They Can’t Pull the Wool Over Our Eyes: Tackling Lamb Cruelty in the US

Imogen Allen

09/02/2024 Updated: 16/04/2024

During an inspection of a lamb slaughterhouse in the US, an official Government-appointed veterinarian witnessed a lamb who was ineffectively stunned three times before slaughter. Now, Animal Equality and other fellow advocates are calling for criminal charges to be imposed against the company and its supervisor.

On 28th March 2023, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Public Health Veterinarian visited a Colorado lamb slaughterhouse operated by Colorado Lamb Processors, a facility responsible for killing around 1,550 sheep every day.

According to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958, except in the cases of slaughter for religious or ritual purposes, sheep must be stunned before slaughter in a way that is ‘rapid’ and ‘effective’. However, during the inspection, the veterinarian was confronted with a distressing sight: a lamb on a conveyor belt, destined for slaughter, still fully conscious due to ineffective stunning.

This photo represents lamb slaughter and was not taken at a facility related to this case

Efforts were made to rectify the situation. The USDA representative urged employees to contact a supervisor, who attempted to stun the lamb with a back-up device known as a hand-held captive bolt gun. Still, the lamb remained conscious, moving their head around quickly and bleeding out of their nose. The supervisor attempted to stun the lamb a third time, still failing to render the lamb unconscious. It wasn’t until the intervention of the Slaughter Floor Manager, delivering the fourth and final blow, that the lamb was finally rendered unconscious.

Sheep, much like humans, are sensitive beings capable of experiencing fear and pain. The ordeal endured by this lamb would undoubtedly have been excruciating. Tragically, instances of ineffective stunning are not uncommon in farms worldwide.

What sets this incident apart is the first-hand witness account by an official veterinarian, coupled with the USDA’s acknowledgment of several violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Regulations. In spite of their acknowledgments, Colorado Lamb Processors then faced only minimal repercussions.

A Notice of Intended Enforcement was issued by the USDA and the slaughterhouse’s ability to operate was temporarily halted, the slaughterhouse soon opened up again. Alarmingly, just nine months later, a strikingly similar incident occurred; yet again, the company faced no significant repercussions.

In response, Animal Equality, in collaboration with the legal advocacy organisation Animal Partisan and a local Colorado attorney, have initiated legal proceedings.

The offence is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Animal cruelty: not just a US issue

Across the world, Animal Equality investigators have consistently found instances of ineffective stunning before slaughter.

The UK is no exception. In 2019, our team released footage of sheep getting caught in slaughterhouse machinery and having their throats slit while they were suspended in the air; fish being left to suffocate on slaughterhouse floors or entering stunning machines in reverse; and pigs being hit in the head with a hammer, with one worker describing it “as good as any bullet”.

These are not isolated incidents.

In collaboration with The Animal Law Foundation, Animal Equality revealed that, on average, fewer than 3% of farms in the UK undergo inspection from a regulatory body each year. Furthermore, only half of complaints lodged against farms are investigated by officials. And when wrongdoing is substantiated, the consequences for animal abusers are often shockingly light, with little more than a written caution issued.

The situation is clear: animal protection laws are being broken time and time again and regulators across the world are failing miserably in their duty to intervene and protect these vulnerable animals.

Animal Equality’s team is doing everything in our power to change this. All of our eight offices are continuing to release investigative findings, challenging laws, and bringing court cases against those that are found to illegally abuse animals.

Right now, in the UK, our team is calling on the Government to implement licensing systems. In doing so, farms would be subject to increased unannounced inspections and appropriate penalties when farms fail to comply with the law.

Enough is enough. We cannot standby whilst millions of animals suffer out of sight, trapped in factory farms. Sign now to take action for farmed animals!

Over an 11 year period, Animal Equality UK has investigated 43 farms and slaughterhouses, finding prolonged animal suffering, deliberate abuse or neglect, and/or illegality taking place every single time. Animal Equality’s evidentiary footage, spanning over a decade, is a growing indictment of this failing industry.

The Government must work with Animal Equality to put in place critical changes to the legal framework, including the following:

Implement a licensing system for farms;
Breaches of licences will result in non renewal and prosecution;
Inspections required for licence renewal which will be at least every 1-3 years, depending on the farm’s size;
Those inspections must be robust and occasionally unannounced;
Appropriate penalties for all farms found not complying with their licences and the law.

Laws are broken time and time again. On every pig farm Animal Equality UK has ever visited pigs have been routinely tail-docked; over a six year period we visited four dairy farms and on each we found severe animal suffering and illegality; and in a sheep slaughterhouse we discovered a Food Standards Agency inspector giving their nod of approval for clear non-compliance. Our investigators have looked into facilities accredited by Red Tractor, Quality Meat Scotland, Best Aquaculture Practices, The Soil Association and more, documenting illegality across the board.

This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. With over 300,000 slaughterhouses in the UK, it is not possible for Animal Equality to visit every single facility. How many animals will suffer the same cruelty behind closed doors?

The public puts its faith in accreditation schemes, awards and Government and local authorities, but consumers are being conned.

Public body inspections are few and far between. Crimes to farmed animals are rarely detected due to the current low levels of inspection. With the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) inspecting just 0.5% of farms each year this means if every farm was to be inspected it would take 200 years. However, the reality is that some farms may never be inspected.

Non-compliance is rife. Where APHA inspections do occur, 25% identify non-compliance with animal welfare regulations and inspectors directly observe animals suffering ‘unnecessarily’ in one in 20 visits to uncertified farms.

Consequences are all but non-existent. When wrongdoing is detected it is too often left to the charities to apply the necessary pressure and ensure action is taken. Between 2017-2019 there were 80 convictions of cruelty to farmed animals under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, compared to 2,662 for dogs. Considering that over one billion animals are farmed and slaughtered each year in the UK, this number of convictions is extremely low. This lack of action is failing to disincentivise legal violations on farms.

The Government and local authorities must end their overreliance on charities, take ownership, and hold animal abusers accountable for their actions.
The current regulatory framework is a wholly inadequate safeguard to ensure legal compliance. It is simply not fit for purpose. Already vulnerable farmed animals are being left at the whims of an industry that wants only to commoditise them.

We, the undersigned, are calling for improved monitoring and enforcement of existing animal welfare laws and for increased legal protections to be put in place for farmed land and aquatic animals.