Pig Repeatedly Electrocuted at Local Slaughterhouse; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe

For Immediate Release:
December 18, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Following a just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report revealing that a boar was left crying out and attempting to right himself after a worker electrocuted him three times at St. Croix Abattoir on November 20, PETA sent a letter today to District of the Virgin Islands U.S. Attorney Delia Smith urging her to collaborate with the USDA’s Office of Inspector General to investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against those responsible.

St. Croix Abattoir notoriously incurred a federal suspension in 2016 after it took workers an astounding 24 shots to render a bull unconscious.

“At this hellhole for animals, a crying pig fell to his knees in a prolonged botched stunning attempt that should turn any kind person’s stomach,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of this boar, who felt pain and fear just as humans do, and urges everyone to help prevent animals from suffering in slaughterhouses by please going vegan.”

When they are not tormented in the meat industry, pigs spend hours playing, lying in the sun, and exploring their surroundings with their powerful sense of smell. PETA is asking the U.S. attorney to intervene because the USDA hasn’t initiated a criminal prosecution of any inspected slaughterhouses for acts of abuse since at least 2007.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness and free vegan starter kits for anyone thinking of making the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Smith follows.

December 18, 2024

The Honorable Delia L. Smith

U.S. Attorney

District of the Virgin Islands

Dear Ms. Smith:

I hope this letter finds you well. I’d like to request that your office collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against St. Croix Abattoir and the worker responsible for a recent violation 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 St. Croix Abattoir, located at #1 Estate Lower Love, RR1 Box 1034, on St. Croix. The attached report by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) indicates that its staff repeatedly electrocuted a pig, leaving the animal conscious and crying out during a botched stunning attempt.

According to the report, federal officials documented the following.

November 20, 2024: “The stunner applied the electric stunner behind the boar’s ears. The boar stayed upright, vocalized, and was blinking and making facial movement (i.e. opening and closing [his] mouth.) The stunner attempted a second electrical stun behind the boar’s ears which resulted in the boar falling to [his] front knees, still vocalizing, blinking and making facial movement. The stunner pushed the boar over to [his] side and applied a third electrical stunning attempt, this time to the boar’s chest area. The boar continued to blink, vocalize, and attempted to right [him]self. At this point, the chief butcher stepped in with a captive bolt [gun], stunned the boar and effectively rendered [him] unconscious.”[2]

The Federal Meat Inspection Act classifies such offenses as misdemeanors and imposes penalties of imprisonment for up to one year and/or a fine of up to $1,000.[3] Given that the FSIS hasn’t initiated a criminal prosecution of a licensed slaughterhouse for inhumane handling since at least 2007 but claims that

“[i]nvestigators from … USDA’s [OIG] … stand ready to work”[4] with offices such as yours, we respectfully ask that your office refer this matter to the USDA’s OIG so that it can file appropriate criminal charges against those responsible for the above violation for your prosecution.

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

Associate Director of Project Strategy

[1]U.S. Congress, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, 7 U.S.C. § 1902(a), (1958) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2015-title7/html/USCODE-2015-title7-chap48.htm. Last accessed December [XX], 2024.

[2]FSIS District 85 Manager Dr. Phyllis Adams, Notice of Suspension, St. Croix Abattoir (November 21, 2024) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/M482-NOS-11212024.pdf.

[3]U.S. Congress, United States Code: Meat Inspection, 21 U.S.C. §§ 676(a), (1982) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title21/pdf/USCODE-2022-title21-chap12-subchapIV-sec676.pdf. Last accessed December [XX], 2024.

[4]USDA FSIS, “Under Secretary for Food Safety Shares Some Insight on the Humane Handling of Livestock,” (January 7, 2011) https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/01/7/under-secretary-food-safety-shares-some-insight-humane-handling-livestock. Last accessed December [XX], 2024.