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For immediate release:
February 9, 2021
Contacts:
David Pearl 202-483-7382
Allegany County, Maryland. – PETA received USDA reports disclosing recent violations of the law at Greise Brothers Packing, Inc., outside Cumberland. In response, the team sent a letter this morning asking Allegany County Deputy Attorney Frederick Voss to review the matter and, if necessary, bring animal cruelty charges against the facility and those in charge.
In January, a worker shot a bull in the head Five times with a shotgun, and the animal was still standing after at least the first two shots. In another case, workers shocked a pig and slit the animal’s throat. The pig regained consciousness, looked around and tried to get up, but instead of stunning the pig again, the workers left the animal to bleed out.
“These alarming reports show that a bull and a pig have gone through a long painful death at Greise Brothers Packing,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphne Nachminovic. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of the animals affected at this site and calls on all compassionate members of the public concerned about this atrocity to become vegan and help prevent more animals from suffering in slaughterhouses.”
PETA, whose motto is in part that “the animals are not ours to eat,” opposes specisism, which is a worldview focused on human excellence. The group notes that pigs, cows, chickens, sheep and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives as humans do, and that the only way to prevent them from suffering in slaughterhouses is not to eat them.
For more information visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…
This is followed by a letter from PETA to Voss.
February 9, 2021
Frederick Voss
Allegany County Assistant Attorney
Dear Mr. Voss:
I hope this letter will correct you. I would like to ask your office (and relevant local law enforcement agencies, if you deem appropriate) to investigate and bring appropriate criminal charges against Greise Brothers Packing, Inc. and the workers responsible for the bull’s head shot. five times and slitting the pig’s throat, leaving the animal conscious to bleed, in two incidents at his slaughterhouse located at 11901 Greise Farm Rd. outside of Cumberland. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has documented the incidents in attached reports, which state the following:
January 4, 2021: IPP [FSIS Inspection Program Personnel] revealed flagrant non-compliance with humane handling, which required an employee five (5) shots from a .410 caliber firearm to render the bull unconscious. IPP noticed that the bull had been placed in the box and the staff member prepared to use the .410 firearm for the first stunning attempt. … After the first shot, IPP retreated to the destruction site, but the officer indicated that he had fired the same firearm …. After the second shot, IPP entered the slaughterhouse and saw the bull still standing in the box and moving. [his] head. … After the third shot, the bull remained conscious. The staff member made a fourth stunning attempt and the bull was again conscious. The employee attempted a fifth stunning, as a result of which the bull lost consciousness. “one
April 3, 2020: “The IPP has identified a flagrant noncompliance with humane handling, in which the animal regains consciousness after being stunned and stuck due to bleeding. The Inspector in charge (IIC) watched as an employee tried to stun a large pig in a box with an electric stun device (ESD). After an initial stunning attempt, the pig fell to the ground and the gate was released, allowing the pig to fall out of the chute. Another staff member stepped in and stabbed the pig to bleed. When IIC came to watch the pig bleed, she noticed signs of consciousness in the pig; eye blinking with eye tracking, conscious movement of the head and attempts to stand. These signs indicate that the pig regained consciousness after being stunned and stuck due to bleeding. The staff of the establishment did not try to reboot the pig, but they allowed [the pig] bleed until [the pig] was dead. “2
This behavior appears to violate the Maryland Code, Crim. Law § 10-604. It is important to note that FSIS action does not invalidate state criminal liability for slaughterhouse workers who commit acts of cruelty to animals.3
Let us know what we can do to help you. Thank you for your attention and for the hard work you are doing.
Yours faithfully,
Colin Henstock
Assistant Investigation Manager
1FSIS District 80 Manager Todd Fury, Suspension Notice, Greise Brothers Packing, Inc. (January 4, 2021) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/d82bac1c-5349-4223-848c-06afa1d9d7dd/m4271-nos-01042021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
2FSIS District 80 Manager Todd Fury, Suspension Notice, Greise Brothers Packing, Inc. (April 3, 2020) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/128375cd-fac0-418d-9223-17cecc77ae73/m4271-nos-04032020.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
3See Nat’l. Meat Assoc. v. Harris, 132 C. Ct. 965, 974 n.10 (2012) (“… states may impose civil or criminal sanctions for cruelty to animals or other conduct that also violates [Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)]… See [21 U.S.C.] §678; Wed Bates vs. Dow Agrosciences, Ltd, 544 US 431, 447 (2005) (ruling that a pre-emptive clause prohibiting state laws “in addition to or different from federal law” does not conflict with a “equivalent” state provision). Although FMIA is ahead of many state slaughterhouse laws, it leaves some room for regulation to states. “
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