Feds Cite Rigby Slaughterhouse for Animals’ Agonizing Deaths

PETA Issues Consumer Alert After Three Years of Persistent Violations at Jones Meat & Food Services, Inc.

For Immediate Release:
November 9, 2020

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

Damning federal reports of cruelty to animals documented at Jones Meat & Food Services, Inc., has prompted PETA to issue a consumer advisory: Buying meat from the slaughterhouse’s local store supports an operation that has unlawfully shot pigs, a lamb, and a steer in the head and left animals to bleed and suffer for minutes before ending their pain.

The reports reveal the following:

• On October 20, after the slaughterhouse owner indicated that he was going to shoot a lamb with a rifle, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agent saw that the animal was still conscious and bleeding from the head, nostrils, and mouth. A second shot to the head finally rendered the lamb unconscious.
• On July 15, a worker shot at a steer twice with a rifle, hitting him once in the head and leaving him conscious and crying out and kicking. He suffered for three minutes before a third shot from a larger caliber firearm finally stunned him.
• In January 2018, a worker shot a pig in the head with a captive bolt gun, which left the animal bleeding from the head and conscious until the employee shot the pig again with a rifle.
• In November 2017, a USDA veterinarian found a pig who was bleeding from a hole in the skull trying to escape a restraining box. Approximately two minutes passed before a worker shot the pig a second time.

“Shoppers, beware: Meat sold by Jones Meat & Food Services could come from animals who endured agonizing botched slaughters,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “The only sure way to keep cruelty off your shopping list is to go vegan, and PETA stands ready to help everyone make the switch.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a free vegan starter kit filled with recipes and tips for making the transition.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.