Here's a rare glimpse into what it's like for an undercover investigator. We would like to give a heartfelt thank you to the two brave individuals who went undercover at this pig factory farm in Iowa (and to undercover investigators everywhere). The investigators hope their experiences will motivate you to make a difference for animals each day in your own way. Here's what they had to say:

What exactly was your reaction when you saw just how badly the animals were really being treated? Did you cry?

Investigator 1: I was horrified and terribly saddened. But I had a good idea of what I was going to see, and I prepared myself for it. … Because it is so critical to conceal my identity and my sympathy for animals while undercover, I [can only] cry on the inside when I see the abuse and the cruelty. I can never let my coworkers see that side of me. Sometimes, I will let out a good cry at home or in my car after a particularly disturbing day.

Investigator 2: There were some nights I would get home and get emotional about the day's events. You have to hold it inside until you get home. If the other employees see you react in an emotional way, it would blow your cover. The people whom I have met working at a hog farm would never get emotional or upset due to the mistreatment of the animals, and so we must act in that same manner.

What toll does it take on you mentally and emotionally? How do you handle working in facilities that abuse animals?

Investigator 1: The job is challenging, both mentally and emotionally. It always helps me tremendously to look at the big picture and focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Personal sacrifice is almost always necessary to achieve great change. But I take solace in those … moments that I spend, one-on-one, with the animals whom I meet on an assignment. Looking into the sad eyes of a suffering animal motivates me and energizes me to do more. And I realize that my mental and emotional anguish pales in comparison to the suffering and pain this animal is feeling right now. I get to go home after work every day, but the animals never leave.

Investigator 2: It can take a large toll on you. Seeing what happens firsthand day in and day out definitely affects you. There are times during a case when I have had nightmares about it. The only way to really get through it is to always keep in mind that this would all be happening if I was there or not. By being there, I have the opportunity to help stop abuse.

To read all of the questions and answers from the investigators, click here.

Do you think you'd be able to handle being an undercover investigator?

Posted by Christine Doré

There's a great editorial titled "PETA's Undercover Agents Deserve a Pat on the Back" in the Post-Bulletin that's well worth reading. We don't generally just push people over to another site, but when something is good it's good—so we'll let someone else do the writing this time.

Check out the editorial here.

Posted by Joel Bartlett

It's with a proud and ecstatic heart that I report this news today! Our investigation into an Iowa pig farm that breeds piglets destined for Hormel has resulted in 22—that's right, count them—22 criminal charges.

The Greene County Sheriff just announced in a news release that six individuals employed by the farm at the time of PETA's investigation now face a total of 22 counts of livestock neglect and abuse. Those charged include a former farm manager—who we understand still works on another pig factory farm—and a supervisor, as well as two individuals who still punch the clock at the Iowa factory farm as we speak.

A whopping 14 of the counts are aggravated misdemeanors—the stiffest possible charges under Iowa state law for crimes committed against farmed animals—carrying up to two years behind bars. To PETA's knowledge, this is unprecedented.

Charges based on PETA's undercover investigations are now pending against pig factory farmers in both Iowa—the nation's top pig-raising state—and North Carolina, which occupies the second rung on that dubious list!

This is a small victory for farmed animals, but we mustn't forget that Hormel, which financially supports this farm, has by all appearances yet to make any changes as a result of this investigation. It has refused to meet with us or even watch all of the footage, which we have repeatedly offered to show the company. Maybe now that the law has spoken up, Hormel will finally listen.

Please, urge Hormel to take action now.

Posted by Christine Doré

One month ago, we released shocking footage from an undercover investigation of a factory farm in Iowa that raises pigs who are destined for Hormel. The public was rightly outraged by the horrific findings of PETA's investigators, who found that workers repeatedly hit pigs with metal gate rods and canes, a worker slammed the heads of piglet "runts" into the floor, and a supervisor shoved a cane into a sow's vagina and talked about sexually abusing pigs.

