Graphic Video: Turkeys Abused by Butterball Workers

A new undercover graphic video (below), shot by the animal advocacy group Mercy for Animals at five Butterball turkey plants in North Carolina, shows employees kicking and stomping on the birds and dragging them by their wings and necks.

Some of the turkeys were reportedly suffering from untreated illnesses and injuries.

Mercy for Animals states on their website: “Butterball’s turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities, and fatal heart attacks.”

Butterball is America's largest turkey producer and claims that it has a “zero-tolerance” policy for animal cruelty. In 2011, five Butterball employees were charged with animal cruelty in North Carolina.

Mercy for Animals is urging people to have a vegetarian Thanksiving dinner.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO