Animal Charity Hopes To Convert Meat Plant Into 'Animal Empathy Museum'

An animal rights charity has written to the CEO of Tyson Foods to express interest in leasing the company’s meat processing facility in Kansas to turn it into an “empathy museum” and a vegan café.

Tyson, one of the world’s biggest meat companies, will close the facility, which processes meat from cows and pigs, in February. In the letter to Tyson CEO Donnie King, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said the museum could teach people “about the intelligence and sociability of pigs and cows and appreciate them as individuals deserving of understanding and respect.”

Nearly a thousand jobs will be lost upon the plant’s closure. PETA suggested that converting the space “could also create jobs for some displaced workers and increase tourism in the area.”

Showing the truth about eating meat

Pigs in a sanctuary — ledmark31 – stock.adobe.com PETA says the museum could show the individuality and intelligence of animals like pigs

Newkirk reminded King of the conditions in which most animals farmed in the US are kept. The letter does not let Tyson off the hook for being part of this system. “[A]s our investigations into Tyson facilities have shown, some [animals] endure horrific abuse at the hands of low-paid, often frustrated slaughterhouse workers or are maimed by equipment,” Newkirk wrote.

As well as showing the individuality and intelligence of farmed animals such as cows and pigs, the museum could “ensure that visitors can ponder the violence” of eating meat. To help them do that, Newkirk suggests that PETA could lease some meat grinders, bone saws, and other equipment previously used in the facility.

The vegan café would serve visitors “delicious vegan food” such as burgers and sausages from Tyson’s plant-based brand Raised & Rooted. “We would remind visitors that in the 21st century, when the food industry – including Tyson – is producing superior vegan options that are delicious and healthy and the demand for vegan meats is ever rising, there is absolutely no justification for continuing to kill and eat animals,” the letter states.

Tyson closing more plants

The plant in Kansas is just the latest facility to be shuttered by Tyson in the past two years. Two plants in Philadelphia that process meat for cheesesteaks are set to, while six chicken processing plants have closed since 2023.

The company is seeking to cut costs and concentrate resources on “more efficient plants,” Donnie King reportedly said during an earnings call. But it’s chicken plant closures were due to an overestimation in consumer demand.

Even so, consumption of chicken meat has been increasing overall in the US, where meat consumption is above global averages. Consumption of meat from pigs and cows has been decreasing, however, as the proportion of chicken being eaten goes up.