Warning: This article contains disturbing details of alleged 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 disturbance.
The video, posted to PETA’s Instagram account last week, highlighted disturbing allegations from an investigation at a Butterball plant that reportedly took place nearly 20 years ago.
According to PETA’s website, the 2006 “undercover investigation” that allegedly took place at a Butterball slaughterhouse in Ozark, Arkansas, found workers physically and sexually abusing live turkeys.
However, Butterball said these allegations took place before the company became privatized and certified by American Humane.
The resurfaced video zeroes in on the alleged sexual abuse of the live turkeys.
The caption on the video states, “Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before they were killed?” However, PETA did not specify that the content was from 18 years ago.
Still, a majority of the comments encourage 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 provided the following statement:
"We are aware of a video from nearly 20 years ago, which is being re-shared across social media. This video is not current and was taken prior to Butterball becoming a private company and prior to our engagement and certification through American Humane. Animal care and well-being is central to who we are as a company, and we are committed to the ethical and responsible care of our flocks. Eleven years ago, Butterball was the first, and remains the only, turkey company to be American Humane certified. That means we have yearly audits conducted by a third party to ensure compliance with our 200+ science-based standards of best practice for care of turkeys, well exceeding industry best practices. We are proud of this designation that no other turkey company can claim and have a zero-tolerance policy for animal mistreatment."
