Animal Rights Group Appeals to N.C. Supreme Court in Chicken Cruelty Case

RALEIGH, N.C. — An animal rights group is asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to take up its lawsuit against a chicken producer accused of widespread animal cruelty.

Legal Impact for Chickens filed a petition this week requesting the state’s highest court review a case it brought in 2023 against Case Farms, a major poultry company operating in Burke County. The group says Case Farms routinely mistreats baby chickens and violates North Carolina’s animal cruelty laws.

A trial judge dismissed the case in December 2023. Last month, a unanimous panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, stating the farm’s operations were exempt from suit under the state’s Protection of Animals Act (PAA). The Supreme Court petition argues that both lower courts misinterpreted the law.

Claims of Repeated Cruelty

The lawsuit centers on how Case Farms treats chickens from hatch to slaughter. In its petition, Legal Impact for Chickens alleges the company engages in “routine cruelty” that goes beyond what is needed for food production. Citing internal records and violations, the group claims the company kills young chicks in ways that prevent them from growing large enough to be used for meat.

According to the complaint, chicks are “recklessly” crushed between trays and run over by vehicles. The group also alleges this type of abuse is part of Case Farms’ standard operating procedures and occurs “nearly every day” at the hatchery.

Daniel Gibson, the group’s attorney, argues that Chapter 19A of the state’s General Statutes—meant to ensure humane treatment of animals—should apply. He said the Appeals Court erred by reading the law too narrowly and interpreting exemptions too broadly.

Court Ruling: Process Is Protected

But Appeals Court Judge Jeff Carpenter disagreed. In the court’s May decision, Carpenter wrote that Case Farms’ entire poultry operation—raising and slaughtering chickens—falls under a legal exemption in the Protection of Animals Act.

The PAA shields activities that are “lawful” and carried out “for the primary purpose of providing food.” The court concluded that this applied to the farm’s full production process, not just individual steps. Carpenter explained that the law protects “a collective series of tasks in pursuit of a common outcome — to produce and sell poultry products for profit.”

The ruling found that the group failed to prove the entire operation was illegal. As a result, the trial court was right to dismiss the case, Carpenter wrote. Judges John Arrowood and Tom Murry joined the opinion.

Industry Groups Back Case Farms

The case has drawn support from several agriculture groups. The North Carolina Poultry Federation, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, and North Carolina Pork Council all submitted court documents backing Case Farms.

The Appeals Court heard arguments in February. Now, Legal Impact for Chickens hopes the Supreme Court will agree to review the matter.

In its petition, the group argues that allowing the Appeals Court ruling to stand would shield nearly all commercial animal operations from civil or criminal liability, even in cases of clear abuse.