I want to share with you a heartbreaking experience I recently had while working undercover as part of a chicken catching crew at Foster Farms in California. My footage exposes the truth about what happens behind the closed doors of the animal agriculture industry, and what I witnessed was nothing short of heartbreaking.
While working with the crew, I encountered what felt like countless instances of cruelty. What I witnessed was difficult to watch. The scenes around me, including chickens being slammed into transport cages, kicked by facility workers and even supervisors as they walked by, and being run over by forklifts, were gruesome displays of heartlessness. Throughout my time at Foster Farms, I saw many birds suffering from the cruel and unnecessary punishment inflicted upon them, like the chickens who struggled in pain as their wings, legs, and heads were trapped in cage doors.
Left: A chicken flails after being thrown by a worker
Right: A chicken standing on a pile of maggots swarming the decaying corpses of chickens
It wasn’t just the acts of cruelty that made my heart break for these animals. The conditions they were forced to live in were deplorable. The inside of the chicken sheds were crowded and often muddy, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Dead chickens were discarded in piles crawling with maggots, while live chickens would stand on top. I can’t imagine what it must be like for that environment to be your whole reality.
These experiences have left me with no doubt that the cruelty I witnessed is not an exception—it’s the norm. Foster Farms, like many others in this industry, treats cruelty as a standard business practice. This is why Animal Outlook has taken my findings to the Fresno County District Attorney's office, urging them to file criminal animal cruelty charges against those responsible, including Foster Farms as a corporation. The law must be enforced to hold these perpetrators accountable.
The work I do as an undercover investigator is challenging and often heartbreaking, but it’s necessary to expose the truth. Animal Outlook relies on the support of people like you to keep our investigations going, to hold these corporations accountable, and to drive meaningful change.
You can fight back against cruel corporations by leaving animals off your plate and asking your family and friends to do the same. Your dollars count, and by refusing to buy animal products, you’ll make a real difference and save countless lives. Please share this video – I hope their story inspires many compassionate people to stop eating animals.
In solidarity,
Mike
Undercover Investigator
As a non-profit organization, Animal Outlook relies on donations from caring, generous people like you. Every dollar matters. Your support makes a world of difference to farmed animals.
