KFC Supplier Sued for Cruelty

For Immediate Release:

May 24, 2023

Contact:

Sarah Gold, ‭(972) 658-0575‬

Sarah@legalimpactforchickens.org

Morganton, N.C. – Today, one of the country’s largest poultry producers and a KFC supplier, Case Farms, was sued by animal-welfare charity Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) in Burke County District Court for its pattern of gross mismanagement and animal cruelty.  The complaint comes on the heels of a 2021 undercover investigation by animal advocacy group Animal Outlook, revealing a trend of cruel and deadly abuse at a Morganton, N.C. Case Farms hatchery that processes more than 200,000 chicks daily.  LIC accuses Case Farms of violating both industry standards and North Carolina law.

LIC’s lawsuit attacks the notion that Big Ag is above the law.  LIC demonstrates that various incidents of animal pain and suffering at Case Farms fall within the definition of unlawful cruelty.

“Case Farms is supposed to protect its chicks from injury, but instead, the company wastefully crushes, maims, and kills countless newborn birds soon after they hatch,” says Legal Impact for Chickens President Alene Anello.  “Consumers and animals alike deserve better from powerful producers like Case Farms.”

Case Farms has been documented knowingly operating faulty equipment, including a machine piston which repeatedly smashes chicks to death and a dangerous metal conveyor belt which traps and kills young birds.  Case Farms was also documented crushing chicks’ necks between heavy plastic trays. 

Case Farms supplies its chicken to KFC, Taco Bell, and Boar’s Head, among other customers.