Following the recent release of a U.S. Department of Agriculture record revealing that a heifer remained conscious and alert after being shot in the head at Shriver Meats—at least the sixth time in about 21 months that an animal had been ineffectively shot at the facility—PETA fired off a letter today to its owner, David Shriver, calling on him to livestream video footage from the slaughterhouse in order to help prevent more violations of law.

On July 12, 2022, a worker used a rifle to shoot a heifer, who slumped against a fence but kept her head upright, before the worker took a second shot, which stunned her. A federal inspector later observed that the first shot was incorrectly delivered below the heifer’s eyes and noted that Shriver Meats has an ongoing “repetitive nature of inaccurate shots, even from experienced employees.” This includes the following incidents:

• On June 14, a worker shot a heifer in the head three times. She remained sitting, looking around, and bleeding from the head after the first two blasts.
• On June 7, a steer remained sitting and looking around after a worker shot him in the head. It took a second shot to stun him.
• On May 24, a cow was repeatedly shot “due to a misplaced first shot.”
• On April 19, a heifer remained conscious and alert with her head upright after being shot. A worker shot her one more time to stun her.
• On May 11, 2021, a cow cried out loudly after two separate blasts to the head and had to be shot a third time.

“These disturbing reports show that cattle endured prolonged, agonizing deaths because workers failed to stun them with a single shot, a troubling pattern at Shriver Meats,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on this facility to publicly livestream its slaughter operations—and reminds everyone that the only humane meal is a vegan one.”

PETA has also asked Shriver to report the personnel involved in the incidents to local law-enforcement officials and reassign those individuals to positions that don’t involve having contact with live animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Shriver follows.

February 8, 2023

David Shriver

Owner

Shriver Meats

Dear Mr. Shriver:

Given the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report detailing that a worker ineffectively shot a heifer in the head at Shriver Meats on July 12, 2022—leaving her conscious and leaning against a fence—before a second blast ended her suffering, we ask that you immediately alter operations at your slaughterhouse in order to reduce animal suffering.

A long history of strikingly similar and alarming incidents at your facility underscores the need for significant changes:

• On May 11, 2021, USDA staff heard a bovine cry out “loudly” after being shot in the head with a captive-bolt gun and again after a second, ineffective shot. Finally, a third shot with a rifle ended the animal’s suffering.
• On April 19, 2022, a federal inspector saw that a heifer remained conscious and alert after being shot in the head with a captive-bolt gun. A second shot was required to stun her.
• On May 24, 2022, another animal was repeatedly shot “due to a misplaced first shot.”
• On June 7, 2022, a federal agent saw a worker shoot a steer in the head but fail to render the animal unconscious until a second shot from a rifle.
• On June 14, 2022, USDA staff saw a heifer bleeding and conscious, after being shot twice in the head with a rifle, before a third shot ended her pain.

Will you please publicly livestream video from all areas of Shriver Meats where live animals are handled? Workers might take their duty to handle animals lawfully more seriously if they knew caring people were watching. As the world’s foremost expert on livestock welfare, Dr. Temple Grandin, writes, “Plants [t]hat are doing a good job should show what they are doing.” Your industry often complains that today’s consumers don’t understand how animals are raised and killed for food. You could help by enabling us to observe your workers moving countless individual animals—who value their lives as we value ours—off crowded trucks in all weather conditions, attempting to stun them, slashing or sticking their throats, and bleeding them to death.

At the very least, will you reassign the staff referenced in the federal reports to jobs that don’t involve having contact with any live animals and report the involved personnel to local law enforcement for investigation for possible violations of Maryland’s anti-cruelty statute? Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, PETA is erecting a towering message near St. Joseph’s Hospital urging people to avoid a broken heart by going vegan. Studies published in the Journal of the American Heart Association show that plant-powered eating reduces the risk of heart disease by a whopping 52%.

“Choosing vegan foods, including dark chocolate, is the best thing anyone can do for animals and their own health, because meat, eggs, and dairy are loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is encouraging everyone to have a heart by enjoying delicious, vibrant vegan meals for Valentine’s Day and beyond.”

Vegan foods contain no cholesterol and loads of fiber, and they can lower the risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, various types of cancer, and other devastating health problems linked to eating meat, eggs, and dairy. PETA offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.

