, which was suspended to a year on probation.
ABC News has discovered that Butterball was tipped off by a state employee before the December, 2011 police raid that resulted from the Mercy for Animals undercover investigation. The undercover video shot by MFA depicted workers brutalizing the turkeys, sometimes killing them. On December 28, 2011, the Hoke County Sheriff's Department raided Butterball's Shannon, North Carolina farm; authorities inspected 2,800 turkeys, seized 28 and euthanized four.
According to information uncovered by ABC News, the Hoke County District Attorney's office asked the North Carolina Department of Agriculture if they would assist in the raid, since the Ag Department is charged with inspecting livestock. An unnamed state ag employee, the Director of Animal Health Programs, then tipped off Butterball.
The Hoke County DA's office is now looking into this apparent breach of confidentiality, including executing a search warrant for information on phone calls between Butterball and the Ag Department in the days leading up to the raid.
As Nathan Runkle, executive director of MFA, puts it, ""It is deeply troubling . . . that a governmental agency that is entrusted with monitoring and overseeing agriculture and food production is so corrupt that it's in bed with the very corporate interests that were documented abusing and neglecting animals. The fox apparently is guarding the henhouse."
Given Monsanto's unsettlingly cozy relationship with the US Department of Agriculture and the increasingly murky distinction between the regulators and the regulated, perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised that someone in the NC Ag Department would want to protect a farm from an animal cruelty investigation. But in this case, the county DA's office is taking the offense very seriously. The NC Ag Department claims they are cooperating with the DA's investigation and, "Once the investigation is complete, we will take appropriate action based on the facts."
This is also further proof of why ag-gag laws are so dangerous. Without the opportunity to document infractions as they happen, it would be much more difficult for employees, investigators or prosecutors to prove crimes such as animal cruelty, illegal working conditions, food safety violations or environmental infractions. Even without a tip from an insider, a company can clean up a crime scene long before the police can get a warrant and investigate.
Image courtesy of Mercy for Animals
Suggested Links:
- Law Enforcement Raids Butterball Turkey Farm After Undercover Investigation
- ButterballAbuse.com - official site
- Factory Farming FAQ
- What are Ag-Gag Laws and Why Are They Dangerous?
No comments:
Post a Comment