Caught on camera: Shocking undercover footage shows chicken farm workers hurling hatchlings into bins

• Animal protection group files lawsuit against Cal-Cruz Hatcheries

By Lee Moran

Last updated at 6:19 PM on 13th January 2012

A chicken hatchery is being sued for alleged animal abuse - after undercover footage showed hatchlings being drowned in buckets of waste and hurled into rubbish bins.

The gruesome film, taken at Cal-Cruz Hatcheries Inc in Santa Cruz, California, also shows young chicks, with ripped skins and organs hanging out, being trapped under machinery.

Washington D.C.-based animal protection group Compassion Over Killing, represented by the Animal Legal Defence Fund, has filed a civil complaint with Santa Cruz Superior Court.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Scroll down for video...

Injured: This chick, surrounded by fragments of egg shell, is shown struggling to move across the floor in the video

It follows, almost three years ago, the turning over of the footage to county Animal Services officials in February 2009. But, after an investigation, Santa Cruz District Attorney's Office did not file charges.

The group wants an end to the alleged abuse at the firm, owned by Brian Collins, who is named in the suit but has not commented on the matter.

Carter Dillard, litigation director for ALDF which filed the lawsuit, told The Huffington Post: 'The systematic torture and reckless neglect of baby birds at Cal-Cruz is not only shocking, it is also illegal under the California Business and Professions Code.'

And, in the lawsuit, the group stated: 'The investigation revealed that Cal-Cruz, through its employees, operates heavy machinery in a manner that regularly mutilates hatchlings, neglects dying birds trapped in machinery or on the concrete floor.

Footage: Undercover video taken at Cal-Cruz Hatcheries shows young chicks being 'treated inhumanely', according to an animal protection group

'It drowns baby birds in buckets of waste, throws hatchlings several feet into trash bins where they remain for several hours and abuses hatchlings with excessive force by washing them down a disposal chute with a high-powered hose.

'It also jams birds down the chute with a pole, and cruelly kills hatchlings in a crowded disposal chute in a manner that does not guarantee a humane death.'

The lawsuit added that Cal-Cruz hatches and ships millions of chicks each year to growers who raise the birds until they are slaughtered.

Shocking: In this segment of the video, a chick is shown drowning in a bucket

According to the statement, Cal-Cruz representatives said chicks are sent to Bauer Family Farms and Carlson Family Farms.

And they are ultimately destined for meat counters at Northern California grocery stores.

Dillard added: 'There is a hard reality when it comes to factory farming. If you look at the video, you see the numbers of animals involved - businesses have to maximise numbers so they try to minimise labour costs.

'The problem with factory farms is you cannot have those numbers of animals being cared for by so few people without a significant number of the animals literally falling through the cracks.'

KGO-TV reported in 2010 that Cal-Cruz Hatchery president Brian Collins had viewed the video and confirmed it was taken in his facility.

He told the San Francisco TV station: 'I think the employees get desensitised to the actual handling of the bird, and for them, it's a job.'

He said he may make one change: 'Right now, the guideline is every 30 minutes you empty those boxes, I might make it 15 and be more diligent about it.'

Leahy said the group has 'no reason to think the hatchery has made any significant changes.' The firm has 30 days to admit or deny the lawsuit's allegations.