And of course, eating vegan benefits animals: Pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals commonly killed for food are smart, sensitive individuals who feel pain and fear, just as we do. Yet most of them are raised in filthy conditions and endure severe crowding and routine mutilations, such as castration and tail-docking—often without any pain relief—and don’t see the sun or breathe fresh air until the day they’re forced onto trucks bound for the slaughterhouse.

The billboard is located at 6915 Simmons Loop.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Following recently obtained U.S. Department of Agriculture reports documenting that at Fayette Packing Company near Eads, a worker kicked a lame, slow-moving pig twice and a cow was ineffectively shot in the head and left to cry out until a second blast ended the animal’s suffering, PETA sent a letter today to District Attorney General Mark E. Davidson urging him to investigate and file applicable criminal charges against those responsible.

“Fayette Packing Company is hell on Earth for animals, where a cow endured the pain and terror of multiple gunshots to the head and an already suffering pig was cruelly kicked,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on the district attorney general to investigate these incidents and bring appropriate charges—and reminds everyone that the only humane meal is a vegan one.”

PETA points out that cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, just as humans do. The group is pursuing charges under state law because federal officials haven’t prosecuted any inspected slaughterhouses for acts of abuse such as those at Fayette Packing Company since at least 2007.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Davidson follows.

February 6, 2023

The Honorable Mark E. Davidson

District Attorney General

District 25

Dear Mr. Davidson:

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to request that your office (and a law-enforcement agency, as necessary) investigate and file applicable criminal charges against the individuals responsible for repeatedly kicking a lame pig and ineffectively shooting a cow in the head at Fayette Packing Company Inc., located at 16620 Hwy. 196 near Eads. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incidents in reports that the agency recently made available to the public.

On July 19, 2022, an FSIS inspector saw that a worker “lifted his foot and delivered two kicks to” a pig who was “lame and moving slowly.”

Then, on August 25, 2022, an FSIS inspector saw that a worker shot a cow in the head with a captive-bolt gun. Rather than being stunned, the cow was left standing and crying out. A second shot was needed to end the animal’s suffering.

This conduct may violate TN Code § 39-14-202 and does not represent the “usual and customary practices … accepted by colleges of agriculture or veterinary medicine” otherwise exempt from prosecution. Please note that FSIS’ action carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for acts of cruelty to animals.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

Cruelty Investigations Department

Ahead of February 14, a loving pair of cows are making a sky-high appeal next to Denny’s and IHOP—and within easy walking distance of several chapels in the “Wedding Capital of the World”—urging everyone to have a heart by going vegan.

“Like all mothers, cows fall in love, and mother cows love their babies, grieving and calling out for days after their calves are taken away from them,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is asking people to show love by leaving animals off their plates for Valentine’s Day and forever.”

Most cows in the meat industry end up confined to cramped, filthy feedlots, living mired in their own waste, often lame, and without protection from the elements. They’re commonly dosed with antibiotics to make them grow faster, they’re branded and castrated, and their horns are gouged or burned out of their skulls without any pain relief. Although they feel pain, fear, love, and joy, their lives are wretched and disrespected, all for the sake of a fleeting taste of their flesh.

Cows on dairy farms are repeatedly artificially impregnated and then traumatically separated from their newborn calves until their bodies finally wear out and they’re prodded up the ramp into the slaughterhouse. Mother cows used for their milk can be heard frantically crying out for their calves for days after they’ve been dragged away from them. Today there are wonderful alternatives to meat and dairy, from Beyond Burger and Fakin’ Bacon to oat milk and much more. PETA offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.

The billboard is located at 1830 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The night of February 2 marked the final vigil at Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, California to honor the memory of the millions of pigs murdered there. PETA supporters—including Joaquin Phoenix—and other activists have campaigned for Farmer John’s shutdown for years in light of the horrific conditions pigs faced at the Smithfield-owned murder plant. The vigils have been held biweekly since 2017, and pig-defenders gathered there to protest against injustice and offer exhausted, dehydrated pigs water in the transport trucks.

