Butterball is under increasing pressure to change the way it kills millions of turkeys every year.
Workers at the Garner company's factories shock turkeys, cut their throats and immerse them in a tank of scalding water, sometimes while they're still conscious, the Humane Society reports.
The advocacy group is asking Smithfield Foods, which owns 49 percent of Butterball, to recommend that Butterball phase in a new method of gassing turkeys. The group will present its proposal at Smithfield's annual shareholder meeting in Williamsburg, Va., this afternoon.
"The way Butterball kills turkeys is horribly outdated and horribly cruel," said Matt Prescott, an outreach director with the Humane Society.
Smithfield asked investors to vote against the proposal, saying that it's inconclusive whether the "controlled-atmosphere killing" method using inert gases is a better alternative.
"We agree that gas systems for poultry slaughter are worthy of further study and review," Smithfield wrote in a regulatory filing it sent to shareholders. "As we analyze different slaughter techniques and evolving technologies, we must consider several other important factors in addition to animal welfare," including food safety, product quality, worker safety and more.
Without support of Smithfield's management, it's unlikely the proposal will pass. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals previously submitted similar resolutions to Smithfield, which weren't successful. At one shareholders' meeting, Smithfield CEO C. Larry Pope said the company could not afford the change, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
If Smithfield shareholders pass the proposal, the company notes in its regulatory filing that it's only a minority owner of Butterball and doesn't control operations at the company's facilities.
Privately owned Maxwell Farms of Goldsboro is the majority owner. In June, Smithfield offered $200 million to buy out its larger partner. If Maxwell doesn't agree, Smithfield plans to sell its minority stake. The companies expect a decision this month.
Prescott said his group's efforts have been mostly ignored at Maxwell and Butterball.
In 2007, Butterball began a five-year evaluation of available technologies for killing turkeys. Its current process has been recognized as humane by several groups, including N.C. State University and the American Association of Avian Pathologists, Alice Johnson, Butterball's vice president of food safety and quality, wrote in a statement.
"It is the company's goal to ensure consumers understand the importance Butterball places on the health and well-being of its birds," Johnson added.
Case to be made
Prescott, 28, will make the presentation to Smithfield management, directors and investors at the annual meeting. "I have full confidence investors will hear the arguments and agree with us," he added.
Even if its proposal fails, the Humane Society is optimistic that it is succeeding in calling attention to the issue.
Other turkey producers, including Cargill, now use gas to kill turkeys at some facilities, Prescott said. More retailers and restaurant chains are requesting that their turkey suppliers switch to that method.
"We think Butterball will have no choice," he added.
Founded in 1954, Butterball merged with Carolina Turkeys in 2006, and two years ago moved its headquarters from Mount Olive to Garner, where it employs about 80 people. The company employs about 2,500 people at a 675,000 square-foot facility in Mount Olive that is the world's largest turkey plant and at another plant in Kinston.
Virginia-based Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer, and is a major employer in Eastern North Carolina. Its work force includes more than 5,000 people at a pork plant in Tar Heel and the company has contracts with hundreds of pig farmers in this state.