PETA Statement on Child Worker’s Death in Slaughterhouse

For Immediate Release:
July 19, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in response to reports that a 16-year-old worker at a Mississippi slaughterhouse died on Friday from injuries, the latest incident in Mar-Jac Poultry’s history of exploiting minors:

Slaughterhouses are hell on Earth for animals and workers, with breakneck line speeds putting birds at risk of having their throats slit while fully conscious and workers tasked with handling saws, knives, and other sharp tools above surfaces often coated with grease, blood, and offal. This child’s death was tragic and unconscionable, and because children don’t belong inside slaughterhouses any more than chickens do, PETA asks everyone to wipe their hands clean of supporting slaughterhouses by eating vegan.

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