Animal Partisan and ALDF petition Minnesota court to issue search warrant for Jennie-O Turkey over use of VSD+
March 20, 2025
Animal Partisan and the Animal Legal Defense Fund have invoked a novel legal procedure to allege animal cruelty against Jennie-O Turkey over the corporation’s killing of thousands of turkeys via a controversial method that subjected the birds to agonizing heatstroke. The organizations are asking a Minnesota judge to issue a search warrant and order an investigation into the poultry producer’s conduct. The organizations are represented by Minnesota attorneys Karmen McQuitty and Kira Kelley.
On March 19, 2025, Animal Partisan and ALDF, filed an application for a search warrant and investigation with the Eighth Judicial District Court in Meeker County, Minnesota. The filing, supported by an affidavit from veterinarian Dr. Crystal Heath, alleges that Jennie-O violated a Minnesota animal protection law that requires any enclosed animal be provided with a “change of air.” The organizations allege that Jennie-O violated this law in October 2023 by using a method of mass killing known as “ventilation shutdown+” or “VSD+” to kill over 50,000 turkeys at a commercial factory farm in Meeker County.
VSD+ involves sealing off airways to barns full of animals, turning off fans, and adding heat to force large numbers of animals to die via heatstroke. The method is highly controversial and has been challenged by countless veterinarians opposed to the method and has been criticized by the public and animal protection groups as especially cruel. VSD+ has been used by the animal agriculture industry recently in response to disease outbreaks and to address backlogs of animals caused by shuttered slaughterhouses that could not operate because of worker sickness from COVID-19.
A 2022 study analyzing the troubling increasing frequency of VSD+ use concluded that the method is “profoundly detrimental to animal welfare and represents an urgent ethical problem for the US veterinary community.” Videos obtained by Animal Outlook showing VSD+ used on chickens as part of experiments conducted at North Carolina State University depict the brutality of this method. The videos (link below) show profound suffering as birds pant, gasp, and collapse on the ground.
The filing by Animal Partisan and ALDF centers around an October 2023 “depopulation” event in which Jennie-O killed over 50,000 turkeys using VSD+ at a commercial factory farm in Minnesota. The filing relies on public records from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture obtained by Animal Partisan and the veterinary organization, Our Honor. The records reveal that Jennie-O killed four barns full of turkeys on October 9, 2023 using VSD+.
Jennie-O’s goal of preventing a “change of air” to the barns is evident in the records which state that “[a]ny holes or gaps in the curtained [were] sealed with plastic.” and that plastic was used ”to seal middle divider of barn.” Jennie-O then brought in additional heaters to increase temperatures in the barn and inflict heatstroke on the birds confined with no means of escape and no access to fresh air. The barns full of turkeys were then heated to 104 degrees and the records reveal that birds trapped in these barns suffered anywhere from three to four hours before they were all ultimately killed.
Animal Partisan and ALDF argue that by admitting to “sealing” the barns to prevent airflow, Jennie-O deprived these turkeys of a “change of air” as is required by law under Minn. Stat. § 343.21, Subdivision 3. Violation of the statute constitutes a misdemeanor crime in Minnesota. The parties allege that Jennie O’s intent to deprive the birds of a change of air is further evidenced by the fact that at one point, VSD+ was prolonged when a “door blew open” and had to be closed again to prevent air from entering the barn.
The animal agriculture industry is aware that using VSD+ may expose it to risks of state animal cruelty charges. An email obtained by Our Honor from the National Pork Producers Counsel indicates that the pork organization suggested its members explore whether using VSD+ may violate state cruelty laws and indicates that the organization has been “worrying” about such liability.
Animal Partisan and ALDF brought the case under another Minnesota statute that allows individuals who believe that a violation of state animal protection statutes has occurred to apply to a court for a search warrant and investigation. The organizations are asking the court issue a search warrant and order an investigation of the Meeker County farm where VSD+ was used to search for “(1) written records of preparations, procedures, and outcome for event, (2) financial receipts for items purchased or rented to facilitate the use of VSD+, (3) records of indemnities paid by the United States Department of Agriculture in relation to the killing of the turkeys, (4) communications with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and/or the United States Department of Agriculture in anticipation of and following the event, (5) photographs and/or video recordings taken in association with the event, and (6) materials used in the actual depopulation, including heaters, tarps, sealant, temperature gauges, and similar equipment.” The filing also urges the court to allow a neutral veterinarian to participate in the investigation.
View a copy of the filing HERE.
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