An update on Sparboe Farms can be found here. I must state gratitude to the President of Sparboe Farms for correcting the issues found.
To whom it may concern:
My name is Zachary Bray. I'm a young, beginning farmer. On Friday, November 18th, a video surfaced depicting what I would consider abusive actions against birds in the care of Sparboe Farms. I state this as someone who has seen poultry from a first hand point of a view while my parents have 3 breeder houses for a competitor.
I have different emotions going through me as I see this video at different times. Upon the first time I watched the video, I watched to verify that what I saw was abusive. Upon the second time, I was angered. The third time I watched this video I was ashamed. I urge you to take a look at social media sometime in the near future.
The problem I find with this video is that now, not only are the actions of the individuals in this video reflections of those individuals, but will now be said to be reflections of "the industry." This a false, at best logical leap of faith, that is being made. The statement that this is just business as usual isn't just false, but disinformation in its finest moment.
Sparboe farms has put up a website and is putting a lot of money into their public relations to increase transparency. They owe it to the rest of us to clean this mess up. I also would like to see an apology to the industry overall, but most of all, I want to see that the employees depicted are never hired in animal agriculture again. It's also time to see the US Poultry and Egg Association, along with other organizations within the industry to come to terms with a complete welfare package. It's time for all of us to stand back and assess our own situations, and our own employees along with ourselves honestly. Healthy livestock are productive livestock. If we cannot honestly state that we are doing everything within our power to ensure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that our animals are as healthy and humanely treated as possible, that we seek out the assistance needed to solve this problem.
Sincerely,
Zachary Bray
Owner/Operator/Farmer
LZ Livestock Company, NC
