Minnesota's Holden Farms sued by advocacy group alleging animal cruelty
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A southern Minnesota pig breeding farm says claims of illicit conduct that have garnered national attention are an attack on meat producers and livestock farmers.
In a four-month-long investigation from November 2019 to March 2020, nonprofit animal advocacy organization Animal Outlook says it detailed multiple instances of alleged animal cruelty at a Holden Farms pig breeder in Utica.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against Holden Farms in September 2021, alleging the breeder falsely certified to the government that it was not violating laws when it applied for issuance, and later forgiveness, of a $2.57 million PPP loan.
The case was sealed by the U.S. Department of Justice until last week.
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Footage obtained during the investigation allegedly exposed routine kicking and beatings of mother pigs and workers tormenting pigs, including two workers playing "catch" with a piglet.
Animal Outlook says during its investigation, it witnessed employees feeding dead piglet intestines and bodily fluids blended into a "slurry" with pig feces to mother pigs -- a practice known as "feedback" that is common in the pork business. They allege this is a violation of Minnesota's anti-garbage feeding law.
Feedback, also called "controlled antigen oral exposure," is seen as beneficial by some in the agriculture industry, saying the mixture can help reduce the spread of disease on farms and prime the pig's immune system.
However, there are concerns that feedback can cause sows to be exposed to a virus late in gestation, causing low-viability pigs to be born. There is also a risk of older pigs shedding organisms contained in the feedback and exposing piglets to infection.
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The state warns that food waste containing meat or that has been exposed to meat can have the potential to carry disease.
Throughout the investigation, there were multiple instances reported of piglets falling through slats in the floor and being left to die in an "underground pit of feces, urine, and decaying piglet corpses."
The lawsuit alleges that Holden Farms "engages in systematic and ongoing violations of the Federal Swine Health Protection Act, the Minnesota anti-cruelty law, and the Minnesota anti-garbage feeding law."
In a statement to WCCO regarding the lawsuit, Holden Farms says they are currently reviewing the allegations, but based on what is known so far, it disagrees with the complaint.
"The plaintiff is a group of animal rights activists who have manufactured a novel legal theory to broadly attack livestock farmers and meat producers," Attorney Matthew Berger, who is representing Holden Farms, said. "Holden Farms intends to vigorously defend these frivolous allegations."
Holden Farms is the 16th largest pork producer in the United States and was founded in Northfield, Minnesota.
