Grantsville Slaughterhouse Owner Cut Foot off Conscious Steer; PETA Pursues Criminal Probe
For Immediate Release:
November 25, 2025
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
A just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report reveals that the owner of Tooele Valley Meat cut a hoof off a conscious steer caught in a gate despite a federal inspector’s explicit directions to stun the animal first. In response, PETA sent a letter today to Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead urging him to investigate and file suitable criminal charges against the suspect.
According to the report, on November 5, a steer apparently attempted to escape being slaughtered by jumping over a gate. His left front hoof got stuck in the gate, and as he tried to free himself, he suffered a compound fracture near his ankle. Operations were suspended at the facility after the owner ignored a federal inspector’s repeated instructions to stun the steer and instead cut his hoof off with a knife while he was still fully conscious. The animal again tried to flee, but was forced to walk on the stump of his leg into the facility, where he was killed.
“This terrified animal made a desperate bid for freedom, only to have his foot gruesomely hacked off by the facility owner, who had repeatedly been told not to do so,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of this steer and urges everyone to please go vegan to help spare other animals from suffering in slaughterhouses.”
Tooele Valley Meat has a record of failing to comply with federal law, including two incidents in which conscious, crying pigs were shot in the head multiple times. PETA is asking the Tooele County 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 Broadhead follows.
November 25, 2025
The Honorable Scott Broadhead
Tooele County Attorney
Dear Mr. Broadhead:
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 the Tooele Valley Meat owner responsible for cutting a foot off a conscious, suffering steer on November 5 at its slaughterhouse located at 985 E. Main St., outside Grantsville. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in the attached report, which states the following:
The Steer … attempted to jump over a gate and got [his] left front hoof stuck …. In an attempt to free [himself] from the situation, the Steer broke (compound fractured) [his] leg approximately in the ankle location. The Steer … laid against the gate and the corral panels; a small amount of blood was observed at the base of the gate around where the Steer had slumped with [his] head under its stuck leg. Plant employees ran into the building to get the Plant Owner [six minutes later] to obtain assistance in freeing the Steer. The CSI [FSIS Consumer Safety Inspector] and I remained observing actions taken to free the Steer. … At approximately 1100 hours, the plant owner asked one of his employees to get a knife, stating he was going to have to “cuts its (i.e., the steer) hoof off”. I informed the plant owner that he would have to stun the Steer outside before “cutting its hoof off”. The plant owner responded that he didn’t know how he would get the Steer into the building if he did that …. Again, I said the Steer needed to be stunned, that you can’t cut the hoof off a living animal. This request was disregarded at approximately 1105 hours, I called Frontline Supervisor within seconds of being disregarded and left the other CSI to continue observations of the situation. When I returned the Steer had been freed from the gate by having [his] left front hoof removed …. The other CSI, who remained outside while I was speaking with the Frontline Supervisor, observed the plant owner utilize a knife to cut off the hoof at the approximate level of the fetlock while the animal remained conscious. … The other CSI reported that the steer then began trying everything to get on the other side of the fence,
including head butting, kicking, and attempting to jump over the gate multiple times.[1]
This conduct appears to violate Utah Code § 76-13-202(2)(c). Importantly, FSIS’ action carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for slaughterhouse workers who perpetrate acts of cruelty to animals.[2] Given that the FSIS has not initiated a criminal prosecution of a licensed slaughterhouse for inhumane handling since at least 2007, charges under state law are this victim’s only chance at a measure of justice.
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
Associate Director of Project Strategy
[1]FSIS District Manager Dr. Robert Reeder, Notice of Suspension, Tooele Valley Meat(November 5, 2025) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/M20594-NOS-11052025.pdf. Last accessed November 24, 2025.
[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.”).
