From the Humane Farming Association
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Earlier this year, a Wayne County judge found Joe Wiles, manager of Wiles Hog Farm in Creston, Ohio, guilty of animal cruelty. Wiles was fined and sentenced to probation.
The video evidence gathered at Wiles Farm by a Humane Farming Association (HFA) investigator caught Wiles abusing piglets inviolation of the state’s anti-cruelty statute. Most disturbing of the cruelty documentedat Wiles Farm was its practice of killing sick and injured pigs by fastening a chain around their necks and then attaching the chain to a front-end loader. The loader would be lifted as the pigs struggled and slowly strangled to death over a period ofup to five minutes.
The Wiles Farm owner actually admitted to hanging pigs in thisway for 40 years, stating, “We hang our sows like they do people in Utah.”
Misleading the Public
When graphic evidence of animalcruelty at Wiles Farm was aired on television news reports, the Ohio Pork Producers Council attempted to distance itself from Wiles Farm. In a written statement, the director of the Ohio Pork Producers assured the public that the cruelty documented on the Wiles Farm video “depicts mistreatment of hogs, including practicesnot condoned and, in fact, abhorred by America's pork producers.” The Ohio Pork Producers went on to claim, “Mistreatment of animals is appalling topork producers just as it is to others. Wedo not defend and will not accept suchmistreatment.”
Well, that certainly sounded good. But the Ohio Pork Producers would soonshow where they really stood regarding animal cruelty. Right after the trial, just assoon as media attention faded, they did an about face—and awarded Wiles Farm $10,000 to help cover ongoing legal costs!
This provides yet another glaring example of the pork industry’s willingness to acceptand defend even the most horrific forms of animal cruelty. And it illustrates the lengths its officials will go to mislead people about what actually takes place within the pork industry.
The Best Testimony Money Could Buy
Although its manager was found guilty of brutalizing piglets, Wiles Farm managed to escape convictions for its hanging of sick and injured pigs. This was largely due to the testimony of a paid industry apologist who contradicted established veterinary policies by testifying that slow death by hanging should not be considered cruelty. Defense attorneys had to go all the way to Iowa to find a veterinarian willing to defend the cruelty documented at Wiles Farm.
And they found their man in Dr. Paul Armbrecht. Dr. Armbrecht’s testimony allowed the local judge to accept the absurd argument that slow strangulation is not cruel. This led tothe acquittal of Wiles for the most serious charges brought by the prosecution.
In contrast to Dr. Armbrecht’s testimony, neither the American Association of Swine Veterinarians nor any other professional organization anywhere supports hanging animals to death. Animal cruelty laws should not be undermined by the testimony of paid industry witnesses.
The Humane Farming Association has called for the revocation of Dr. Armbrecht’s veterinary license, and we urge concerned citizens in Ohio to joinwith us.
Action Requested: Please write or e-mail the authorities who license Dr. Armbrecht. Inform them that his sworn testimony flatly contradicts established veterinary standards and perpetuates animal abuse.
Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine
Iowa Department of Agriculture
Wallace Building
502 East 9th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
e-mail: ginny.eason@idals.state.ia.us
