 This video from Compassion Over Killing alleges mistreatment of chickens at a Tyson's chicken (Compassion Over Killing) 
 
 This video from Compassion Over Killing alleges mistreatment of chickens at a Tyson's chicken (Compassion Over Killing) 
 
 An animal rights group has released graphic video that appears to show the mistreatment of chickens by Tyson Foods employees in Virginia, leading to at least two Animal Control investigations. Compassion Over Killing, a Washington-based animal-advocacy organization, said the video was taken by an undercover investigator for the group in May and June at four facilities where Tyson employees process chickens. The video depicts Tyson employees throwing, punching and kicking chickens as well as sticking plastic rods through their beaks in a process known as “boning.” 
 
 Workers also wrung birds’ necks, ran over them with forklifts and left injured birds in “dead piles,” as the video’s narrator put it, to die. In the video released Thursday, a Tyson worker is caught on tape warning the undercover investigator that "you can't let nobody see you do that" as he stepped on a chicken's head, suffocating it. you don’t know if he’s working for the Animal Rights.” 
 
 Compassion Over Killing, which says it “focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture and promotes vegetarian eating,” has undertaken undercover investigations before. On Wednesday, it condemned the workers’ behavior. [“That one was definitely alive”: An undercover video at one of the nation’s biggest pork processors] 
 
 “This level of violence and abuse is so egregious, it violates Virginia state animal protection laws,” Erica Meier, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “The company should be held accountable — and consumers deserve to know the truth about the horrors inflicted upon these animals.” She added: “Tyson, the titan of this industry, is literally crushing the life out of birds.” 
 
 In a statement, Tyson, the largest chicken-processing company in the United States, called the behavior “inexcusable” and said that it fired 10 people who were members of the crew depicted in the video. The people shown in the video by Compassion Over Killing were all trained in proper animal handling, yet chose to ignore it and failed to alert management about the despicable treatment on these farms.” 
 
 Daugherty added: “Animals in our care deserve to be treated humanely.” 
 
 Two of the facilities shown in the video are in Virginia’s Mecklenburg County, one is in Buckingham County and one is in Lunenburg County. Compassion Over Killing, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it recently made formal complaints about the abuse to prosecutors and animal control officers in Mecklenburg, Lunenburg and Buckingham counties. Tyson said in a statement that it has begun meeting with every employee in its chicken operations that handles live birds “to aggressively re-emphasize the importance of proper animal handling and the consequences of not complying with the company’s animal welfare policies.” 
 
 The company also said it conducted a video conference on Thursday in which Tyson's senior management will discuss handling of live birds with managers at the company’s facilities.
– Chicken giant Tyson Foods says it will retrain all of its workers who deal with live birds after an animal rights group released hidden footage from within its facilities on Wednesday, USA Today reports. According to the Washington Post, the video from Compassion Over Killing shows workers choking, punching, and kicking chickens, plus running them over with forklifts and leaving them in piles to die. One worker in the video says it's "inhumane" to kill a chicken by stepping on its head while he kills a chicken by stepping on its head. Tyson calls the behavior "inexcusable" and says it fired 10 employees at the Virginia facilities shown in the video. Animal rights activists have infiltrated Tyson Foods to film such videos at least five times in a little over a year.