PETA has called on the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Ruwaldt Packing Co. in Hobart after a U.S. Department of Agriculture report found a worker cut the throat of a conscious pig.
On May 20, a Food Safety and Inspection Service inspector saw a pig lying in the blood pit, a drainage area under the kill floor, at the Ruwaldt Packing Co. When the pig got to its feet and started walking around, a worker stabbed the animal in the throat without taking steps to make the animal unconscious before it bled to death, according to the report.
“At this miserable slaughterhouse, a pig managed to stand up in a blood pit only to have a worker slash their throat while they were still conscious,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden in a statement. “PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of this animal and urges everyone to help prevent animals from suffering in slaughterhouses by please going vegan.”
A Ruwaldt Packing Co. employee told the Post-Tribune “we aren’t interested” when a reporter reached out for comment and then hung up the phone.
PETA called for Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter to investigate the situation and file potential charges against the Ruwaldt Packing Co. worker, according to a June 10 letter to Carter from PETA associate director of project strategy Colin Henstock.
Henstock said the employee’s action appears to violate Indiana code. While the inspector’s findings carry no criminal or civil penalties, it does not limit criminal liability under state law for acts of animal cruelty, Henstock wrote.
“Given that the (Food Safety and Inspection Service inspector) has not initiated a criminal prosecution of a licensed slaughterhouse for inhumane handling since at least 2007, charges under state law are this victim’s only chance at a small measure of justice,” Henstock wrote.
In a statement to the Post-Tribune, Carter said he received the letter from PETA. While the prosecutor’s office does not conduct criminal investigations, the office takes “all allegations of potential criminal conduct seriously,” Carter said.
“We will review all information provided and will work with the appropriate law enforcement agencies responsible for investigating the matter. Should law enforcement determine that a criminal offense may have occurred and submit the case for review, the Prosecutor’s Office will evaluate the evidence and make charging decisions based on the facts and applicable Indiana law,” Carter said in the statement.