In spite of the long, dangerous journeys in extreme temperatures without food or water on crowded transport trucks endured by the estimated  , Farmer John slaughterhouse was covered in pastoral images of happy pigs in vast, luscious fields of grass. But never in their entire lives did the pigs killed in this hellhole get to see, smell, or stand on grass. It was an insult to the miserable existence forced upon them, and PETA wouldn’t stand for it: We hacked their murals with stickers that encouraged public attention instead of the apathy Smithfield hoped to invite.

Students Opposing Speciesism, a PETA-backed youth-led organization, stuck up for pigs’ rights, too: They surrounded the slaughterhouse to challenge cruelty to pigs and other animals killed for food. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Farmer John seemed to get worse and worse. It remained a filthy killing operation trafficking in exhausted travel-weary pigs, and it even earned the dishonors of a coronavirus safety fine from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Secured in places by 10-foot walls topped with razor wire, the facility looked like a prison.

Take Action for Pigs!

Pigs are social, playful, protective animals who bond with each other, make nests, relax in the sun, and cool off in the mud. They’re known to dream, recognize their own names, and even show empathy for other pigs who are distressed. Just like humans, some love to cuddle, while others prefer their own space.

With Farmer John closing, there’s one less horror story to worry about. But there are still many heinous injustices done to pigs. Please take a moment to help defend them.

As the Ellsworth community rallies around fundraising efforts for candlepin bowling alley D’Amanda’s, PETA sent a letter this morning to its owner (and sole employee), Autumn Mowery, offering to pitch in by paying to place a pro-vegan ad above the pin decks.

PETA notes that interest in lifesaving vegan meals has skyrocketed, with a 300% increase in the number of vegans over the past 15 years. And since vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes than meat eaters are, going vegan would help D’Amanda’s loyal customers keep their balls rolling for many years to come.

“Between saving animals’ lives and protecting diners’ health, going vegan is like bowling a 300,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA would be delighted to bring our lifesaving message to D’Amanda’s patrons and help breathe some life into this beloved business.”

PETA hopes its ad will inspire Mowery’s fiancé, Ryan Lounder, who owns the bowling alley’s bar and restaurant, Strike N’ Slice, to offer hearty vegan options, such as pizza with dairy-free cheese and veggie burgers. He’d be in good company: According to market research firm Datassential, the number of “plant-based” options on U.S. restaurant menus has increased 2,800% since 2018.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers free vegan starter kits to help anyone make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Mowery follows.

February 3, 2023

Autumn Mowery

Owner and General Manager

D’Amanda’s

Dear Ms. Mowery:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally—in response to the fundraiser you’ve organized to keep D’Amanda’s candlepin bowling alley running, hire additional employees, and give your business some tender love and care. We have an offer that could score you some funding during this difficult time: We’d like to pay to place this eye-catching ad that reads, “Spare Animals. Get Your Health out of the Gutter: Go Vegan. PETA” above the pin deck.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, going vegan reduces an individual’s risk of developing diabetes by 62%, their chance of being hospitalized due to a heart attack by 33%, their risk of suffering from heart disease by 29%, and their risk of developing cancer by 18%. Vegan eating is also linked to a decrease in the risk of developing obesity, since vegans are about 18% thinner and 10 to 20 pounds lighter, on average, than their meat-eating counterparts.

Vegan businesses are thriving in the U.S.: The vegan market is expected to grow by 451% within the next 10 years, and the number of vegan options on restaurant menus has exploded by 2,800% since 2018. In addition, the number of people going vegan has skyrocketed—there’s been a 300% increase in the U.S. over the past 15 years, and more than half of all U.S. households now buy vegan food products. People are recognizing that vegan diets are more accessible and cost effective and can help reduce food bill costs by one-third, according to a University of Oxford study.

Consuming meat, eggs, and dairy has long been known to be unhealthy and unnecessary, and that’s why we, as a society, need to aim higher. I look forward to hearing from you to get the ball rolling on this win-win offer. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President

BREAKING: Federal officials found that at least 31 children as young as 13 were allegedly employed illegally as night sanitation workers at slaughterhouses in the Midwest—including JBS Foods slaughterhouses in Grand Island, Nebraska, and Worthington, Minnesota.

U.S. Department of Labor officials interviewed this worker at a ground beef floor at a JBS USA meat processing facility in Grand Island, Nebraska as part of an investigation into alleged child labor practices by Packers Sanitation Services. (Photo filed by U.S. Department of Labor)

The children were allegedly working in hazardous conditions. Investigators found that some worked at the facilities overnight and had burns on their hands because of exposure to cleaning chemicals. Federal investigators are now looking into whether these children are victims of illegal labor trafficking.

