Home / Crime and Justice / PETA Demands Animal Cruelty Charges at Clemens Plant
PETA Demands Animal Cruelty Charges at Clemens Plant
14 May
Summary
- PETA urged a prosecutor to charge a Clemens employee for alleged pig mistreatment.
- A federal report detailed an employee hitting a hog with a rattle paddle.
- Clemens is expanding its Coldwater plant, increasing capacity by 50%.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is urging the acting Branch County Prosecutor to pursue criminal charges against an employee at the Clemens Food Group LLC facility. The request stems from a federal Food Safety and Inspection Service report documenting an incident in October where an employee allegedly hit a hog with a rattle paddle while unloading pigs.
PETA's Vice President of Legal Advocacy, Daniel Paden, sent a letter to Prosecutor Nora Geiger, calling for a criminal investigation. The organization emphasized that federal enforcement mechanisms do not preclude state-level prosecution for animal cruelty. This complaint follows a similar one filed by PETA in September 2023.
The incident occurred shortly before Clemens completes a major expansion of its Coldwater plant, set to increase its weekday capacity by 50% to approximately 12,000 hogs. Federal regulations mandate that handlers move hogs with minimal distress, prohibiting the use of tools like electric prods or slappers except minimally. The Clemens facility processes hogs using carbon dioxide before transforming them into pork products.
