Foster Farms protest set Wednesday in Fresno

Members of Mercy For Animals, an organization seeking to prevent cruelty to farm animals, will on Wednesday protest alleged mistreatment of chickens by Foster Farms.

The protest will occur at the Vons located at 5638 E. Kings Canyon Road in the Sunnyside Country Club Village Shopping Center from noon until 1 p.m. Protestors will carry signs featuring images of abused chickens and bearing the words “Foster Farms tortures chickens.”

Hidden camera footage taken by Mercy for Animals at Fresno Foster Farms facilities from April through June showed workers forcefully throwing newly hatched chicks onto the ground, chickens run over by transport trucks, workers ripping out the feathers of live birds for fun and flinging chickens, among other abuses.

In a statement released by Foster Farms, the company calls the behavior seen in the video an isolated incident and says that the company has since terminated five employees involved. Company officials say that they have cooperated fully with authorities and that a recent re-audit of their facilities by the American Humane Association showed them to be meeting certification requirements.

“All they (Mercy for Animals) were able to demonstrate with their video was that there was an incident that we don’t condone that happened,” says Ira Brill, director of communications for Foster Farms. “They used that video to mischaracterize us. Animal welfare is very important to us.”

The protest is part of a tour set up by Mercy for Animals, which was in Washington and Oregon last week and will make stops throughout California this week starting with Sacramento on Monday. Other protests are planned in San Jose, San Diego and Los Angeles.

“The campaign will continue until Foster Farms agrees to implement animal welfare policies,” said Jeni Haines, national campaign coordinator for Mercy for Animals, who elaborated on the organization’s protest strategy.

“We’re going to stores that carry Foster Farms,” she said, noting that Vons carries Foster Farms products. “We’re not encouraging a boycott of Vons, but we believe consumers have a right to know where their food is coming from.”

The protest will include a 7-foot-tall chicken mascot with a slit throat and broken wing that is covered in wounds and abscesses, called “Abby the Abused Chicken.” It’s a shocking image, but one that Haines said Mercy for Animals believes is important.

Representatives from Safeway, Vons’ parent company, did not return calls or emails for comment.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Foster Farms protest set Wednesday in Fresno."