Federal Probe Sought: Animals Cried Out While Repeatedly Shot

For Immediate Release:
March 9, 2020

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Chenoa, Ill. –

PETA has obtained U.S. Department of Agriculture reports revealing recent violations of federal law at Chenoa Locker in Chenoa. In response, we sent a letter today calling on the U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois to review these violations of the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act and, as appropriate, file criminal charges against the facility and the workers responsible for repeatedly shooting steers in the head in botched stunning attempts. On December 10, 2019, it took multiple attempts before a steer was rendered unconscious with a shot to the head. It took two shots to render each of three steers unconscious in incidents on January 14 and February 13 after misplaced shots left the animals crying out.

“These disturbing eyewitness reports show that these animals experienced agonizing deaths at Chenoa Locker,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling for a federal investigation on behalf of the animals who suffered at this facility and urging all compassionate members of the public who are disturbed by this cruelty to go vegan and help prevent more animals from suffering in slaughterhouses.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group notes that steers, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, just as humans do, and that the only way to help prevent them from suffering in slaughterhouses is not to eat them.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser follows.

March 9, 2020

The Honorable John C. Milhiser

United States Attorney

Central District of Illinois

Dear Mr. Milhiser,

I hope this letter finds you well. I would like to request that your office investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against Chenoa Locker, Inc., and its workers responsible for repeated violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be “rendered insensible to pain by a single blow … or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted … or cut.”^[1] At the company’s slaughterhouse, located at 8 N. Veto St., Chenoa, IL 61726, its staff repeatedly shot steers in the head in botched stunning attempts, as documented in the attached reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

According to the reports, federal officials documented the following:

February 13, 2020: “[A]t approximately 0820 hours … [a] steer was confined to the knock box and the head gate was engaged. The employee placed and discharged the handheld captive bolt device into the head of the animal. The animal was observed to remain conscious, blinking naturally, and vocalized. The employee immediately reloaded the handheld captive bolt device and administered a second effective corrective action stun, rendering the animal unconscious at that time.”^[2]
February 13, 2020: “[A]t approximately 0920 hours … [a] steer was confined to the knock box. The head restraint was engaged and the employee proceeded to place the handheld captive bolt device. The device was discharged into the head of the animal and it remained standing and vocalized. The employee immediately reloaded the captive bolt device, placed and discharged the device into the head of the animal, effectively rendering it unconscious.”^[3]
January 14, 2020: “A steer was confined to the knock box and the head gate was engaged. … [T]he employee placed and discharged the captive bolt device onto the head of the animal. The animal was observed to remain in the head gate, conscious, and standing. The employee immediately reloaded the handheld captive bolt device and administered a second effective corrective action stun, rendering the animal unconscious at that time.”^[4]
December 10, 2019: “[T]he Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) observed an attempt to stun a … steer with a handheld captive bolt device. … The device was placed on the poll area of the head and discharged. The animal dropped to the floor of the knock box but was observed to remain conscious and attempt to rise. The employee did not have ammunition for the device readily available and proceeded to the other side of the kill floor to retrieve ammunition and reload the device. The animal was observed to remain conscious and continue raising its head in an attempt to rise. It was noted that the eyes were blinking naturally in a conscious manner. Once the device was reloaded, it was placed on the head a second, third, and fourth time with each attempt resulting in the device failing to discharge. The device was placed onto the head a fifth time, discharged, and effectively rendered the animal insensible.”^[5]

The Federal Meat Inspection Act classifies such offenses as misdemeanors and provides penalties of imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of up to $1,000.^[6] The fact that inhumane handling persists at the establishment makes it clear that FSIS enforcement actions alone are insufficient to deter future violations and that criminal prosecution is in the best interests of the animals killed there and the public. Given that the FSIS “fully supports the investigation of all those involved in alleged violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act” and that “[i]nvestigators from [its] enforcement division and from USDA’s Inspector General … stand ready to work”^[7] with offices such as yours, we respectfully ask that you collaborate with the FSIS Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit’s Enforcement and Litigation Division to investigate and bring appropriate criminal charges against those responsible for the above violations.

Please let us know what we might do to assist you. Thank you for your consideration and for the difficult work that you do.

Sincerely,

Colin Henstock

Assistant Manager of Investigations

^[1]7 U.S.C. § 1902.

²FSIS District 50 Manager Paul Wolseley, Notice of Reinstatement of Suspension, Chenoa Locker, Inc. (Feb. 13, 2020) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/7c7b4c95-1c83-43d8-9a62-8c5f919beab5/m20855-noros-021320.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

³Ibid.

⁴Ibid.

⁵FSIS District 50 Manager Paul Wolseley, Notice of Suspension, Chenoa Locker, Inc. (Dec. 11, 2019) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/c3202f68-fe2f-4676-b3b8-ddc2a78e7520/m20855-chenoa-nos-121119.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

⁶21 U.S.C. § 676.

⁷U.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 on Mar. 3, 2020).

[1]7 U.S.C. § 1902.

[2]FSIS District 50 Manager Paul Wolseley, Notice of Reinstatement of Suspension, Chenoa Locker, Inc. (Feb. 13, 2020) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/7c7b4c95-1c83-43d8-9a62-8c5f919beab5/m20855-noros-021320.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

[3]Ibid.

[4]Ibid.

[5]FSIS District 50 Manager Paul Wolseley, Notice of Suspension, Chenoa Locker, Inc. (Dec. 11, 2019) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/c3202f68-fe2f-4676-b3b8-ddc2a78e7520/m20855-chenoa-nos-121119.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

[6]21 U.S.C. § 676.

[7]U.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 on Mar. 3, 2020).