Investigation Sought After Cow Shot in Head at Slaughterhouse

PETA Releases Federal Reports Showing That Golden City Meats Worker Improperly Stunned Animal, Who Then Thrashed About

For Immediate Release:
May 18, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Armed with a damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, PETA sent a letter this morning calling on Barton County Prosecuting Attorney Steven Kaderly to investigate Golden City Meats and, as appropriate, file criminal charges against the slaughterhouse worker who failed to stun a cow properly—causing the animal to struggle and thrash about even after being shot repeatedly.

According to the USDA document, operations at Golden City Meats were suspended on May 1 for a violation of slaughter regulations after a worker used a rifle to shoot a cow in the head. The cow turned and looked at the worker and attempted to stand up, and the worker shot the animal again in the head two more times as the cow continued to thrash. The fourth shot finally rendered the cow unconscious. PETA notes that this incident appears to violate Missouri’s animal-protection statutes, which prohibit purposely causing animals to suffer and recklessly failing to provide them with proper care.

“PETA is calling for a criminal investigation into this facility, which allowed a fully conscious cow to endure the agony of three gunshot wounds to the head,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “There’s no difference between the terror and pain that this cow felt and how dogs or cats would feel if they were left to suffer from a gunshot wound to the head.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that animals have the same central nervous system and sense of self-preservation as humans and that the only way to spare cows, pigs, and other gentle creatures from suffering in this and other slaughterhouses is to go vegan.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.