Tommy Deese Sr., owner of Deese Farms outside Rockingham, told the Daily Journal on Thursday that the first time he was made aware of any abuse was when Sgt. Bryan Beach from the animal control division of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office came out to investigate a complaint filed by Vandhana Bala, general counsel for LosAngeles-based Mercy for Animals on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Matt Rice, director of investigations for the organization, the investigator began working at Deese Farms and Hideaway Farms for an undercover operation on Oct. 30, leaving the farm on Dec. 4. He said the video, posted to the group’s YouTube channel Wednesday afternoon, was shot at both farms.
“It’s pretty horrific video footage that we gathered there,” he said by phone, while in Raleigh for one of two press conferences in the state on Thursday.
The video appears to show several chickens being stomped to death and one being hurled against a wall, as well as chickens in poor health and at least one that had a heart attack from rapid growth.
Danny Cajija Miranda, 22, was arrested Tuesday on four felony counts of cruelty to animals for “maliciously” killing chickens. He is also facing a misdemeanor cruelty charge for allegedly striking a small dog.
“Our investigator also reported the abuse to the owner weeks ago, and observed no corrective actions taken,” Rice said. “They acknowledged Miranda had treated animals that way in the past, yet allowed him to continue working there.”
Deese said that claim is false.
“I’ll put my hand on the Bible to that — nobody ever told me about any abuse,” he said. “We do not tolerate any of that. We’ve been trained by Perdue how to kill ‘em. If I’d known he was doing anything like that, we’d have fired him long ago.”
Deese, who is also on the Richmond Soil and Water District Board of Supervisors, said he hasn’t even been down to the chicken houses in several weeks because he is recovering from an ankle operation.
“That’s one thing we’ve always done is take care of our animals,” he said, adding that he was always stressing the welfare of the birds, including temperature and air quality.
The farm, which has served as a contract grower for Perdue Farms Inc. since 1992, has had its contract suspended by the company until an internal investigation is complete.
“We’re completely shut down now — we can’t do anything,” Deese said of his operation, which includes himself, his son Tommy Deese Jr. and one full-time and one part-time worker.
“Why would you have done something to stop your whole livelihood, your family farm, from being interrupted?” he said. “It just don’t make sense. You wouldn’t put up with it.”
Included in links provided to the media is a video appearing to show the unnamed whistleblower speaking with Deese on Nov. 7. The whistleblower shows a copy of that weekend’s edition of the Daily Journal as proof of date. A photo of a check from Deese — dated Nov. 5 in the amount of $400 — is also provided to show employment.
Another video provided to the media appears to show the whistleblower attempting to call the Perdue hotline on his cellphone Dec. 3 to report the abuse, but to no avail. Rice said the number went to a fax machine.
“We thank Mercy for Animals for uncovering clear animal abuse by an individual on a farm raising our chickens, and we appreciate law enforcement’s prompt action against the perpetrator,” Julie DeYoung, spokeswoman for Perdue, said in an email Thursday morning. “This also demonstrates that we need to improve our oversight, training and practices around day-to-day care of our animals.”
In regard to the hotline, she said there was apparently an error in the phone number listed in materials provided during poultry welfare training, adding the correct number has been communicated to live production personnel and contract farms.
DeYoung said Mercy for Animals and Perdue both share the goals of preventing animal abuse and of improving poultry care.
“As a company, Perdue is committed to continuous improvement, and as with our journey toward being the leader in ‘No Antibiotics Ever,’ we are actively seeking to improve the way we raise chickens,” she said.
Nathan Runkle, president of Mercy for Animals, said in a Thursday statement that animal cruelty is “business as usual” at Perdue.
“Chickens are crammed into filthy, windowless sheds, kicked and thrown by careless workers and bred to grow so fast they suffer from painful leg deformities and heart attack,” he said. “Perdue has not only the power, but also the ethical responsibility to end the worst forms of cruelty to animals in its supply chain. It’s time Perdue took real steps to prevent the suffering of millions of animals.”
According to DeYoung, the company is doing just that.
She said Perdue recently created a new vice president position, chief animal welfare officer and farm family advocate, appointing 31-year company veteran Mike Levengood to that position.
“Mike is leading our efforts to improve animal care and to develop closer relationships with the farmers who care for those animals,” DeYoung said. “We are currently evaluating many of the practices that Mercy for Animals highlights, including lighting and enrichments.”
HERE ILLEGALLY?
According to an arrest report, Miranda is a citizen of Mexico.
Bryan Cox, regional spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed Thursday that ICE has issued an immigration detainer on the defendant.
According to the American Immigration Council, an immigration detainer “is a tool used by ICE and other Department of Homeland Security officials to identify potentially deportable individuals who are housed in jails or prisons nationwide.” Detainers can be placed on legal immigrants as well as unauthorized immigrants.
Cox could not verify Miranda’s legal status.
Deese said Miranda produced a document from the Internal Revenue Service to pay taxes when he was hired last winter, adding that there have been no problems with the IRS Form 1099 that was filed. The 1099 forms are tax returns for independent contractors.
An immigration detainer does not supersede the criminal justice system. Once Miranda goes through the process — whether or not he is convicted — federal officials have requested that the sheriff’s office contact them upon his release and hold him for 48 hours.
If ICE or DHS has not picked up Miranda within that time, he is required to be released.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
(Your Daily Journal - Dec 10, 2015)