Even after the farm changed ownership and management during the investigation, this disgusting treatment and abuse of animals continued.

That being said, we have just released previously unseen footage from the investigation, apparently showing the farm manager kicking and shocking a pig. Unbelievably, he is still the manager of the farm!

Other Viewing Options

In the video, the farm manager is seen shocking a pig with an electric prod and kicking her—both in apparent violation of the farm owner's own written policy—in a prolonged attempt to make her stand, which is a requirement for pigs who are sold for slaughter. The suffering sow, who was unable to stand due to crippled hind limbs, was left in the pen for two days, bleeding from a severed hoof, until she was ultimately shot and killed.

This shocking footage of the farm manager was recorded the very next working day after PETA's undercover investigator reported to the farm manager the abuse that he had documented at the farm.

We are seething mad that the farm manager retains his position as farm manager and has been allowed to continue to supervise other employees and their treatment of pigs. It is painfully obvious to us that all factory farms—as long as they exist—must be managed by individuals who are competent in humane handling of animals and who can lead by example. We'll let you determine whether he fits the bill.

We stand firm in our demand that Hormel take action against these abuses, despite the company's continued failure to respond to our attempts to work with it. Join us in renewing our pressure on Hormel. Demand that the company enact meaningful reforms to prevent this sort of abuse from occurring on its suppliers' farms.

Update: We wanted to make sure that it's clear to our readers that we offered several times to show Hormel and the farm's management ALL the footage that was taken during PETA's undercover investigation at the supplier's farm—including the above footage of the manager. Neither Hormel nor the farm's management took us up on our offer.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Shane Victorino
philly / CC

Okay, hold the phone—during a recent Philadelphia Phillies/Los Angeles Dodgers playoff game, commentator Joe Buck mentioned that Phillies player Shane Victorino's favorite food is Spam musubi. A few reactions here—one: gross; I can think of a hundred different fillings I'd like for my onigiri, and canned meat ain't one of them.

Two: Why? The Phillies' Citizens Bank Ballpark has been ranked the "Most Vegetarian Friendly Ballpark" two years in a row for its impressive vegetarian offerings, such as Philly faux-steak sandwiches, "crab-free crab cakes," mock-chicken sandwiches, and veggie dogs. With all of these delicious, cruelty-free options available, why would you choose to go cholesterol- and cruelty-heavy? (Okay, so Spam musubi is a popular food in Shane's native Hawaii—but as my mother would say, what's popular is not always right.)

And finally (and most importantly), three: SPAM is made by Hormel, and Hormel is supplied by factory farms like this one in Iowa. You remember—the factory farm where the pigs were beaten and vaginally and—according to one bragging supervisor—anally penetrated? Where their tails and testicles were cut off without anesthetic?

We're giving Shane the benefit of the doubt here: He probably didn't know about the torments faced by the piglets destined to be slaughtered for Hormel and possibly end up as SPAM. But hey, knowledge is power, right? So PETA Assistant Director (and major sports fan) Dan Shannon has written him a letter giving some background info on Hormel and the way its suppliers and that Iowa farm treat pigs. We suspect that the cruelty in every can of SPAM will make Shane madder than a high Hiroki Kuroda fastball—and that a change in snack foods might be in order.

Check out Dan's full letter here.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

A worker slammed these piglets' heads against the floor and left them to die in a bin.

Just days after PETA released video footage of an undercover investigation at an Iowa pig farm whose piglets are destined for Hormel, the wheels of change are in motion. Here's what's new.

1. Acknowledgment
PETA met with Greene County, Iowa, Sheriff, Tom Heater's staff, and he is taking the documented cruelty seriously. After this meeting, Sheriff Heater told the Associated Press, "Our next step is to secure interviews with potential suspects, and definitely make sure that there's no further abuse occurring down there—that's our main concern at this point. Asked if crimes had been committed, Heater responded, 'It appears that there were, yes.'"

