The Iowa Select Foods sow farm at Kamrar will no longer be a supplier to JBS Swift, which in turn has sold finished pork to several major retail chains, including Hy-Vee of West Des Moines and Costco.
The Kamrar facility was the subject of an undercover video released this week by a Chicago group, Mercy for Animals. The video depicts tail clippings and castrations done without anesthetics, workers tossing piglets, and animals with open sores and wounds and protruding internal organs.
JBS Swift confirmed Friday that it has suspended purchases from the Kamrar facility, although it will continue to buy hogs from Iowa Select of Iowa Falls, which is the fourth-largest hog producer in the nation.
"We will not resume purchases from this facility until we have third-party verification of their compliance with requirements for proper, responsible and humane animal handling," JBS Swift spokesman Margaret McDonald said.
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