Kategorie: Animals

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Following a just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture report revealing that turkeys suffocated to death after being shackled upside down at the Cargill Meat Solutions slaughterhouse in Dayton, PETA fired off a letter this morning to Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha L. Garst calling on her to investigate and file applicable criminal charges against those responsible.

According to the report, on September 14 a federal official discovered that up to 40 male turkeys had been left hanging for up to 90 minutes with their legs clamped in the shackles typically used to convey birds through the slaughter line. Up to 10 of the birds had suffocated to death, and the survivors were gasping for air and flapping their wings so frantically that their bones had broken. Just five days later, an inspector found a distressed, gasping turkey with visibly broken bones trapped under a transport trailer’s tire. In the time it took the inspector to look for a staffer to assist, the bird died.

“If someone left dogs to die under a truck or hanging from shackles, they would rightly be facing criminal charges, and these turkeys were also living, feeling beings protected by law,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on the commonwealth’s attorney to investigate and bring appropriate charges and reminds everyone that the only kind meal is a vegan one.”

PETA points out that turkeys, chickens, pigs, cows, sheep, and other animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, just as humans do. The group is pursuing charges under state law because federal officials haven’t prosecuted any inspected slaughterhouses for acts of abuse and neglect such as those at Cargill Meat Solutions—the third-largest turkey-killing company in the U.S.—since at least 2007.

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 or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Garst follows.

January 24, 2023

The Honorable Marsha L. Garst

Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney

Dear Ms. Garst:

I’m writing to request that your office (and a local law-enforcement agency, as you deem appropriate) investigate and file applicable criminal charges against the individuals responsible for leaving turkeys hanging upside down to slowly suffocate to death—and fatally running over another turkey—at the Cargill Meat Solutions slaughterhouse located at 135 Huffman Dr. in Dayton. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incidents in the attached report, which the agency just made available to the public.

According to the report, on September 14, 2022, an FSIS inspector found up to 40 male turkeys hanging upside down by their legs from the shackles normally used to convey birds through the slaughter line. FSIS personnel discovered that these animals had been hung up in that manner approximately 90 minutes earlier—and then left that way as a work shift ended. Up to 10 of the birds had died “from secondary asphyxia due to hanging and unable to right themselves.” Several survivors were “gasping for air” and flapping their wings so rapidly that their bones had broken.

Five days later, FSIS staff found a turkey in “distress” and extending his neck to gasp for air, trapped by his legs and torso under a tire on a trailer used to haul birds. Two broken bones jutted from the bird’s right wing. An FSIS inspector immediately attempted to find Cargill staff to assist the bird “to no avail” and then discovered that the bird had died.

This conduct does not represent the otherwise-exempt “farming activities” and thus may violate Code of Virginia § 3.2-6570. Please note that FSIS’ simple report on the matter carries no criminal or civil penalties and doesn’t preempt criminal liability under state law for cruelty to animals. Thank you for your time and consideration and for the important work that you do.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

Cruelty Investigations Department

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Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s decision to uphold the 30-day suspension of Thoroughbred horse trainer Steve Asmussen following two drug violations in 2018:

Kudos to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for letting stand trainer Steve Asmussen’s suspension for drug positives, but now it needs to ban him from racing, as he has racked up dozens of drug violations—and the slap on the wrist he gets each time is a betrayal of the horses. PETA’s 2013 undercover investigation into Asmussen’s barn revealed the daily use of medications like hormones, sedatives, and painkillers—and the dire consequences for the horses. The racing industry must stop honoring its worst players and do right by the animals it uses.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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A new paper coauthored by PETA Science Consortium International e.V., the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), and the University of Minnesota is poised to revolutionize the field of inhalation research and toxicity testing. The study was funded by the Science Consortium to expand access to human-relevant research tools and, by so doing, reduce the number of animals used in inhalation testing—a field previously hampered by the scarcity of donated human lungs.

The new findings set out in the paper show that both fresh and cryopreserved human precision-cut lung slices can be used to assess the toxicity of inhaled chemicals. The frozen-thawed lung slices can be maintained and used for testing for at least four weeks, just like fresh slices, while also retaining functionality—something that has never been achieved before.

Given the scarcity of donated human lungs, the ability to use those that have been previously frozen will greatly expand the availability of these tissues for research and help replace the use of animals in tests to assess the effects of chemicals, drugs, and other substances on the human lung.

“Our paper shows that human precision-cut lung slices are accessible, human-relevant models to test the effects of inhaled chemicals,” says Science Consortium President Dr. Amy Clippinger. “Having an accessible bank of frozen human tissues for research could lead to a vast improvement in our understanding of human lung disease and toxicity.”

“The performance of the frozen-thawed human precision-cut lung slices exceeded our expectations,” says IIVS Director Dr. Holger Behrsing. “Combined with our improved slicing technology that allows thousands of slices to be generated from a single human lung, normal and diseased tissues from various demographic backgrounds can be banked. These reserves of diverse tissues can be used for repeat studies and capture donor variability to better reflect the human population.”

The paper, “Cryopreserved Human Precision-Cut Lung Slices Provide an Immune Competent Pulmonary Test System for ‘On-Demand’ Use and Long-Term Cultures,” out today in Toxicological Sciences, describes a study funded in part by the Science Consortium and carried out by IIVS and the University of Minnesota.

Based on the success of the study, IIVS is now offering frozen lung slices to the research community at large. It’s one of only a few suppliers in the world to offer this product commercially.

For more information, please visit ThePSCI.eu or IIVS.org.

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