2. Action
Dr. Jennifer Greiner says Minnesota-based MowMar, LLP, which owns the farm where the investigation took place, has already fired two employees involved in the abuse and will continue to terminate those involved based on the findings of the investigation.

3. Deception
Following the release of the investigation video, Hormel issued false statements to consumers and PETA's members saying that the abuse shown on the video occurred weeks before their supplier purchased the farm. This statement is blatantly untrue, as the video depicts acts committed both before and after MowMar's purchase of the site. Furthermore, Hormel suppliers either owned or managed the Iowa farm during the entire investigation.

Although PETA's investigation garnered some serious media attention and is prompting needed change in regard to animal abuse, it still may take some time before meaningful changes are made to standards in the pig industry. Mother pigs are still confined to tiny gestation crates and their babies are castrated and mutilated without any anesthesia or painkillers. Even worse, unwanted "runts" are sometimes killed by "thumping" (slamming the animals' heads against the floor). Although cruel, these standards still appear to be legal in many U.S. states.

The good news is that you can make a huge difference. You can join PETA and take a stand against the cruel factory-farming industry by going veg today.

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

Anyone you know still eat SPAM and Dinty Moore? Well, show them a new PETA investigation of a pig factory farm in Iowa—where investigators took truly disturbing undercover footage of workers who were abusing sows and their piglets. This farm breeds and supplies piglets to be grown and eventually slaughtered for Hormel. In addition to keeping pregnant pigs in hideous gestation crates that are so small that the mothers-to-be cannot even turn around, workers and supervisors are seen on our tape kicking pigs maliciously, beating them with metal rods, jabbing clothespins and fingers into their eyes, and slamming piglets against the floor to kill them (a standard practice in the pig-meat industry). A worker was seen spraying paint directly up a sow's nostrils and all over her face as well. Some of the piglets convulsed for more than 12 minutes before dying.

PETA's undercover investigators also documented the following:

A supervisor repeatedly urinated near crated pigs, his urine running into the only area where food was dropped and animals could lay their heads.

Dead piglets' entrails were removed, ground into a stew, and set under heat lamps to grow bacteria. This stew—called "feedback"—was then mixed with feed and fed to the sows.

Workers cut off piglets' tails and pulled out piglets' testicles—without any painkillers—as the small animals screamed next to their mothers. Their tails and testicles went onto a pile on the shed floor.

Tails and testicles from baby pigs

If you eat hot dogs, ham, sausage, or bacon, you are supporting gross abuse and cruelty in this "house of horrors." Please don't. Tell Hormel to stop cruelty to animals at its suppliers' facilities now!

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

Being a shareholder of a major company can come with perks. I once got a free pen for attending Smithfield Foods' annual meeting. I got a coupon (which I used for a veggie burger) at another shareholder meeting.

OK, so those types of perks aren't anything to write home about. The real "perk" for us—which is the reason that we purchase stock in animal-abusing companies in the first place—is the chance to have a voice in the inner workings of a company like Hormel Foods, the meatpacking giant based out of Austin, Minnesota.

This week, we cashed in on that perk, so to speak, by submitting a shareholder resolution calling on the company to include information on its packaging disclosing every piece of meat's greenhouse-gas "footprint" on the world. Doing more damage than all the automobiles and airplanes in the world combined, it's the meat industry that contributes most to global warming. And we're not the only ones who think it's smart to clue consumers in: Some food companies are already printing per-serving greenhouse-gas emissions levels on product labels.

Now, as a result of our resolution, all Hormel investors—from Joe Schmoe, who might own a dozen shares, up to the largest major banking firm, which might own five to 10 percent of the company—will be able to read about all the ways that producing meat contributes to global warming, and more importantly, they'll have a chance to vote on whether they feel that Hormel should own up to its devastating eco-footprint.

You can read the full text of the resolution here.

Posted by Matt Prescott, assistant director of Corporate Affairs