If JBS Foods Can Excuse Illegal Child Labor, Imagine What Happens to Animals at JBS Slaughterhouses

In addition to the alleged child labor violations at the JBS Foods slaughterhouses, PETA has obtained documentation revealing the egregious abuse of other animals at these vile facilities.

Some cows at this JBS slaughterhouse were FULLY CONSCIOUS when workers hung them upside down & SLIT THEIR THROATS.

Flowers don't need to have their throats slit.

PETA will pay workers from the recently closed JBS slaughterhouse if they quit and become flower-arrangers instead. pic.twitter.com/LmiAybkJlV

— PETA (@peta) April 9, 2020

At the slaughterhouse in Grand Island, federal officials documented that workers beat cows and deprived them of water. Additionally, the facility has a history of botched shootings of cows, including in November 2021, when staff repeatedly shot two cows in the head before rendering them unconscious.

In June 2020, a bleeding steer who had been shot in the head tried desperately to escape slaughter. Thirteen minutes passed before workers repositioned the terrified animal for a second shot. In March 2018, workers apparently failed even to attempt to stun a cow before shackling her and hoisting her onto a bleed rail while she was still conscious.

In 2017, a concerned whistleblower provided PETA with photographs and video footage documenting that cows had been shot in the wrong area of their heads, which may not have properly stunned them, and that a conscious cow—whose throat had been slit—had been hanging on the bleed rail.

In 2017, PETA obtained disturbing photographs and video footage captured by a whistleblower inside JBS Beef’s slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska, revealing improper slaughter procedures.

Whistleblowers have also alleged that JBS forced cows to languish in idling trucks outside the Grand Island facility for up to 10 hours before being unloaded, causing extra suffering.

At the JBS slaughterhouse in Worthington, workers were seen lifting paddles above their heads and repeatedly striking pigs, according to a federal report.

Here’s What YOU Can Do

This recent investigation is yet another reminder that companies that raise our fellow animals for slaughter have no regard for the lives of sentient beings—including human children, apparently. The best way to take action against the suffering of humans and other animals at slaughterhouses is to go vegan. Click the button below to get started today:

PETA has just obtained U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) records that reveal a worker beating a pig at Bob Evans Farms in Xenia—the latest in a string of illegal horrors at the slaughterhouse. In response, the group fired off a letter today to the company’s president and CEO, Mark Delahanty, calling on him to livestream video footage from the slaughterhouse to help prevent additional egregious suffering.

On September 15, 2022, a USDA inspector saw a worker hit a sow “with excessive force on the side of the face” and then “use force while using both of his hands to quickly push [a metal] gate into the right side of the sow,” who cried out. The incident occurred just weeks after a trucker was spotted kneeling on the backs of crying sows and caps off years of workers ineffectively shooting animals and leaving them conscious—even while slashing one’s throat. In total, the slaughterhouse has been warned at least six times in recent years about violating federal law.

“This facility is hell on Earth for animals, where pigs have been abused and shot over and over as they scream,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on Bob Evans Farms to livestream its operations publicly and reminds everyone that the only humane meal is a vegan one.”

PETA has also asked Delahanty to report the workers involved in the incidents to local law-enforcement officials and reassign those individuals to positions that don’t involve having contact with live animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Delahanty follows.

February 1, 2023

Mark Delahanty

President and CEO

Bob Evans Farms Inc.

Dear Mr. Delahanty:

Given the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports detailing that a worker beat a sow, a truck driver kneeled on sows’ backs, and other problems at Bob Evans Farms’ slaughterhouse in Xenia, we ask that you immediately alter operations there in order to reduce animal suffering. A long history of alarming incidents at the facility underscores the need for significant changes:

• On September 15, 2022, a USDA inspector saw a worker hit a sow “with excessive force on the side of the face” and then “use force while using both of his hands to quickly push [a metal] gate into the right side of the sow,” who cried out.
• Less than a month earlier, a truck driver kneeled on sows’ backs, and the animals were “vocalizing loudly” in response.
• In November 2021, a worker shot a sow near her right ear with a captive-bolt gun, leaving her conscious and crying out.
• In August 2020, a worker ineffectively shot a downed pig and cut her throat, after which the severely injured animal cried out.
• In 2018, a downed pig continued to cry out after workers shot her in the head twice, and yet another kept upright on her forelimbs and cried out after two shots to the head and attempts by workers to slash her throat.

