JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — PETA has requested a federal probe into a Johnstown meat processing company after several violations for inhumane animal practices were cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A letter was sent to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady by PETA Monday morning, asking that an investigation be launched into Pudliner Packing.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Pudliner Packing was cited three times over the last three years for improperly killing animals as listed in the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act.
Department officials say on Jan. 27, 2020, Pudliner Packing was issued a reinstatement of suspension after an act violation. The reports states an employee stunned a dairy cow with a firearm, then proceeded to winch it into a different area to be shackled and hoisted.
According to the report, the employee handling the animal saw that it had not died after being shot and was still capable of movement and was making noises. The employee proceeded to shackle and hang the cow before cutting the animal and letting it bleed to death. The report also states that three holes were found in the animal's cranium after it was skinned.
In a June 26 incident, department officials say a federal inspector was present when an animal was shot multiple times. According to the report, the inspector heard a firearm stunning of a cow in the alley stun box. The report states he heard one gunshot but did not hear the animal fall. He then heard a second and third shot before the animal collapsed, the report says.
According to the report, the employee told the inspector that as he fired the first shot, the animal moved its head; he tried a second shot and it moved its head in the other direction and remained standing. Then he used a captive bolt and rendered the animal unconscious.
A July 31, 2018, report states an employee tried to stun a pig with a hand-held captive bolt. After the first attempt, the report says the pig squealed and ran away to the other end of the stun box while remaining standing and alert. The employee then used a .22-caliber rifle in a second attempt to put the animal down, according to the report.
A federal inspector was present during the stunning, according to the report, and watched the employee hand the rifle to the company owner, who shot the pig a third time.
Read PETA's letter to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady below:
I would like to request that your office investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against Pudliner Packing 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." At the company's slaughterhouse, located at 167 Norton Rd., outside of Johnstown, its staff repeatedly shot cows and a pig in the head and cut the throat of a conscious cow who was crying out, as documented in the attached reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).All this comes after the FSIS suspended the assignment of its inspectors to Pudliner Packing for a total of five days in September 2016 after twice observing inhumane handling of livestock there. 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.[5] The fact that inhumane handling persists at the establishment makes it clear that years of 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"[6] 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.
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