The release of a horrific undercover video shot by the advocacy group Mercy for Animals (MFA) that captures the allegedly brutal treatment of pigs in an Iowa factory farm. What's more, MFA has also linked this particular pork producer to four major U.S. food retailers — Kroger, Costco, Safeway and Hy-Vee — all of which sell or have sold the company's meat.

If the video is legitimate — and there's nothing so far that credibly suggests it's not — there's no way to prettify or justify what it captures. Piglets are casually tossed across pens from one handler to another (one worker says pigs are "bouncy") and those that are considered sickly or nonviable are slammed head-first on the floor — a quick and efficient way to kill them. Animals are castrated and their tails are docked — or cut off — with no anesthetic. In crowded conditions pigs tend to bite one another's tails, and neutered males are generally less aggressive. Sows forced to breed repeatedly suffer fatal and painful uterine prolapses, with their reproductive organs sometimes spilling out of their bodies. Females are also confined in gestation crates, which allow them to lie down but provide them too little room even to turn around.

READ MORE: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2080546,00.html?xid=fbshare

PLEASE ASK KROGER, COSTCO, SAFEWAY AND HY-VEE GROCERY STORES TO STOP SUPPORTING CRUELTY AND STOP DOING BUISNESS WITH IOWA SELECT FARMS!