Feds See Cattle Repeatedly Shot in the Head—PETA Seeks Kill-Floor Cameras

For Immediate Release:
July 11, 2022

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

Following recent U.S. Department of Agriculture reports documenting that two steers and a cow remained conscious and standing after being shot in the head at Lightfoot Farm Market & Processing outside Millington, PETA fired off a letter today to the facility’s owner, Neil Lightfoot, calling on him to livestream video from the slaughterhouse in order to help prevent workers from mistreating more animals.

According to the reports, on June 23, a steer cried out and remained conscious after three rifle shots to the head until a fourth shot finally ended his suffering. Last October, a cow cried out and stayed conscious, bleeding from the nose, after the slaughterhouse owner shot her in the head. And last September, a steer remained conscious and standing, with blood flowing from his nostrils, after being shot in the head. Despite such cruelty, on its website the slaughterhouse boastfully claims to “respect … livestock” and engage in “humane slaughter.”

“This slaughterhouse is a hell on Earth for animals, where steers and a cow endured agonizing pain as they were repeatedly shot in the head,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on Lightfoot Farm Market & Processing to help prevent more egregious suffering by livestreaming video of all its slaughter operations—and is reminding 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 Lightfoot follows.

July 11, 2022

Neil Lightfoot
Owner
Lightfoot Farm Market & Processing

Dear Mr. Lightfoot:

Given the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report detailing the repeated shooting of a steer who remained standing and crying out after being shot three times in the head at Lightfoot Farm Market & Processing, we ask that you immediately change operations there in the hope of reducing animal suffering at your slaughterhouse.

Other incidents at your facility underscore the clear need for changes. In October, a cow cried out and remained standing and bleeding from the nose after you shot her in the head. In September, a steer also remained standing with blood flowing from his nostrils after being shot in the head.

In light of the egregious pain and terror you and your staff have caused cows in violation of federal law, won’t you please stop slaughtering them? Rather than risk further, similar violations, you could focus on minimizing the stress and suffering of the other farmed animals you slaughter.

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 that 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.” Those in your industry often complain that today’s consumers do not understand how animals are raised and killed for food. You could help inform them 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, attempting to stun them, slashing or sticking their throats, and bleeding them to death.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Colin Henstock
Assistant Manager of Investigations
PETA