Will you please publicly livestream video from all areas of this facility where live animals are handled? Workers might take their duty to handle animals lawfully more seriously if they knew caring people were watching. At the very least, will you reassign the staff referenced in the federal reports to jobs that don’t involve having contact with any live animals and report the involved personnel to local law enforcement for investigation for possible violations of Ohio’s anti-cruelty statute? Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

Cruelty Investigations Department

In response to a just-published report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture documenting that a cow, who remained conscious at FPL Food in Augusta after multiple shots to the head, was slashed across the throat and dragged away, PETA fired off a letter today to District Attorney Jared Williams calling on him to investigate and file applicable criminal charges against those responsible.

On August 24, a worker shot a cow twice in the head and cut her throat before she was shackled and dragged about 15 feet with a forklift. She continued to move, breathe, and blink. Workers did nothing to end her suffering until a federal inspector pointed out that she was still conscious.

“This cow endured prolonged, agonizing pain after she was shot twice, cut across the neck, and hauled around before finally being rendered unconscious,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for an investigation on this animal’s behalf and urges everyone to help prevent animals from suffering in slaughterhouses by going vegan.”

Federal documents obtained by PETA reveal that FPL was flagged in prior years for the mistreatment of cows—including one who remained conscious and cried out after a worker shot her in the head and another who got loose, fell 6 feet onto a table, and ran through the slaughterhouse to the parking lot, where she was shot.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Williams follows.

January 31, 2023

The Honorable Jared Williams

District Attorney

Augusta Judicial Circuit

Dear Mr. Williams:

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to request that your office (and a law-enforcement agency, as necessary) investigate and file applicable criminal charges against the individuals responsible for repeatedly shooting a cow in the head, slashing her throat, and dragging her 15 feet behind a forklift—while she was conscious—at FPL Food, located at 1301 New Savannah Rd. in Augusta. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in a report that it recently made available to the public.

On August 24, 2022, an FSIS inspector saw an FPL worker shoot a recumbent cow—who was trapped in a trailer—in the head twice with a captive-bolt gun and then stick a knife into her throat in an attempt to bleed her to death. The FSIS inspector “was standing right next to the cow … and could see she maintained rhythmic breathing, and her breathing quickened when they used the knife on her.”

Even though the cow was conscious, workers shackled and dragged her about 15 feet with a forklift. The FSIS inspector then saw her sit up, blink her eyes, move her head, and look around. “The plant employees did nothing to render the cow unconscious,” the inspector wrote, “until I said to them the cow was conscious.” Finally, a third shot to the head stunned the cow.

This conduct may violate O.C.G.A. § 16-12-4 and does not represent the agricultural or butchering practices otherwise exempt from prosecution. Please note that FSIS’ action carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for acts of cruelty to animals.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

Cruelty Investigations Department

Today PETA fired off a letter to Paul Kiecker, administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), condemning the agency’s failure to refer abuse documented at Pudliner Packing outside Johnstown for criminal prosecution and asking that it do so immediately. The letter comes on the heels of newly released records revealing a cow’s injury at the local slaughterhouse after her leg got caught between a truck and a loading dock, causing her to fall “completely down” onto her stomach and limp once she got back up.

This slaughterhouse has been found to have violated federal law at least 13 times since June 2019. The August 2022 injury is the latest in a string of animal welfare violations. Previous incidents include repeatedly shooting a pig and several cows in the head up to four times, cutting the throat of one cow while she was conscious and crying out, confining animals without water on multiple occasions, and causing animals to fall on hazardous surfaces.

“The USDA’s toothless response to these repeated violations emboldens slaughterhouses like Pudliner to continue abusing and neglecting animals,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on the USDA to enforce the law and refer all intentional cruelty and egregious abuse for criminal prosecution.”

