Dear Hormel Foods:

I am outraged by the shocking animal abuse recently uncovered at your contract farms.

Hidden cameras captured workers maliciously hitting and beating pigs with gas cans, sick or injured animals left to suffer without proper veterinary care, workers violently ripping out the testicles and cutting off the sensitive tails of baby piglets, and mother pigs crammed in crates so small the animals couldn’t even turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives.

This blatant cruelty has no place in a civilized society.

I am writing to ask that Hormel move quickly to adopt meaningful animal welfare policies to end the worst forms of animal abuse throughout its supply chain:

• Eliminate abusive and extreme confinement systems, such as gestation and farrowing crates, and replace them with less cruel group housing systems
• End agonizing mutilations, such as castration and tail docking, without pain relief
• Provide a safe, sanitary, and cognitively stimulating environment by keeping all animal areas dry and clean and providing environmental enrichments, such as straw and other natural materials
• Adopt a zero tolerance policy for animal abuse and install video monitoring systems that live stream to the internet to deter egregious acts of violence against animals

More than 60 major food providers, including McDonald’s, Safeway, and Costco, have already agreed to phase out gestation crates. In addition to getting rid of gestation crates, Walmart and Nestlé have committed to ending castration and tail docking without painkillers. They understand that consumers do not support these cruel practices and are demanding change.

These are common-sense improvements that would greatly alleviate needless suffering for millions of animals.