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Animal rights campaigners have called for a slaughterhouse probe after a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report revealed a violation when it came to handling and slaughtering an animal.
According to the report, workers at York Meats outside Fallon in Nevada, shot a bull in the head four times and then left the conscious animal for 20 minutes before returning to shoot him again.
Vegan charity PETA has written asking Churchill County Sheriff to ‘investigate the slaughterhouse and, as appropriate, file criminal cruelty-to-animals charges against the facility and the workers responsible for the animal’s suffering’.
‘Inhumane handling’
According to the report: “On July 25, 2018…the FSIS Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) was observing slaughter operations on the kill floor…when the CSI heard four gunshots from the knock box. The CSI went to the knock box to investigate, and observed a mature bull that had been knocked four times, with four entry holes in its forehead, that was still breathing.
“The bull was breathing, kneeling on its front legs, and had its head raised, with eyes moving and looking around. The CSI asked the stunner employee what the problem was, and the employee stated the animal was too large for the .17 magnum rifle… Approximately 20 minutes later, your establishment effectively stunned the bull with a .38 magnum pistol.
“This is an egregious act of inhumane handling of animals in connection with slaughter, as your employee was unable to render the bull immediately unconscious, and the re-stunning was delayed while you obtained a larger caliber gun. Your establishment does not currently have a robust Systematic Approach to the humane handling of livestock.”
‘Agonizing death’
PETA Senior Vice President, Daphna Nachminovitch, said: “These disturbing revelations show that this bull suffered a prolonged, agonizing death at York Meats.
“PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of the bull who suffered at this facility and the members of the public who care about him.”
The charity added: “Other animals have a central nervous system and sense of self-preservation, just as humans do, and that the only way to prevent cows, pigs, chickens, and others from suffering in slaughterhouses is to go vegan.”
Plant Based News has contacted York Meats requesting comment.
