Criminal Charges Advocated in Case of Chickens Allowed to Freeze to Death, Trucked to Canton Slaughterhouse
For Immediate Release:
July 14, 2026
Contact:
Andrew Grant 202-483-7382
Following a just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture report revealing that numerous chickens arrived dead at Case Farms’ slaughterhouse in Canton after being hauled through temperatures as low as -13 degrees F, PETA sent a letter today to The Honorable Jason P. Reese, law director for the city, urging him to file applicable criminal charges against those responsible.
According to the January 31 report, a federal veterinarian found the dead chickens had “frozen” feathers and were “cold to [the] touch.” A Case Farms assistant manager evidently told the veterinarian that so many chickens had arrived dead that day that workers were “not decapitating” them to ensure death, but instead simply putting them into bins and barrels. A federal inspector discovered one survivor “partially buried” among the bodies.
“These chickens froze to death on the way to the slaughterhouse while others were left to suffer alongside them in the bitter cold,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation into cruelty to these birds, and urges everyone to help spare others from misery by going vegan.”
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 or abuse in any other way”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a chicken is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Reese follows.
July 14, 2026
The Honorable Jason P. Reese
Law Director
City of Canton
Dear Mr. Reese:
I’m writing to request that your office (and a law-enforcement agency, as necessary) file applicable criminal charges against the individual(s) responsible for hauling chickens through subzero temperatures—causing “numerous” animals to die of apparent exposure—en route to Case Farms’ slaughterhouse located at 1925 30th St. N.E. in Canton.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in a report that the agency recently made available to the public. (See attachment.) According to the report, on January 31, an FSIS supervisory veterinarian found “more than typical” dead chickens on trailers at the slaughterhouse. Another FSIS employee observed that “numerous” chickens had arrived dead. The federal veterinarian found that the dead animals were “cold to [the] touch” and that their feathers were “frozen.” The survivors were “sluggish.”
National Weather Service records indicate that the date in question was the coldest day in the area in January, with the low reaching -13 degrees and an average temperature of just 2 degrees.
A Case Farms assistant manager evidently told the federal veterinarian that so many chickens had arrived dead that day that workers were “not decapitating” them to ensure death but instead simply putting them into bins and barrels. The inspector saw Case Farms workers putting live birds in barrels used for dead chickens and discovered one survivor “partially buried” amid them.
Please note that FSIS’s simple narrative of this incident carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for acts of cruelty to animals. The conduct described above appears to violate Ohio Revised Code § 959.13 (A) (3), which prohibits carrying or conveying an animal in a cruel or inhumane manner. Please note that just last month, a Wisconsin court found a man guilty of a similar offense for fatally hauling 15 pigs through bitter cold en route to a slaughterhouse there.
Ohio law affords these chickens their only chance at a small measure of legal recognition. We urge your office to seek it. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Daniel Paden
Vice President of Legal Advocacy
