Apparently, there's no rules for a fair fight in a slaughterhouse. After PETA submitted a videotape showing Pilgrim's Pride slaughterhouse workers in Moorefield, West Virginia stomping, kicking and slamming chickens against a wall, it thought the workers would at least be fined for the misdemeanor of violating animal cruelty laws. Others were certainly appalled. KFC issued a statement after the release of the tape indicating that it would not purchase chickens from Pilgrim's Pride until the supplier promised that the abuse had stopped.
On Tuesday, the West Virginia prosecutor said that the workers' conduct, while disturbing, did not rise to the level of criminal conduct because it occurred in a slaughterhouse. The prosecutor suggested that the supervision of these workers fell more within a regulatory framework than a criminal one. In their defense, the workers told the prosecutors that they were required to kill 28 to 33 chickens per minute, and that sometimes it was just faster to throw them against the wall than to wring their necks. That's some pressure.
When the Wall Street Journal created a list of the best and worst jobs in 2002, slaughterhouse worker did not even make into the top ten worst jobs. Based on lack of job security, pay and danger, lumberjack was ranked the worst job in America.
Posted by franchiselawblog at January 13, 2005 03:57 PM