The group explains that in the 44 years that violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act have been subject to criminal sanctions under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, there is no evidence of a single instance in which the USDA worked with the Department of Justice to file criminal charges against a licensed slaughterhouse.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Kiecker follows.

January 26, 2023

Paul Kiecker

Administrator

Food Safety and Inspection Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Dear Mr. Kiecker:

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to you to follow up on the petition for rulemaking that PETA and others submitted to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to, among other things, amend agency regulations requiring that all intentional cruelty and egregious or reckless abuse be referred for criminal prosecution in light of FSIS’ apparent failure to ever exercise its discretion to do so.

Specifically, the petition notes that FSIS has effectively eliminated criminal sanctions for licensed establishments by apparently never referring abuse for prosecution. Since submission of the petition, FSIS’ abdication of duty has continued to result in substantial animal suffering. This is demonstrated clearly by Pudliner Packing, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which FSIS has cited for at least 13 violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) since June 26, 2019. Given the remarkable history of persistent, egregious violations of law at Pudliner Packing—and the extensive pain and suffering they have caused—we urge FSIS to refer this matter for federal criminal charges immediately.

Your personnel have documented the following incidents in the attached reports.

• August 17, 2022: “A red and white Bovine was coming off the truck, and as the bovine stepped off the trailer onto the loading dock, her back foot got stuck in the gap between the trailer and loading dock, and the bovine fell completely down onto her ventrum, with her leg down through the gap. The plant employee immediately informed the truck driver to move the truck forward so she could be released. As she was released, she immediately stood up on her own and was limping as she walked into the pen. When she was standing still, she favored the right hind limb by bearing little to no weight on it.”1
• November 24, 2021: “A dairy cow was observed in holding pen two. The two water barrels outside of pen two were frozen on top allowing no access to water.”2
• November 23, 2021: “At 0708 hours a pig was observed in the runway/unloading ramp area with no water available at the time of observation. Also in the inside pen area a swine and two sheep were being held with no access to water. Containers were available in the pens … but water was not available at the time of observation.”3
• November 22, 2021: “A swine was observed in pen number one. No water was available at the time of observation. A container was in the pen … but was empty.”4
• November 19, 2021: “At 0705 hours a pig was observed in pen number one with no water available at the time of observation. Also in the adjacent unloading area a swine was being held with no access to water. Containers were available in the pens but … water was not at the time of observation. Establishment employees were notified and water was put into the containers at approximately 0825. At 1025 hours it was observed that the swine in pen number one did not have access to water. The container was in the pen but … had been turned over.”5
• November 9, 2021: “In the barn area cattle were being unloaded from a truck. The cattle walked down the ramp and as they tried to slow at the bottom the cattle slipped and fell with their bodies coming into contact with the floor of the pen.”6
• November 3, 2021: “In the barn area cattle were being unloaded from a truck. The cattle crossed over pen one into pen two. In pen two, two of the cattle slipped and fell with their bodies coming into contact with the floor of the pen. … Upon examination of pen two no anti-slip type product had been added.”7
• July 15, 2021: “A cow with the ear tag number 7 was located in a small holding pen in the barn near the ramp with no access to water.”8
• June 11, 2021: “The plant employee moved a boar swine in the knock box for stunning. The primary stunning operator fired using the 0.410 firearm and hit the swine in between the eyes, but the boar swine remained standing. … The primary stunner waited for the animal to stop moving [his] head then made the second shot with the 20-gauge. The boar dropped and was shackled and hoisted for sticking/bleeding. Examination of the skull revealed 2 holes in the forehead of the animal. This observation confirmed that the first stunning attempt did not effectively render immediate unconsciousness.”9
• November 16, 2020: “Establishment personnel were stunning a dairy cow in the stunning area with a .410 shotgun. After the first shot, the Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) observed the animal [was] conscious, as [she] was still standing. After the second stunning attempt with the .410 shotgun, the CSI observed the animal still standing, alert and looking around. Establishment personnel then effectively stunned the animal with a 20-gauge shotgun. Upon examination, there were three distinct holes in the head.”¹⁰
• August 11, 2020: “Establishment personnel were stunning a beef cow … with a .22 magnum rifle. After two shots, the Food Inspector (FI) observed the animal in a state of consciousness as [she] was still standing. After the next shot attempt, the [CSI] observed the animal in sternal recumbency, alert and looking around. The plant then effectively stunned the animal with the fourth shot. After the bovine was skinned out, only one large hole was observed in the cranium.”1¹
• January 27, 2020: “Establishment personnel stunned a Holstein dairy cow in the stunning area with a firearm, then proceeded to winch [her] into the area to be shackled and hoisted. While the bovine was hanging on the rail, the CSI was able to determine that the animal was not insensible as [she] was vocalizing loudly and looking around. The establishment employee ignored the vocalization and continued to hang the bovine, then made the bleeding cut on a conscious animal. Shortly after the bleeding cut, the animal lost sensibility. After the bovine was skinned out, three holes were observed in the cranium.”1²
• June 26, 2019: “The [federal inspector] … was listening to the firearm stunning of a cow …. He heard the first gunshot but did not hear the animal fall. He heard a second gunshot and then heard the cow bellowing from the alley. He heard a third stunning attempt with the hand held captive bolt and heard the cow fall. The employees brought the animal into the slaughter floor and removed the head. Three holes were observed in the skull.”1³

