Animal rights group PETA sues Kuna ostrich farm

A well-known animal-rights organization has sued an ostrich farm in Kuna over allegations that the business is abusing its birds.

American Ostrich Farms, located outside the city off South Pleasant Valley Road, is one of a couple of hundred farms in the U.S. that breeds ostriches and raises the chicks, selling the meat, feathers, egg shells, oil and other byproducts after slaughter.

The farm was accused by a handful of former employees earlier this year of having poor conditions that caused ostriches to die “in huge numbers,” the Idaho Statesman reported in July.

One of the employees shared photos with the Statesman, including of an ostrich whose foot had split open, revealing the bone, from frostbite it got after snow and freezing water pooled in its enclosure during the winter. Other photos showed maggots and mold growing inside a barn used to raise chicks.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, lodged a complaint with the Idaho Department of Agriculture in March based on the testimony of multiple workers, including the farm’s former animal husbandry manager, as well as photos of injured birds and unclean or inadequate shelter.

A senior investigator with the department conducted two inspections after the allegations surfaced and in May “found no deficiencies in the facility or animal care at this time.”

The case was closed. But PETA wasn’t convinced.

Dan Paden, vice president of legal advocacy at PETA, told the Statesman then that the nonprofit had spoken with six former employees of the farm who corroborated the allegations.

Paden also said that several of the specific accusations mirror a complaint PETA received about the farm about two years ago, which it wasn’t able to verify at the time because the complainant became unresponsive. PETA said the existence of the previous allegations lent credence to the new ones.

“We’re certainly convinced that these people are speaking the truth,” Paden said. “Obviously, we object to raising any animals for flesh, but even putting that aside, these animals deserve protection under state law, and we’re not convinced that they’re getting it.”

Meanwhile, the farm and its owner, Alex McCoy, who left a career in finance to start the business in 2014, denied most of the allegations and offered explanations for others in interviews with the Statesman.

McCoy said the farm has a robust humane handling program at its on-site slaughterhouse, where a USDA inspector is present at all times.

“It’s just not credible,” McCoy said at the time. “One of the worst things that you could ever do is hurt a harmless animal. Why would we do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

On Monday, Dec. 2, PETA sued the farm in Washington, D.C., where PETA is has an office, demanding a jury trial and asking the District of Columbia Court to halt the company’s messaging on its packaging, website, social media and the online retailer Amazon.

It said the “false” advertising could lead reasonable consumers, who pay a premium for the farm’s ostrich meat and other ostrich-derived products, to believe that the birds are raised “humanely,” “ethically” and with the “highest standards of care and respect,” in violation of the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

PETA cited several reasons in its lawsuit for suing in the District of Columbia. They include that American Ostrich Farms relies on online sales placed via its website and Amazon, which is accessible to D.C. residents; the farms ships products to customers across the country, including in D.C.; and because the farm’s internet advertising is accessible in D.C.

The lawsuit alleged that it is common for ostriches at the farm to freeze to the ground during winter and languish in muddy, flooded enclosures without the ability to dry off or seek shelter from rain, snow or wind.

“Defendant’s CEO and staff have been aware of this issue but have refused to shelter all ostriches in available greenhouses in order to save on propane costs,” the lawsuit said. “The predictable result is dead birds — starved, frozen or both.” A spokesperson for American Ostrich Farms said Friday that they were unaware of the lawsuit.

Angela Palermo covers business and public health for the Idaho Statesman.