Probe of Slaughterhouse Sought After Steer Repeatedly Shot in the Head

PETA Cites Federal Report Showing That Staff at Conger Meat Market Put Four Blasts Into Bleeding Steer’s Head

For Immediate Release:
February 15, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Armed with a damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, PETA sent a letter today calling on the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office to investigate and, as appropriate, file criminal charges against Conger Meat Market, LLC, and the worker or workers responsible for repeatedly shooting a steer in the head.

According to the USDA report, on January 30, an inspector witnessed a worker improperly shoot a steer in the head with a captive-bolt gun, causing the animal to cry out and blood to run all the way down to his feet. A worker then shot the animal two more times in the head with a rifle—after which he was still standing—before finally rendering him unconscious with another shot with the captive-bolt gun. PETA notes that this incident may violate Minnesota’s anti-cruelty statute, which states that no one may torture or unjustifiably injure an animal.

“PETA is calling for a criminal investigation of this facility and the person or people who repeatedly shot a steer in the head, causing blood to run all the way down to the animal’s feet as he endured an agonizing and prolonged death,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “There’s no difference between the fear and pain that this animal felt and the way that dogs, cats, or humans would feel if they were subjected to multiple gunshots to the head.”

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.