The second lawsuit was filed in Florida on behalf of consumers who bought Perdue's Harvestland Chicken. HSUS alleges the poultry company is using deceptive marketing by labeling its chicken products as humanely raised. The animal rights group believes that current industry practices are inhumane. HSUS wants a jury trial and compensation for the class members. The group also seeks to end Perdue’s use of the “Humanely Raised” claim on Harvestland products.
“Animals in Perdue’s factory farms suffer many of the same conditions found in other industrial facilities,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel of Animal Protection Litigation for The HSUS. “Perdue has apparently been exploiting the good intentions of its customers and selling them a factory-farmed product dressed up as ‘humane.’”
Perdue refuted HSUS' claims, saying that the company's animal welfare program exceeds industry standards. In astatement on the company's website, Perdue said:
"HSUS falsely asserts that there is no difference between Perdue’s welfare program and industry standards. The Harvestland/Perdue Poultry Welfare Program exceeds the National Chicken Council guidelines in several areas, including the additional steps of monitoring air quality in the poultry house, video monitoring of live?bird handling areas at the processing plant and USDA audits of producer farms and our hatcheries."
