Criminal Probe Sought: Crying Pig Shot Five Times in Head

For Immediate Release:
March 30, 2020

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA has obtained a U.S. Department of Agriculture report revealing a February 22 violation of law at Sanchez Slaughterhouse in Kapa’a. In response, we sent a letter this morning calling on the Kaua’i County Prosecuting Attorney to review the matter and, as appropriate, file criminal cruelty-to-animals charges against the facility and the workers responsible for shooting a pig five times in the head before the crying animal was finally rendered unconscious. The pig stood throughout the first four shots, as a worker repeatedly left the scene to retrieve additional cartridges from a vehicle.

“This disturbing report shows that this animal experienced a prolonged, agonizing death at Sanchez Slaughterhouse,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of the pig who suffered at this facility and urging all compassionate members of the public who are disturbed by this cruelty to go vegan and help prevent more animals from suffering in slaughterhouses.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group notes that pigs, sheep, bulls, cows, chickens, and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, just as humans do, and that the only way to help prevent them from suffering in slaughterhouses is not to eat them.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Kaua’i County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar follows.

March 30, 2020

The Honorable Justin Kollar

County of Kaua’i Prosecuting Attorney

Dear Mr. Kollar,

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 Sanchez Slaughterhouse and the workers responsible for shooting a pig in the head five times while the animal cried out on February 22 at its slaughterhouse located at 887 Kamalu Rd., Unit F, in Kapaa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in the attached report, which states the following:

“[T]he CSI [Consumer Safety Inspector] heard a commotion coming from the area of the stun box. As the CSI began to make his way toward the area, the CSI was approached by [redacted] who attempted to prevent his continuation by holding onto his arm. The CSI pursued onward to discover an excited, large hog being readied for stunning. The stun operator applied the first stun attempt from above and downward into the head. The animal remained standing, recoiled and vocalized.

The CSI suggested the stun operator use a larger caliber firearm. The stun operator vacated the stunning area and retrieved another cartridge from a nearby vehicle. The stun operator returned and applied a second stun attempt. The animal remained standing with eyes tracking and vocalizing. The stun operator vacated the stunning area again and retrieved another cartridge from the nearby vehicle. The stun operator applied a third stun attempt. The animal remained standing with eyes tracking and vocalizing. The establishment employee who was attempting to prevent the hog from pushing itself beneath the gate of the stun box retrieved the firearm and applied a fourth stun attempt from a different angle. The animal remained standing with eyes tracking and vocalizing. The stun operator vacated the stunning area and retrieved another cartridge from the nearby vehicle. The stun operator applied a fifth stun attempt and the animal was rendered insensible.”^[1]

This conduct appears to violate HRS § 711-1109. Importantly, FSIS action does not preempt criminal liability under state law for slaughterhouse workers who perpetrate acts of cruelty to animals.^[2]

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

Assistant Manager of Investigations

2See Nat’l. Meat Assoc. v. Harris, 132 S. Ct. 965, 974 n.10 (2012) (“. . . States may exact civil or criminal penalties for animal cruelty or other conduct that also violates the [Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)]. See [21 U.S.C.] §678; cf. Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, LLC, 544 U.S. 431, 447 (2005) (holding that a preemption clause barring state laws ‘in addition to or different’ from a federal Act does not interfere with an ‘equivalent’ state provision). Although the FMIA preempts much state law involving slaughterhouses, it thus leaves some room for the States to regulate.”).

[1]FSIS District 15 Manager Valerie Clay, Notice of Suspension, Sanchez Slaughterhouse (Feb. 22, 2020) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/9edf1fd7-c3bb-4046-96c6-953f5255a1aa/m12455-nos-022220.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

[2]See Nat’l. Meat Assoc. v. Harris, 132 S. Ct. 965, 974 n.10 (2012) (“. . . States may exact civil or criminal penalties for animal cruelty or other conduct that also violates the [Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)]. See [21 U.S.C.] §678; cf. Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, LLC, 544 U.S. 431, 447 (2005) (holding that a preemption clause barring state laws ‘in addition to or different’ from a federal Act does not interfere with an ‘equivalent’ state provision). Although the FMIA preempts much state law involving slaughterhouses, it thus leaves some room for the States to regulate.”).