UPDATE: Animal Partisan complaint prompts criminal charge against Pennsylvania pig slaughterhouse

CURRENT STATUS: (Closed) Trial conducted on November 30, 2023; court dismissed case

March 1, 2023

A Magisterial District Court has filed one count of animal cruelty against Leidy’s, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based pork company. The charge stems from an Animal Partisan complaint filed in December 2022 that alleged a truck driver affiliated with Leidy’s, Inc. beat pigs while delivering them for slaughter. The criminal charge requires Leidy’s, Inc. to stand trial for animal cruelty based on the conduct of a truck driver associated with the company. We expect the trial to occur in April 2023.

December 27, 2022

Animal Partisan has asked a Magisterial District Judge to order criminal charges against Leidy’s, Inc., a Pennsylvania pork company, and a truck driver affiliated with the company over the abuse of pigs during delivery for slaughter. The complaint, filed through a novel procedural avenue in state law that allows private criminal complaints, asks the judge to charge the company and the driver with a violation of Pennsylvania’s animal cruelty statute which punishes anyone who “beats” or “abuses” an animal.

The complaint originates from a March 2022 incident in which a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspector monitoring slaughter at Leidy’s slaughterhouse north of Philadelphia witnessed a truck driver beating pigs while unloading them for slaughter. The USDA inspector documented the truck driver “beating the hogs repeatedly” and observed that the pigs were “terrified” and “squealed as he beat them”. The inspector eventually forced the truck driver to stop beating the pigs and cited Leidy’s for violating federal laws intended to protect animals at slaughter.

Animal Partisan’s complaint argues that this incident constitutes animal cruelty under state law and that the USDA’s actions have no bearing on Pennsylvania’s ability to enforce its own animal cruelty laws. The complaint argues that Leidy’s as a corporation should also be criminally charged since the truck driver committed the abuse while delivering pigs on Leidy’s behalf and did so within the scope of his employment for the pork company.

Leidy’s relies on numerous animal welfare claims to sell its pork products. The company claims that its pigs are “well cared for” and raised “the right way, humanely and with transparency.” The USDA’s report suggests otherwise and Animal Partisan seeks to challenge this illegal conduct through Pennsylvania’s criminal courts.

View a copy of the complaint HERE.

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