Read moreAnimal group hits Koch Foods as company denies Chattanooga plant is inhumanely treating chickens
Two poultry slaughter plants in Tennessee - including Pilgrim's Pride in Chattanooga - are among the 10 worst in the nation for receiving citations from federal inspectors over a five-month period, according to two animal rights groups.
Representatives of Animal Welfare Institute and Farm Sanctuary sent letters to executives with Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods notifying them of their findings, which are based on a review of inspection reports from last winter obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The organizations requested the records after hearing reports of chickens freezing and arriving dead at slaughterhouses, said Dena Jones with Animal Welfare Institute. However, the problems at Pilgrim's Pride Plant in Chattanooga were not weather related. That plant failed to follow Good Commercial Practices by not ensuring that chickens were dead before being placed in scalding pots, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.
Recent news report about Chattanooga's Koch Foods plant: