PETA Blasts USDA’s Toothless Response to Native Slaughterhouse Cruelty

For Instant Launch:
January 30, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Johnstown, Pa. – At present PETA fired off a letter to Paul Kiecker, administrator of the Meals Security and Inspection Service on the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA), condemning the company’s failure to refer abuse documented at Pudliner Packing exterior Johnstown for legal prosecution and asking that it accomplish that instantly. The letter comes on the heels of newly launched data revealing a cow’s harm on the native slaughterhouse after her leg obtained caught between a truck and a loading dock, inflicting her to fall “utterly down” onto her abdomen and limp as soon as she obtained again up.

This slaughterhouse has been discovered to have violated federal regulation at the very least 13 instances since June 2019. The August 2022 harm is the newest in a string of animal welfare violations. Earlier incidents embrace repeatedly capturing a pig and several other cows within the head as much as 4 instances, reducing the throat of 1 cow whereas she was acutely aware and crying out, confining animals with out water on a number of events, and inflicting animals to fall on hazardous surfaces.

“The USDA’s toothless response to those repeated violations emboldens slaughterhouses like Pudliner to proceed abusing and neglecting animals,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is asking on the USDA to implement the regulation and refer all intentional cruelty and egregious abuse for legal prosecution.”

The group explains that within the 44 years that violations of the Humane Strategies of Slaughter Act have been topic to legal sanctions beneath the Federal Meat Inspection Act, there isn’t a proof of a single occasion by which the USDA labored with the Division of Justice to file legal fees towards a licensed slaughterhouse.

PETA—whose motto reads, partially, that “animals are usually not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For extra info on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please go to PETA.org or comply with the group on Twitter, Fb, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Kiecker follows.

January 26, 2023

Paul Kiecker

Administrator

Meals Security and Inspection Service

U.S. Division of Agriculture

Expensive Mr. Kiecker:

I hope this letter finds you effectively. I’m writing to you to comply with up on the petition for rulemaking that PETA and others submitted to the Meals Security and Inspection Service (FSIS) to, amongst different issues, amend company rules requiring that every one intentional cruelty and egregious or reckless abuse be referred for legal prosecution in mild of FSIS’ obvious failure to ever train its discretion to take action.

Particularly, the petition notes that FSIS has successfully eradicated legal sanctions for licensed institutions by apparently by no means referring abuse for prosecution. Since submission of the petition, FSIS’ abdication of responsibility has continued to end in substantial animal struggling. That is demonstrated clearly by Pudliner Packing, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which FSIS has cited for at the very least 13 violations of the Humane Strategies of Slaughter Act (HMSA) since June 26, 2019. Given the exceptional historical past of persistent, egregious violations of regulation at Pudliner Packing—and the intensive ache and struggling they’ve prompted—we urge FSIS to refer this matter for federal legal fees instantly.

Your personnel have documented the next incidents within the connected studies.

