Cows Repeatedly Shot, Sheep Kicked in Face at Big Sky Processing; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe

For Immediate Release:
March 4, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture reports revealed that cows endured repeated shotgun blasts to the head and a sheep was violently assaulted by a worker at Big Sky Processing LLC outside Moore. In response, PETA sent a letter this morning to Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Timothy J. Racicot, urging him to investigate and file appropriate criminal charges against those responsible.

According to the reports, on February 19, operations were suspended at the facility after an inspector saw a worker shoot a bleeding, crying cow five times with a shotgun. The suffering animal remained standing until the fourth shot and even attempted to rise again before the fifth. The inspector noted that the shots were severely misplaced all over the animal’s face, with gunshot wounds in the left and right sides of her jaw, and two wounds on the bridge of her nose.

Operations were again suspended the very next day after a cow remained conscious and attempted to stand after two shotgun blasts to the head. The worker then attempted to leave the area as the bleeding animal attempted to stand, and had to be told to shoot the animal again. Only weeks earlier, on January 27, a federal inspector witnessed an employee repeatedly kick a sheep in the ribs and face.

“Inept employees essentially used crying cows’ faces for target practice and mercilessly kicked a sheep at Big Sky Processing,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a criminal 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 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 that Every 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 Racicot follows.

March 4, 2025

The Honorable Timothy J. Racicot

Acting U.S. Attorney

District of Montana

Dear Mr. Racicot:

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 Big Sky Processing LLC and its workers responsible for recent 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 181 Cut Above Loop, outside Moore. The attached reports by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) indicate that its staff repeatedly kicked a sheep in the ribs and face and shot conscious, suffering animals as many as five times—including in the jaw and nose—before the animals were rendered unconscious.

According to the reports, federal officials documented the following.

• February 20, 2025: “A cow had been driven into the modified stun box with the metal butt bar behind the animal in an attempt to prevent the animal from backing up. The stun operator aimed the 12-gauge shotgun loaded with pellet … and made physical contact with the cow’s head. As the stun operator applied the first stun attempt, the cow’s head moved up and away from him. The cow remained standing, tracking the stun operator’s movement with [her] eyes with blood dripping from [her] nose. The stun operator retrieved another shell from his pocket, the cow was moving [her] head from side to side and up and down inside the stun box but not vocalizing. The stun operator waited until the cow had slowed movement of [her] head to apply a second stun attempt. The cow collapsed inside the stun box and the stun operator checked the cow’s eyes which did not move. After the stun operator started to leave the stunning area, [the consumer safety inspector] observed the animal lift [her] head upward and attempt to stand in a controlled manner. [The consumer safety inspector] observed blood dripping from the cow’s nose and the cow pulled [her] tongue back into [her] mouth while breathing rhythmically. The establishment manager noticed the cow was still alive and breathing and informed the stun operator. The stun operator returned and retrieved another shell from his pocket and reloaded the same 12-[gauge]

shotgun and applied a third stun attempt, which rendered the cow unconscious.”[2]

• February 19, 2025: “[A] plant employee required five attempts to render a cow insensible. The initial attempt, utilizing a 12-gauge shotgun, was ineffective at rendering the cow unconscious. The cow remained upright, vocalizing, rhythmically breathing, and thrashing within the stun box. [The consumer safety inspector] observed blood on the side of the cow’s head. The employee then entered the side room to retrieve another shotgun shell (i.e., slug) for a second stun attempt, which also proved ineffective, as the cow remained standing and thrashing audibly within the stun box with more blood observed on the cow’s head. The animal tracked the employee with [her] gaze while the employee prepared a third stun attempt, struggling to align the same 12-gauge shotgun as the cow repeatedly struck the gate of the stun box. Despite another stun attempt being applied, the cow remained standing, vocalizing and continued breathing rhythmically. The employee retrieved a fourth shotgun shell, chasing the cow’s head movement with the shotgun. This fourth attempt also failed to render the cow insensible, although the cow eventually dropped to [her] knees, still vocalizing and attempting to rise. Ultimately, the fifth stun attempt with the same 12-gauge shotgun succeeded in rendering the cow insensible, at which point [her] eyes ceased tracking, and both breathing and movement came to a halt. … Upon inspection of the dressed head, [the inspector] verified a penetrating hole in the right jaw, a second penetrating hole in the left jaw, two penetrating holes at the top of the bridge of the nose and a fifth penetrating hole within [the] target zone of the forehead.”[3]
• January 27, 2025: “Plant employees had just unloaded the sheep [who] had escaped out of the alleyway to the stun box and off premise. The sheep were restrained off property with a rope around the fore and hind legs. Together the plant employees carried the last sheep to the forced gate where the employees set the animal on the ground. The plant employee [who] carried [the animal’s front end] brought his foot to the sheep’s head, then kicked the animal in the ribs two times. [The consumer safety inspector] said, “Hey”, to the employee. The plant employee then swiftly kicked the animal in the face. [The consumer safety inspector] instructed the plant employee to stop. The plant employee looked at me stopping what he was doing, and [the consumer safety inspector] said, you cannot hit the animals.”[4]

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.[5] 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 of 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”[6] 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 these violations for your prosecution.

Please let us know what else 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

[1]U.S. Congress, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, 7 U.S.C. § 1902(a), (1958) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2015-title7/html/USCODE-2015-title7-chap48.htm.

[2]District 25 Manager Dr. Robert Reeder, Reinstatement of Suspension, Big Sky Processing LLC (February 20, 2025) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/MV46090-ROS-02202025.pdf.

[3]District 25 Manager Dr. Robert Reeder, Notice of Suspension, Big Sky Processing LLC (February 19, 2025) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/MV46090-NOS-02192025.pdf.

[4]District 25 Manager Dr. Robert Reeder, Notice of Intended Enforcement, Big Sky Processing LLC (January 27, 2025) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/MV46090-NOIE-01272025.pdf.

[5]U.S. Congress, United States Code: Meat Inspection, 21 U.S.C. §§ 676(a), (1982) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title21/pdf/USCODE-2022-title21-chap12-subchapIV-sec676.pdf.

[6]USDA FSIS, “Under Secretary for Food Safety Shares Some Insight on the Humane Handling of Livestock,” (January 7, 2011) https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/01/7/under-secretary-food-safety-shares-some-insight-humane-handling-livestock.