Abusive Handling, Filthy Conditions Uncovered at Fisher Ham and Meat Co.
Following a PETA complaint, Texas officials launched an investigation into Fisher Ham and Meat Co., where inspectors found that workers repeatedly hit pigs on the head with “excessive force” to make them run to slaughter, confined pigs in a foot of standing water, dragged a lamb by the ear to the killing floor, and failed to dispose of inedible body parts properly, according to state documents recently obtained by PETA.
PETA’s complaint to the Texas Department of State Health Services was based on a whistleblower’s report claiming that workers at the company—which currently ranks 20th in the U.S. for daily pig-slaughter capacity—physically abused animals and failed to dispose of their fluids correctly.
PETA is calling on local schools to stop giving thousands of dollars to a slaughterhouse whose workers have repeatedly hit animals and dragged them to the killing floor.
PETA sent letters asking that local school districts reconsider their ties with Fisher. In recent years, the Aldine Independent School District in Houston sent the company checks ranging from roughly $975 to more than $12,350 and the Spring Independent School District paid Fisher roughly $2,725.
In 2012, Harris County and state officials charged Fisher with allowing bloody water from the killing floor to overflow into roadside ditches, and complaints from neighbors of a “sickening” odor led to a separate investigation into violations of the Texas Clean Air Act.
What You Can Do
This violence toward thinking, feeling pigs is a reminder that the kindest thing that we can all do for animals is not eat them. Order a free vegan starter kit and begin on the compassionate path today.
