Conscious Bull Repeatedly Shot, Throat Slit at Local Slaughterhouse; PETA Seeks Criminal Investigation

For Immediate Release:
June 5, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

A damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report just obtained by PETA reveals that a bull remained conscious and crying out after three shots to the head before a worker cut the thrashing animal’s throat at the Puro Alentejano Iberian Pork Corp. near Salem. In response, PETA today sent a letter to The Honorable Kristin J. Telsey, Salem County Prosecutor, calling on her to investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against the employee(s) responsible for the drawn-out killing, which lasted for more than six minutes.

PETA also urged Telsey to file charges for two incidents at the facility that PETA had previously alerted her office to privately: On June 3, 2024, workers shot a boar in the head four times—leaving him crying out and bleeding from at least one hole in his head between the blasts—before he was finally rendered unconscious, and on February 29, 2024, a worker repeatedly electrocuted a conscious piglet.

“A crying bull endured multiple blasts to the head and the agony of having his throat slashed while he was still conscious in yet another botched killing at the notorious Puro Alentejano Iberian Pork Corp.,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of this bull and urges everyone to please go vegan to help spare others from suffering in slaughterhouses.”

PETA is pursuing charges under state law because federal officials haven’t prosecuted 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 vegan starter kits to those looking to make the compassionate switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Telsey follows.

June 5, 2025

The Honorable Kristin J. Telsey

Salem County Prosecutor

Via e-mail

Dear Ms. Telsey:

I hope this letter finds you well. I would like to request that your office (and the proper local law-enforcement agency, as you deem appropriate) investigate and file suitable criminal charges against Puro Alentejano Iberian Pork Corp. and the worker(s) responsible for repeatedly shooting a bull and cutting the conscious, crying animal’s throat on May 15 at its slaughterhouse located at 31 Jericho Rd. outside Salem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in the attached report, which states the following:

The bull was loaded into the establishment’s knock box …. An establishment employee applied the first stun using a 9 mm hand-held captive bolt stunning device (HHCB) to the front of the head. The bull then extended [his] neck out and bellowed loudly. The bull then backed out of the knock box and into the alleyway. The establishment employees then moved the bull back into the knock box and secured the door behind him. The HHCB was taken to a room adjacent to the slaughter floor and was reloaded. … [A]pproximately [six minutes after the first shot], a second shot was applied to the front of the bull’s head using the same HHCB. The bull vocalized loudly and began breathing deep, heavy breaths. The HHCB was again taken to the adjacent room and was reloaded. The employee applied a third stun using the same HHCB to the front of the bull’s head …. The bull again vocalized. IPP asked an establishment employee to touch the bull’s eye, and the bull was observed responding to the touch on its eye by blinking. An establishment employee then began to cut the neck of the bull. The bull vocalized and moved [his] feet in a forward and backwards motion. IPP [FSIS Inspection Program Personnel] then asked an employee to use the HHCB again to render the bull unconscious. The HHCB had become jammed, and after the employee had finished cutting the neck, unjammed the HHCB, loaded it, and applied a fourth shot to the front of the head. The bull was observed bleeding out heavily and did not appear conscious at the time of the fourth shot.^[1]

This incident follows two violations to which PETA alerted your office last year: On June 3, 2024, workers shot a boar in the head four times—leaving him crying out and bleeding from at least one hole in his head between the blasts—before he was finally rendered unconscious, and on February 29, 2024, a worker repeatedly electrocuted a conscious piglet.

This conduct appears to violate N.J.S.A. § 4:22-17 (c). Importantly, FSIS’ action carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for slaughterhouse workers who perpetrate acts of cruelty to animals.^[2] Given that the FSIS has not initiated a criminal prosecution of a licensed slaughterhouse for inhumane handling since at least 2007, charges under state law are these victims’ only chance at a measure of justice.

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