DILLSBURG, Pa. — The Food Safety and Inspection Service temporarily suspended operations at a meat distributor after an alleged incident of animal cruelty.
An inspector at Dillsburg Halal Meat LLC reported that he saw an employee kick a dying lamb in the face on March 17.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the abuse occurred while the lamb was hoisted to be slaughtered. After an employee performed the ritual cut, while the lamb was still paddling and breathing, a separate employee allegedly kicked the lamb "very hard" in the nose.
The USDA alleges that this employee made eye contact with the inspector and smiled before kicking the lamb.
The employee then laughed when the inspector informed them that it was unacceptable to kick the lamb, according to a notice of suspension sent to Dillsburg Halal Meat.
The notice states that the inspector placed a reject tag on the hoist and ordered the establishment to immediately cease slaughter operations until further notice.
According to a complaint filed on Oct. 19 by animal protection organization Animal Partisan, on March 22, the USDA postponed the suspension based on a proposal by the business owner "to suspend the employee for one week, comply with a monitored probation period, and provide retraining in slaughter methods."
"This case is an important reminder that—contrary to common misperception—animals used in agriculture are not exempt from protection by animal cruelty laws," Will Lowrey, Animal Partisan attorney, said. "The Commonwealth's cruelty laws are not intended to only protect dogs and cats. Millions of pigs, chickens, turkeys, cattle, sheep, and other animals across the Commonwealth are also protected from acts of cruelty and neglect and the farm and slaughterhouse are not safe havens to abuse animals."
The owner, Saber Sassi, allegedly told the USDA that the employee “was hasty in his work because he was rushing to get done,” according to Animal Partisan's complaint.
In response to the incident, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a call for the slaughterhouse to "livestream video from inside the slaughterhouse in order to help prevent workers from mishandling and abusing more animals."
“As if slaughter weren’t terrifying enough, this bully of a slaughterhouse worker kicked a lamb in the face and laughed about it,” said PETA senior vice president Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling for Dillsburg Halal Meat to help stop more egregious abuse by publicly livestreaming slaughter operations and urging anyone disturbed by this incident to go vegan.”
PETA also requested that the business owner report the employee to law enforcement and reassign them to a position that does not directly work with live animals.
Sassi spoke to FOX43 News off camera on Nov. 16 and expressed that the situation has been dealt with accordingly and the offending employee terminated.
