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For immediate release:
May 4, 2021
Contact:
David Pearl 202-483-7382
Ticket, Virginia. – PETA received a USDA report revealing a recent violation of the law at Fauquier’s Finest Custom Meat Processing, Inc. in Bilton. In response, the group sent a letter this morning urging Fauquier County’s Commonwealth Attorney Scott Hook to address the matter and, if necessary, bring animal cruelty charges against the business and the employee responsible for the ineffective head shot. four times with a rifle. Then the cow tried to get up and the worker fired a shotgun at her again. A similar violation occurred at a facility in 2018, when a worker repeatedly shot a pig in the head, both before and after the animal’s throat was slit.
“This alarming report shows that a cow has gone through a long painful death at Fauquier’s Finest Custom Meat Processing,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphne Nachminovich. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of the cow injured in this plant and calls on all compassionate members of the public concerned about this cruelty to go 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, a worldview focused on human excellence. The group notes that cows, pigs, chickens, sheep and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives just like humans, and that the best 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 PETA’s letter to Hook.
May 4, 2021
The Honorable Scott Hook
Fauquier Commonwealth Attorney
Dear Mr. Hook,
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 Fauquier’s Finest Custom Meat Processing, Inc. and the worker responsible for shooting the cow in the head five times (the fifth of which was inflicted after the cow tried to stand up) on April 6 at the company’s slaughterhouse located at 11746 Ag Industrial Dr. at Bileton. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in an attached report, which states the following:
IPP [FSIS Inspection Program Personnel] watched as a beef cow was taken to the box, where an employee tried to stun [her] using a .22 Magnum rifle. IPP went outside during a firearm discharge and heard four (4) rifle shots. IPP retreated to the slaughterhouse and noticed that the cow had fallen into the chute…. At that moment, the cow tried to get up and got to her feet again. [her] hind limbs. IPP instructed a staff member to stun the cow again, and he pulled out a 20-gauge shotgun. IPP left the production floor again and the employee successfully brought the unconscious beef cow out with a shotgun (5th shot overall). “one
This behavior appears to be in violation of § 3.2-6570 of the Virginia Code. It is important to note that FSIS action does not invalidate state criminal liability for slaughterhouse workers who commit acts of cruelty to animals.2
Please let us know what we can do to help you. Thank you for your attention and for the hard work you are doing.
Sincerely,
Colin Henstock
Assistant Investigation Manager
oneFSIS District 80 Manager Todd Fury, Suspension Notice, Fauquier’s Finest Custom Meat Processing, Inc. (April 6, 2021) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2021-04/m33940-nos-04062021.pdf.
2See 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 preemptive clause prohibiting state laws “in addition to or different from” federal law does not conflict with a “equivalent” state provision). While FMIA is ahead of many state slaughterhouse laws, it leaves some room for regulation in the states. “)
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