FSIS claims that “[i]nvestigators from [its] enforcement division and from USDA’s Inspector General … stand ready to work”1⁴ with U.S. attorneys to prosecute violations of the HMSA. However, we are unaware of even one instance in which FSIS collaborated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file criminal charges against a licensed slaughterhouse in the 44 years that violations of the HMSA have been subject to criminal sanctions under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). The FMIA classifies such offenses as misdemeanors and provides penalties of imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of up to $1,000.1⁵

The fact that inhumane handling has persisted at Pudliner Packing for so long under your agency’s watch makes it abundantly clear that FSIS’ 13 enforcement and other actions are woefully ineffective. Absent the long-overdue referral of this and many other matters for criminal prosecution, Pudliner Packing—and the rest of the nation’s licensed slaughterhouses—is emboldened by FSIS’ toothless responses and continues to violate the HMSA, with no fear of penalties or significant consequences.

Criminal prosecution is in the best interests of the animals slaughtered at Pudliner Packing as well as the American public. Accordingly, we ask that FSIS forward all its enforcement actions, noncompliance records, and memorandums of interview related to this establishment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the General Counsel or Office of Inspector General for referral to U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Cindy K. Chung. It’s time for the DOJ to bring criminal charges against all those responsible for this astounding history of violations—and for FSIS to exercise its authority by finally and regularly holding those who abuse and neglect animals in violation of federal law accountable in a meaningful and effective way. We also urge you to take action immediately to implement the revisions to agency regulations proposed by the 2015 petition to ensure that existing laws and policies are actually enforced.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,

Colin Henstock

Investigations Project Manager

1Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Aug. 17, 2022) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

2Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 24, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

3Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 23, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

4Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 22, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

5Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 19, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

6Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 9, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

7Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 3, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

8Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (July 15, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

9Food Safety and Inspection Service, Noncompliance Record, Pudliner Packing (June 11, 2021) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pudliner-packing-noncompliance-records.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

10FSIS District 60 Manager Dr. Lynda Lilyestrom, Reinstatement of Suspension, Pudliner Packing (Nov. 16, 2020) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/4999-noros-11162020.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

1¹FSIS District 60 Manager Dr. Lynda Lilyestrom, Notice of Suspension, Pudliner Packing (Aug. 11, 2020) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/4999-nos-08112020.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

1²FSIS District 60 Manager Dr. Lynda Lilyestrom, Reinstatement of Suspension, Pudliner Packing (Jan. 27, 2020) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/4999-ros-012720.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

1³FSIS District 60 Manager Dr. Lynda Lilyestrom, Reinstatement of Suspension, Pudliner Packing (June 26, 2019) https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/4999-noros-062619.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

1⁴U.S. Department of Agriculture, FSIS, “Under Secretary for Food Safety Shares Some Insight on the Humane Handling of Livestock,” (Jan. 7, 2011) https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/01/7/under-secretary-food-safety-shares-some-insight-humane-handling-livestock. Last accessed January 24, 2023.

1⁵U.S. Congress, United States Code: Meat Inspection, 21 U.S.C. §§ 676(a), (1982) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title21/pdf/USCODE-2010-title21-chap12-subchapIV-sec676.pdf. Last accessed January 24, 2023.