SEATTLE-- The vice president of Costco announced his company will no longer buy or sell pork from an Iowa farm where an animal rights group recently videotaped severe abuse of pigs.
Craig Wilson, Vice President and General Manager of Costco, wrote in a statement Thursday that Coscto has no direct relationship with Iowa Select, the farm where Mercy for Animals shot the undercover video. However, Costco's pork supplier, JBS, announced it will sever all ties with Iowa Select.
The hidden-camera video shows workers abusing pigs as well as bloody injuries and castration for more than 2 minutes. The video, which was shot over a three-month period, is EXTREMELYGRAPHIC and upsetting for many to watch. If you would like to watch the video, click here to visit Mercy for Animals website.
The video also shows pigs in small confined spaces, not large enough to move around in. Costco said they would support laws against those so-called gestation stalls and would advocate they be phased out by 2017.
We feel that these sow containment systems can and need to improve and we have been working with the pork industry to improve the situation, said Wilson in a statement.
