LUMBERTON — A process utilized at a Sanderson Farms’ hatchery in Kinston that has come under fire from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals could be used at an identical facility being built in Lumberton, a Sanderson Farms executive says.

But, D. Michael Cockrell, Sanderson’s chief financial officer and treasurer, said macerating chicks not fit to be raised for meat is the most humane way to euthanize them.

Cockrell told The Robesonian that there is “always the potential” for problems like those alleged in a report released by PETA over the weekend to occur at the Lumberton hatchery, or at any hatchery operated by any poultry processing company.

“It’s part of the industry,” Cockrell said. “But we train our employees to ensure that they are aware of proper procedures and our policies.”

The PETA report provided details of alleged abuse at the Kinston facility that included workers leaving unwanted, late-hatching chicks to die in their hatching crates while others are ground alive in macerators.

Cockrell would not comment on PETA’s allegations, but said he questioned the validity of some of a video the animal rights group released over the weekend, specifically a part showing a macerator of a type not even used by his company.

“It is immoral to let animals suffer. We take our rules and guidelines seriously,” Cockrell said. “If an employee intentionally or even unintentionally violates our policies, disciplinary action, up to termination of employment, is taken.

“We hatch millions of chicks every week at our hatcheries, and most of them are healthy and placed at grow-out farms to grow and thrive,” Cockrell said. “But unfortunately, some of these chicks — a very small percentage — are born deformed, sick or did not develop properly. These chicks have to be humanely euthanized.”

Cockrell emphasized that the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Chicken Council, and almost every other organization related to animal health has approved maceration as the preferred form of euthanizing culled chicks. He said that death is instantaneous and painless.

PETA said in its report that an eyewitness in Kinston recorded and placed on YouTube a video of chicks left to die in hatchery crates. It also alleges that chicks tossed into a macerator — but missed falling into the machinery — were left to die under the machine.

The video, according to the report, was taken at the Kinston hatchery in late 2015, before North Carolina’s so called “ag-gag” law went into effect in January. According to PETA, the law, which is being challenged in the courts by PETA and other groups as unconstitutional, gives employers the right to sue those who go on their property without permission and document cases of animal cruelty.

State Sen. Jane Smith, a Democrat from Lumberton, said she voted in favor of the law because a “majority” of the bill included provisions that are good for the state’s farmers.

“This bill still protects those who report violations,” Smith said. “It was supported by the Farm Bureau and other organizations relating to farming,”

Company says treatment of chicks is humane

By Bob Shiles

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Bob Shiles can be reached at 910-416-5165.