Feds See Cattle Beaten, Lamb Repeatedly Shot in Head; PETA Seeks Kill-Floor Cameras

For Immediate Release:
August 17, 2022

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

After recently obtaining  federal reports—which document that workers at Wolf Pack Meats in Reno beat cattle and tried but failed to stun a lamb by shooting the animal in the head—PETA fired off a letter this morning to the slaughterhouse’s operations manager, Tom Kulas, calling on him to livestream video from the slaughterhouse in order to help prevent workers from mistreating more animals.

According to the reports, on March 10 a “frustrated” worker beat two heifers and a steer with a board and a paddle, striking them on the head, hips, and hindquarters. A worker also crammed four cattle into a small box and shot one of them in the head while the others watched. And on March 15, a worker fired two gunshots at a lamb—leaving the animal still conscious and in agony—before ending their pain. Similarly, in 2019 a Wolf Pack worker shot a cow three times over the course of two minutes before the animal was finally rendered unconscious.

“This slaughterhouse is a hell on Earth for animals, where cattle have been beaten and animals repeatedly shot in the head and left to suffer,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on Wolf Pack Meats to help prevent more egregious suffering by livestreaming video of all its slaughter operations—and reminds everyone that the only humane meal is a vegan one.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Kulas follows.

August 17, 2022

Tom Kulas

Operations Manager

Wolf Pack Meats

University of Nevada–Reno

Dear Mr. Kulas:

Given recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports detailing a worker beating cattle, the botched shooting of a lamb in the head, and other problems at Wolf Pack Meats, we ask that you immediately change operations in the hope of reducing animal suffering there.

A history of incidents at your facility underscores the need for change. On March 10, USDA staff saw one of your workers grow “frustrated and … beg[i]n to strike a … board directly on the hips of” two heifers and one steer he was trying to move. The worker then struck the heifers on their hindquarters and head with a rattle paddle. Hours later, a worker crowded four cows into a small box and shot one in the head while other animals stood nearby. Just five days later, a federal agent discovered that your staff had loaded six lambs into a box and repeatedly tried to stun one of the animals by shooting him or her in the head but failed, leaving the animal conscious and lying on his or her sternum. This mirrors a 2019 incident in which a worker shot a cow in the head three times over the course of two minutes before finally rendering her unconscious.

Will you please publicly livestream video from all areas of your facility where live animals are handled? Workers might take their duty to handle animals lawfully more seriously if they knew caring people were watching. As the world’s foremost expert on livestock welfare, Dr. Temple Grandin, writes, “Plants [t]hat are doing a good job should show what they are doing.” Your industry often complains that today’s consumers don’t understand how animals are raised and killed for food. You could help improve understanding by enabling us to observe your workers moving countless individual animals—who value their lives as we value ours—off crowded trucks in all weather conditions, attempting to stun them, slashing or sticking their throats, and bleeding them to death.

At the very least, will you reassign your staff referenced in the federal reports to jobs that don’t involve having contact with any live animals—such as evisceration, butchering, and packaging—and report the involved personnel to your local law-enforcement agency for investigation for possible violations of the state’s anti-cruelty statute? Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely, 

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis