Mercy for Animals, an animal rights activist organization, released video this week that showed pigs on an Iowa farm being abused.

The group said the pigs were on an Iowa Select Farm in Kamrar, Iowa. The group accuses the farm of brutal abuse to piglets and mother sows, along with confinement and misery.

Mercy for Animals said they placed an MFA Investigator in the farm from April to June 2011. That investigator documented several forms of abuse including confinement in spaces that were barely larger than the body of the animal, castrating conscious piglets without the use of painkillers along with several other forms of abuse.

The group also linked the treatment at the farm and others like it to several large grocery stores like Safeway, Giant and Hy-Vee. The group called on grocery stores to stop doing business with the farm and farms like it.

Hy-Vee responded to the claim on Wednesday.

“ First, we want you to know that we take allegations of animal abuse very seriously,” Hy-Vee said in a statement to media and customers. “We expect our suppliers to adhere to accepted industry standards and best practices in their treatment of animals used in food production.”

Hy-Vee said they made immediate contact with the company who told them they have launched their own investigation into the actions in the video. The company also told Hy-Vee that some of the images in the video may not have been what they appear, which they also are investigation.

Hy-Vee responded to the claim that they use this farm as one of their pork suppliers.

“While some Hy-Vee stores do carry products from the company that buys from this production facility, the company is not our primary supplier of fresh pork,” the statement said. “Hy-Vee and a few other supermarket chains were specifically targeted by the organization that released this undercover video, but in point of fact, almost every supermarket chain in the country carries these major label products. This is not a Hy-Vee issue -- it is an industry issue.”

Hy-Vee’s bottom line is that they will only do business with suppliers that are committed to the humane treatment of animals, but that they are in contact with this supplier to get to the bottom of the allegations.

Mercy For Animals said other states are working to prevent cruelty to farmed animals, but that legislators in Iowa are working to conceal that cruelty. They said legislators are considering a bill that would silence whistleblowers who are trying to expose animal abuse.

The following video contains graphic images: