Historic Ruling! Pig Hauler Guilty of Cruelty After Animals Freeze to Death on Truck
For Immediate Release:
July 1, 2026
Contact:
Andrew Grant 202-483-7382
Yesterday, truck driver Jerith Dville Kane Ellis of Janesville, Minnesota, was found guilty of cruelly transporting animals after hauling pigs through such horrific conditions, with virtually no protection from the elements, that 10 of them froze to death during and after the roughly 432-mile trip, while five others had to be killed soon after. Ellis pled no contest to the charge in Clark County Circuit Court. The ruling marks the first time in U.S. history that a person has been held accountable under state law for cruelly hauling farmed animals.
The charge was brought after PETA alerted local authorities to the incident, which took place on January 18–19, 2024. During transport from Lynch Livestock in South Dakota to Abbyland Pork Pack, Inc., a slaughterhouse in Curtiss, Wisconsin, the animals suffered through windchills as low as -27 degrees, and when Ellis arrived in Curtiss, the local temperature was -4 degrees. A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector found that seven pigs had died while being hauled to the slaughterhouse, five more were in such poor condition that they had to be killed, and another three died after they were unloaded. Several pigs had “extensive” frost bite, according to the inspector’s report. Only half of the truck’s sides were covered and the bedding inside was “wet and sloppy.” Photos are available here.
“These terrified pigs spent two days on a truck in sub-zero temperatures and froze to death or were forced to watch as others suffered and died around them,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA thanks Clark County law enforcement for diligently pursuing this disturbing case and urges everyone to please spare pigs and other animals from the misery of days-long transport and the horror of the slaughterhouse line by choosing vegan foods.”
Pigs dream when they sleep, recognize their own names, and show empathy for other pigs who are happy or distressed. But in the meat industry, they’re crammed into filthy sheds and subjected to tail docking, castration, and other mutilations with no anesthesia or pain relief. Eventually, they’re forced onto transport trucks for a terrifying journey to a slaughterhouse, where workers shoot them in the head with a captive bolt gun and slit their throats—sometimes while they’re still conscious.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint, and slashes their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone thinking of making the switch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a pig is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
