Butterball is facing intense backlash after a nearly 20-year-old video resurfaced showing employees brutalizing turkeys, sparking outrage online.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shared the old video on Instagram with the caption: “Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before it was killed?” The post also encouraged followers to learn more about ” Butterball’s House of Horrors,” referencing PETA’s undercover investigation into a slaughterhouse in Ozark, Arkansas.

The video shows a Butterball employee stomping on a bird’s head until its skull explodes, another swinging a turkey against a metal railing with such force that its spine pops out, and a third putting his finger into the vagina of a turkey, says the PETA investigation.

PETA investigators uncovered these gruesome reports from April 2006 to July 2006 at the factory where approximately 50,000 birds were slaughtered daily.

Social media outrage

Many on social media are calling for a boycott of the brand as Thanksgiving approaches on Thursday.

“It was bad enough that your business (Butterball) is based on selling dead turkeys… did they have to be SA too?” Comedian Corinne Fisher commented on Butterball’s Instagram post.

“May they face the suffering they have caused. Monsters are real and disguised in human form. Not all people are the same – some embody true evil,” another user wrote.

“Stop cruelty to animals,” commented actress Hilda Abrahamz.

Another user said: “I threw away my Butterball turkey and will never buy from you again.”

Why did the video resurface?

Newsweek contacted PETA and asked why the company chose to resurface the 18-year-old video.

“It was part of a series of posts leading up to Thanksgiving,” said Amber Canavan, project manager for vegan campaigns at PETA Newsweek. “Our Thanksvegan campaign, as we call it, is a big thing we do every year.”

Canavan continued: “It’s the best time to get people thinking about the bird that will be the centerpiece of their table. What people generally don’t want to think about is everything that happened to them and their parents to get them on this table.

Butterball replied Newsweeks Request for comment: “We are aware of a video from almost 20 years ago that is being reshared on social media. This video is not current and was recorded before Butterball became a private company and before we became involved and certified American Humane is central to the care and welfare of animals to us as a company and we are committed to caring for our animals ethically and responsibly Herds committed,” a Butterball spokesperson said in the statement.

“Eleven years ago, Butterball was the first and, to date, only turkey company to be certified by American Humane. This means we have annual third-party audits to ensure compliance with our over 200 science-based best practice care standards.” “We are proud of this distinction, which no other turkey company can claim, and are pursuing one Zero tolerance policy for animal abuse,” the statement continued.

American Humane Certified is a certification program that ensures that animals used in food production are treated according to specific animal welfare standards. It is awarded to farms, ranches and other facilities that meet guidelines for humane treatment, which include proper handling, living conditions and care of animals throughout their lives.

“We challenged Butterball because of its certification by the American Humane Association,” Canavan said. “We have actually filed an FTC complaint against them due to the misleading nature of these certifications and marketing claims.”

She continued, “They put this label on it that says ‘humanely raised,’ but they still keep them in conditions that are basically industry standard, so they can mutilate these turkeys with no pain relief.”

Canavan said Butterball isn’t the only company facing backlash for animal cruelty – Plainville Turkey Farms came under fire in 2021, leading to a PETA investigation.

“We also found workers tossing birds around like footballs, mimicking sexual acts – things that constituted egregious abuse,” Canavan said. “The Plainville investigation actually led to criminal charges against many of the workers.”

Plainville Turkey Farms is now permanently closed.

“If they think there is nothing to hide about what happens to the turkeys they sell to the public, then why don’t they have live broadcast cameras in their slaughterhouses? And I think we all know the answer,” Canavan said.

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