Slaughterhouse Faces More Scrutiny After Yet Another Botched Stunning

PETA Cites New Federal Report Showing That Puget Sound Processing, LLC, Worker Shot a Conscious Cow in the Head Five Times

For Immediate Release:
April 4, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

PETA has obtained a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report revealing that Puget Sound Processing, LLC, was cited on February 20 after an inspector saw a worker shoot a cow in the head five times—the fourth violation for the mobile slaughterhouse unit within the past year. In response, PETA sent a letter today calling on the Thurston County sheriff and the Washington Department of Agriculture to investigate Puget Sound Processing for apparent violations of the state’s anti-cruelty and Humane Slaughter of Livestock statutes and, as appropriate, file criminal charges against the facility and the worker responsible for the latest botched stunning.

“Three prior slaps on the wrist from the USDA didn’t prevent another animal from experiencing an agonizing, prolonged death at Puget Sound Processing’s hands,” says PETA Director of Evidence Analysis Dan Paden. “PETA is calling on Washington authorities to investigate this slaughterhouse and throw the book at the person or persons responsible for subjecting a cow to five shots to the head.”

Last November, PETA alerted the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office that Puget Sound Processing had been cited on October 30 and April 5 after workers shot a cow five times and a pig three times, respectively, and that on October 4, an inspector saw an employee use a .22 magnum rifle to shoot a pig in the eye, rupturing the eyeball. Nearly a full minute passed before the worker fired a second blast, finally rendering the screaming pig unconscious. PETA is urging the sheriff to launch a new investigation into the latest incident.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that 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.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.