Pandora Slaughterhouse Under Fire After PETA Exposé Reveals Shoddy Methods, Callous Killings

For Immediate Release:
August 14, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

A damning new PETA undercover investigation of Pandora-based slaughterhouse Rodabaugh Bros. Meats—which supplies leather for Wilson’s official NFL balls—reveals terrified cows watching and trying to escape as others are being shot in the back of the head and dismembered in front of them. So today, PETA sent an urgent letter to Clint and Cody Rodabaugh, calling on the company to take the necessary steps to prevent such unnecessary terror and suffering—including by adjusting components of its “kill floor” and stopping violations of industry and government guidelines.

The undercover footage shows a cow trying to escape the kill pen in vain and another who watched wide-eyed for over nine minutes as cows in front of them were being hung up by their feet and hacked to pieces. One of the slaughterhouse owners was also caught on video bragging to PETA’s investigator, “I was a loan officer at a bank before we bought this. I used to have a good job with benefits, but now I get to kill things.”

In the letter, PETA notes that forcing cows to watch the slaughter of others is a violation of guidelines put forth by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). PETA’s video also captured a slaughterer stunning cows in the back of the head with a captive bolt gun instead of the forehead, where proper stunning should be administered. The USDA warns that “incorrect positioning, resulting in an ineffective stun, will cause the animal to suffer pain and distress.”

“Cows already facing the slaughterhouse knife are spending their final moments being tormented with the horrific sights and sounds of other animals being butchered in front of them—and all for a ball,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is calling on Rodabaugh Bros. Meats to stop terrorizing animals and urges everyone to please go vegan to help spare others from suffering in slaughterhouses.”

PETA is also sending letters to Wilson Sporting Goods, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and the NFL Competition Committee urging them to manufacture or use only footballs made with synthetic materials.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.