Complaint seeks cruelty, firearms, and nuisance charges against Pennsylvania slaughterhouse
CURRENT STATUS: (Closed) District Attorney declined to pursue charges based on other civil lawsuits already underway against the slaughterhouse.
August 13, 2024
Animal Partisan has filed a complaint with the Bucks County District Attorney seeking multiple criminal charges against a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse with a sordid history. The complaint, filed with the District Attorney under a novel Pennsylvania legal procedure that allows private citizens to request criminal charges, seeks prosecution for animal cruelty, improper discharge of a firearm, and public nuisance.
Kingdom Provisions is a Pipersville, Pennsylvania slaughterhouse that is routinely inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture for compliance with federal food safety and humane handling laws. On July 2, 2024, a USDA inspector monitoring slaughter at the plant witnessed a representative of the plant cut the throat of a steer being killed using Kosher slaughter methods. The terrified animal then escaped through a gap in the restraint chute that plant employees had failed to close and eventually fled the building. A representative of the plant armed with a rifle followed the frightened and bleeding animal behind the building and opened fire, finally killing the steer on the third shot.
This is hardly the first time Kingdom Provisions has been the troubling focal point for legal issues. A recent investigative story in the local Bucks County Beacon details the horrific conditions experienced by neighbors living around the plant. The story details the repeated attempts by neighbors to gain assistance in dealing with the flies, odors, and late night deliveries at the plant.
According to the article, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has logged over 130 complaints related to the slaughterhouse. Images obtained by the Bucks County Beacon from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (seen below) depict dumpsters overflowing with the body parts of slaughtered animals.
The Bucks County Beacon investigative story details how residents suffered from the stench of rotted carcasses and a constant barrage of flies attracted by the decaying carcasses of animals left to rot in the elements. The story also describes the death of fish due to contamination from slaughterhouse fluids leaking into a nearby stream.
Kingdom Provisions is also the subject of multiple civil lawsuits. Plumstead Township, the community where the slaughterhouse operates, has filed a civil lawsuit seeking an injunction for violation of a conservation easement. The lawsuit alleges that Kingdom Provisions has unlawfully disturbed the land upon which the slaughterhouse sits, a violation of an existing easement. Kingdom Provisions has also been sued by Bucks County in an entirely separate case. The Bucks County lawsuit alleges violation of an agricultural easement based on misuse of the property.
The July 2, 2024 incident is hardly the first time Kingdom Provisions has been cited for inhumane treatment of animals. The USDA has repeatedly cited the slaughterhouse for its poor treatment of animals, including the following:
On October 19, 2023, a Kingdom Provisions employee improperly stunned an animal, resulting in the animal being shackled, hoisted, and having their throat cut while fully conscious.
On January 18, 2024, Kingdom Provisions forced several sheep to jump a significant height from a trailer while being unloaded, resulting in sheep falling from significant distances, landing on their heads, and at least one sheep presenting with a broken leg.
On July 14, 2023, Kingdom Provisions failed to provide water for ten cattle awaiting slaughter. The USDA observed that one bucket was “empty and completely dry inside” and the other pen had no bucket whatsoever.
On August 25, 2023, Kingdom Provisions failed to provide water for five cows whose water bucket was “empty and the inside was completely dry” as well as numerous lambs whose water bucket was “too high for the lambs to reach the water inside.”
Animal Partisan’s complaint largely focuses on the July 2, 2024 incident involving the escaped steer. The complaint asserts that the botched slaughter and subsequent shooting of the animal constitutes animal cruelty under Pennsylvania law. The complaint further alleges that by firing a rifle at the steer behind the slaughterhouse, Kingdom Provisions violated Pennsylvania law involving restrictions on firearm use. Finally, the complaint asserts that Kingdom Provisions’ ongoing pattern of conduct constitutes a public nuisance which is punishable by criminal law in Pennsylvania. Animal Partisan’s complaint was brought against Kingdom Provisions, the business entity, and asks prosecutors to pursue criminal charges which include maximum fines exceeding $10,000.
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