• August 17, 2022: “A purple and white Bovine was coming off the truck, and because the bovine stepped off the trailer onto the loading dock, her again foot obtained caught within the hole between the trailer and loading dock, and the bovine fell utterly down onto her ventrum, together with her leg down by way of the hole. The plant worker instantly knowledgeable the truck driver to maneuver the truck ahead so she could possibly be launched. As she was launched, she instantly stood up on her personal and was limping as she walked into the pen. When she was standing nonetheless, she favored the appropriate hind limb by bearing little to no weight on it.”1
• November 24, 2021: “A dairy cow was noticed in holding pen two. The 2 water barrels exterior of pen two have been frozen on high permitting no entry to water.”2
• November 23, 2021: “At 0708 hours a pig was noticed within the runway/unloading ramp space with no water accessible on the time of commentary. Additionally within the inside pen space a swine and two sheep have been being held with no entry to water. Containers have been accessible within the pens … however water was not accessible on the time of commentary.”3
• November 22, 2021: “A swine was noticed in pen primary. No water was accessible on the time of commentary. A container was within the pen … however was empty.”4
• November 19, 2021: “At 0705 hours a pig was noticed in pen primary with no water accessible on the time of commentary. Additionally within the adjoining unloading space a swine was being held with no entry to water. Containers have been accessible within the pens however … water was not on the time of commentary. Institution staff have been notified and water was put into the containers at roughly 0825. At 1025 hours it was noticed that the swine in pen primary didn’t have entry to water. The container was within the pen however … had been turned over.”5
• November 9, 2021: “Within the barn space cattle have been being unloaded from a truck. The cattle walked down the ramp and as they tried to sluggish on the backside the cattle slipped and fell with their our bodies coming into contact with the ground of the pen.”6
• November 3, 2021: “Within the barn space cattle have been 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 our bodies coming into contact with the ground of the pen. … Upon examination of pen two no anti-slip sort product had been added.”7
• July 15, 2021: “A cow with the ear tag quantity 7 was situated in a small holding pen within the barn close to the ramp with no entry to water.”8
• June 11, 2021: “The plant worker moved a boar swine within the knock field for beautiful. The first beautiful operator fired utilizing the 0.410 firearm and hit the swine in between the eyes, however the boar swine remained standing. … The first stunner waited for the animal to cease transferring [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 cranium revealed 2 holes within the brow of the animal. This commentary confirmed that the primary beautiful try didn’t successfully render quick unconsciousness.”9
• November 16, 2020: “Institution personnel have been beautiful a dairy cow within the beautiful space with a .410 shotgun. After the primary shot, the Client Security Inspector (CSI) noticed the animal [was] acutely aware, as [she] was nonetheless standing. After the second beautiful try with the .410 shotgun, the CSI noticed the animal nonetheless standing, alert and searching round. Institution personnel then successfully shocked the animal with a 20-gauge shotgun. Upon examination, there have been three distinct holes within the head.”¹⁰
• August 11, 2020: “Institution personnel have been beautiful a beef cow … with a .22 magnum rifle. After two photographs, the Meals Inspector (FI) noticed the animal in a state of consciousness as [she] was nonetheless standing. After the subsequent shot try, the [CSI] noticed the animal in sternal recumbency, alert and searching round. The plant then successfully shocked the animal with the fourth shot. After the bovine was skinned out, just one giant gap was noticed within the skull.”1¹
• January 27, 2020: “Institution personnel shocked a Holstein dairy cow within the beautiful space with a firearm, then proceeded to winch [her] into the realm to be shackled and hoisted. Whereas the bovine was hanging on the rail, the CSI was in a position to decide that the animal was not insensible as [she] was vocalizing loudly and searching round. The institution worker ignored the vocalization and continued to hold the bovine, then made the bleeding lower on a acutely aware animal. Shortly after the bleeding lower, the animal misplaced sensibility. After the bovine was skinned out, three holes have been noticed within the skull.”1²
• June 26, 2019: “The [federal inspector] … was listening to the firearm beautiful of a cow …. He heard the primary gunshot however didn’t hear the animal fall. He heard a second gunshot after which heard the cow bellowing from the alley. He heard a 3rd beautiful try with the hand-held captive bolt and heard the cow fall. The workers introduced the animal into the slaughter flooring and eliminated the pinnacle. Three holes have been noticed within the cranium.”1³

FSIS claims that “[i]nvestigators from [its] enforcement division and from USDA’s Inspector Basic … stand able to work”1⁴ with U.S. attorneys to prosecute violations of the HMSA. Nevertheless, we’re unaware of even one occasion by which FSIS collaborated with the Division of Justice (DOJ) to file legal fees towards a licensed slaughterhouse within the 44 years that violations of the HMSA have been topic to legal sanctions beneath the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). The FMIA classifies such offenses as misdemeanors and supplies penalties of imprisonment of as much as one 12 months and/or a fantastic of as much as $1,000.1⁵

The truth that inhumane dealing with has endured at Pudliner Packing for thus lengthy beneath your company’s watch makes it abundantly clear that FSIS’ 13 enforcement and different actions are woefully ineffective. Absent the long-overdue referral of this and plenty of different issues for legal prosecution, Pudliner Packing—and the remainder of the nation’s licensed slaughterhouses—is emboldened by FSIS’ toothless responses and continues to violate the HMSA, with no concern of penalties or important penalties.

Prison prosecution is in the most effective pursuits of the animals slaughtered at Pudliner Packing in addition to the American public. Accordingly, we ask that FSIS ahead all its enforcement actions, noncompliance data, and memorandums of interview associated to this institution to the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Workplace of the Basic Counsel or Workplace of Inspector Basic for referral to U.S. Lawyer for the Western District of Pennsylvania Cindy Okay. Chung. It’s time for the DOJ to carry legal fees towards all these answerable for this astounding historical past of violations—and for FSIS to train its authority by lastly and commonly holding those that abuse and neglect animals in violation of federal regulation accountable in a significant and efficient manner. We additionally urge you to take motion instantly to implement the revisions to company rules proposed by the 2015 petition to make sure that current legal guidelines and insurance policies are literally enforced.

Thanks on your consideration of this essential matter.

Sincerely,

Colin Henstock

Investigations Challenge Supervisor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1⁴U.S. Division of Agriculture, FSIS, “Beneath Secretary for Meals Security Shares Some Perception on the Humane Dealing with of Livestock,” (Jan. 7, 2011) https://www.usda.gov/media/weblog/2011/01/7/under-secretary-food-safety-shares-some-insight-humane-handling-livestock. Final accessed January 24, 2023.

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