Corporate Campaigns

Smithfield Foods: Cruel to Pigs and Humans

Smithfield Foods, based in Smithfield, Virginia, kills almost 30 million pigs every year—more than any other company in the world. The way that Smithfield treats pigs—from birth to slaughter—would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges if pigs were covered by the same laws that are designed to protect dogs and cats from abuse.

May 2006 Smithfield Truck Accident October 2005 Smithfield Truck Accident March 2004 Smithfield Truck Accident

At Smithfield, female pigs endure constant cycles of forced impregnation. Newborn piglets are taken from their mothers after just a few weeks; they have their teeth clipped in half, their tails cut off, and their ears mutilated, and the males have their testicles ripped out—all without any painkillers. All these practices should be illegal, but farmed animals are specifically exempt from the Animal Welfare Act, so anything goes at the modern Smithfield pig factory.

Smithfield plays with pigs' genetics and pumps the animals so full of drugs that most of Smithfield's pigs are very sick, many can barely walk, and about one in five die before they can be sent to slaughter. These sick and dying animals are forced onto the backs of trucks (often by being beaten and shocked with electric prods) and shipped to the slaughterhouse through all weather extremes without food or water. Pork industry experts estimate that approximately 1 million pigs arrive for slaughter either crippled or dead.

Smithfield has a horrible record of truck accidents that have resulted in dangerous situations for other drivers and enormous suffering for pigs. At the scene of two recent Smithfield truck accidents, PETA field officers arrived to try to help the pigs, offering Smithfield veterinary care for the animals at PETA's expense. Both times, however, Smithfield representatives on the scene refused, preferring to try to salvage their profits instead of relieving the animals' suffering. Read more about these accidents and watch the shocking videos. When they reach a Smithfield slaughterhouse, these terrified pigs—weakened from their long, frightening journey—are hung upside-down and have their throats slit, sometimes while they are still conscious.

To Smithfield's credit, in January 2007, the company announced that it would phase out the use of gestation crates in its operations. Gestation crates are horrific metal-and-cement cages to which mother pigs are confined for their entire lives. The cages are so small that the pigs can't even turn around in them. While PETA believes that this change could and should be implemented more quickly than it will be according to Smithfield's proposed timetable, the company deserves recognition for this groundbreaking move, which will dramatically reduce the suffering of mother pigs. Learn more about Smithfield's announcement.

Learn about PETA's legal efforts to hold Smithfield accountable for its abuse of animals.

Read a firsthand account from a former Smithfield slaughterhouse employee who contacted PETA.

Farmed animals aren't the only ones abused by Smithfield. In 2006, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Smithfield was illegally firing, threatening, and even beating workers who asked for better working conditions and a small wage increase. A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the board's ruling, condemning Smithfield's intimidation and abuse of employees. Learn more about what the meat industry does to workers.

You Can Help!

Every year, billions of animals suffer at the hands of heartless companies like Smithfield, Tyson, and KFC. You can save almost 100 animals every year from the horrors of factory farms, slaughterhouses, and commercial fishing trawlers by going vegetarian. Order a free vegetarian starter kit today for recipes, shopping tips, and more.