Conscious Calf and Crying Steer Repeatedly Shot at Kankakee County Slaughterhouse; PETA Seeks Federal Criminal Probe

For Immediate Release:
June 17, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Recent U.S. Department of Agriculture reports reveal that a steer and a calf remained conscious after being shot in the head at Herscher Halal Meat Locker in Kankakee County. In response, PETA sent a letter today to Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, Gregory M. Gilmore, urging him to collaborate with the USDA’s Office of Inspector General to investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against those responsible.

According to the reports, on June 9, operations were suspended at the facility after a federal inspector witnessed an employee shooting a steer twice in the head with a captive bolt gun following a botched attempt to cut the animal’s neck, causing the steer to cry out. The steer remained conscious and standing as workers restrained him by his nostrils and slashed his throat again, finally ending his suffering. Operations were previously suspended on March 8, 2024, when staff shot an unrestrained calf in the head after the animal hesitated to enter the slaughter area. After enduring the blast, the calf stood back up and walked, and the plant manager had to be told by the inspector to shoot the animal again.

“A steer and a calf already facing the horrors of slaughter endured multiple blasts to the head and prolonged, agonizing deaths at Herscher Halal Meat Locker,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a federal investigation on behalf of these animals and urges everyone to please go vegan to help spare others from suffering in slaughterhouses.”

PETA is asking the acting 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 thatEvery 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 Gilmore follows.

June 17, 2025

The Honorable Gregory M. Gilmore

Acting U.S. Attorney

Central District of Illinois

Dear Mr. Gilmore:

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 Herscher Halal Meat Locker 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,”^[1] at its slaughterhouse, located at 11260 W. State Rte. 115 in Kankakee County. The attached reports by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) indicate that its staff repeatedly shot animals in the head in botched stunning attempts.

According to the reports, federal officials documented the following:

• June 9, 2025: “[T]he Food Inspector (FI) observed establishment employees bring a mature steer into the knock box. The animal was restrained in the head chute, and the nostril restraint was placed on the animal before bringing [his] head upwards into position to expose the neck for ritual slaughter. Establishment personnel made the first attempt to cut the neck for the ritual cut but failed to get through the hide. After failing to stick the animal on their first attempt, they released the nostril restraint and elected to stun the animal with a captive bolt gun. Following the first stunning attempt, the animal was conscious, vocalized and remained standing. The captive bolt gun was reloaded, and the stunning operator attempted a second stun with the captive bolt gun. The second stunning attempt was ineffective, and the animal was conscious, vocalized and remained standing. Establishment personnel then placed the nostril restraint back on the animal, raised [his] head again, and cut the neck to exsanguinate the animal.”^[2]
• March 8, 2024: “[The FI] observed establishment employees bring a veal calf into the knock box for slaughter. The employees were having difficulty getting the animal to walk all the way into the restrainer so that the head could be secured for ritual slaughter. The establishment employees decided to get the hand-held captive bolt gun to use on the animal while [the calf] was freestanding in the knock box. Their first stunning attempt was placed on the side of the head by the horn and was ineffective at rendering the animal insensible. The veal calf went down and then stood back up, walked back and forth a bit, was looking around, and was rhythmically breathing. The FI then observed establishment personnel not responding appropriately with any corrective action attempt to render the animal insensible. It was only after the FI informed the plant manager and the establishment employee that the animal was still conscious and the establishment needed to implement corrective actions that establishment personnel reloaded the captive bolt gun and implemented a second stunning attempt, which rendered the animal insensible.”^[3]

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.^[4] The fact that inhumane handling persists at the establishment makes it clear that FSIS enforcement actions alone are insufficient to deter future violations and that criminal prosecution is in the best interests of the animals being killed there and the public. 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”^[5] 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 violations 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