Animal Outlook

• The organization has since launched successful campaigns urging Morningstar Farms, Boca, and LightLife to use fewer eggs in their products.
• Compassion Over Killing launched a campaign for Dunkin' Donuts to stock soy milk in its shops,[4] which the company did in certain regions. At the 2009 Taking Action for Animals conference hosted by the Humane Society of the United States, Erica Meier introduced Compassion Over Killing's follow-up campaign to urge Dunkin' Donuts to remove animal products from its donuts.
• A successful campaign, in which COK supporters sent messages asking for vegan options at WeLoveSubway.com, helped lead to menu items including a black bean patty and the Malibu Garden sandwich, being added by Subway[5]—the world's largest restaurant chain. More than 1,000 Subway locations now offer these options.
• Tim Horton's—Canada's largest coffee chain, with more than 4,500 locations—added soy milk[6] at participating locations, following a campaign by COK.
• COK teamed up with journalist and TV personality Jane Velez-Mitchell to launch a petition asking Starbucks to add vegan food options to its menu, in light of the positive steps the coffee chain has already taken by offering soy and coconut milks. In response to the many messages received, Starbucks has told COK, "We are in the testing stages for several new products that would qualify as vegan... we have our vegan customers in the forefront of our minds and can't wait to present some new food options to accommodate the vegan diet and our loyal customers that have requested these options."[7]

The group conducted an investigation into the living conditions at Maryland henhouses, documenting corpses found in group cages and rescuing some of the hens found in the worst conditions.[2] One of the farms documented, owned by ISE America, housed more than 800,000 hens.[8] Following a tip about substandard conditions at the farm, COK requested permission to visit the farm before proceeding with an undercover investigation.[8]

The spokesperson for the owner of the farm in question said that the conditions found at the farm were "normal industry practices."[9] While one of the farms asserted that the video footage was not taken at its farm, Compassion Over Killing had filmed its GPS location as well as mail addressed to the farm in question.[10]

In early 2006, a Compassion Over Killing investigation inside a Pennsylvania egg farm led to criminal charges of 35 counts of animal cruelty against the owner and manager of the farm, the first case of its kind.[11] Although, charges were pressed by a local animal control officer after viewing a video provided by COK, the owner and manager of the farm were eventually acquitted in 2007.[12]

COK's undercover video exposing animal abuse at Central Valley Meat Co. (CVM) prompted the USDA to shut down[13] the California slaughterhouse in 2012 and suspend federal purchases from the facility, a major supplier to the USDA's National School Lunch Program. California-based fast food chain, In-N-Out Burger immediately severed ties with its former supplier CVM[14] upon the release of COK's investigation findings, followed by national chains McDonald's and Costco. In February 2014, the facility was again shut down by the USDA for unsanitary conditions.[15]

In 2013, a COK activist was arrested (although charges were eventually dropped) in Colorado for filming alleged cattle abuse at the Quanah Cattle Company and failing to report the abuse “in a timely manner.” COK Executive Director Erica Meier stated that this is a “shoot-the-messenger strategy aimed at detracting attention away from the crimes of those who actually abused animals.”[16]

In 2014, a COK investigation exposed chickens being buried alive at a North Carolina factory farm supplying Pilgrim's Corp. (formerly Pilgrim's Pride), the second largest chicken producer in the world and a supplier for Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, Wendy's and Walmart. CNN broke the shocking story.[17]

In early 2015, a COK investigator documented horrific treatment of baby birds - including mutilations, gassing and being ground up alive - inside a Foster Farms hatchery in Fresno, California.

At a North Carolina chicken slaughterhouse owned by Mountaire Farms, Inc., the seventh largest chicken producer in the U.S, COK exposed[18] birds being violently thrown and punched, their feathers being ripped out, and sick or injured birds left in piles to die slowly.

In 2015, a Compassion Over Killing investigator uncovered conditions in a Minnesota facility that kills and processes animals for Hormel. This plant is one of the largest pig slaughterhouses in the U.S., and one of five plants enrolled in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP), a pilot USDA program that allows for faster processing of animals with reduced government inspection.

The Washington Post broke the story of the investigation, writing,[19] "Months worth of footage have raised serious concerns about the conditions at one of the largest pork processors in the U.S., and started a government investigation."

In 2013, an Audit Report[20] issued by the USDA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) underscored concerns that HIMP may pose food safety risks.