Florida Court Strikes Blow to Farmed Animal Justice

Over 9 billion farmed animals are killed every year in the United States. Sadly, these pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep do not die peaceful or happy deaths. Rather, they are often mutilated and abused before dying slow agonizing deaths on a slaughterhouse floor.   Shrouded in secrecy and protected by big agricultural companies, few of their abusers ever face criminal charges.

Because the horrific acts perpetuated on farmed animals remain hidden from the American public, prosecutors have relied on undercover video documentation to bring cruelty charges against workers. Over the past few decades, undercover workers have documented farmed animals being dragged along the ground, stomped on, viciously beaten, stabbed, and boiled and skinned alive. Without these powerful videos, the horrific suffering of pigs, cows, chickens, and other farmed animals would remain hidden behind the slaughterhouse’s closed doors.

Unfortunately, a Florida judge has recently struck a blow to justice for farmed animals by declaring illegal an undercover video by Animal Recovery Mission (ARM), a nonprofit animal rescue group. ARM investigated a farm allegedly running an illegal slaughterhouse, acquiring footage of pigs being dragged with hooks for up to 150 feet, beaten with sledgehammers, and boiled alive. Similar investigations by ARM have previously led to several arrests and sentencing in cruelty cases.

Stating that ARM required permission by the slaughterhouse before recording, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy’s ruling means that jurors in the trial will not be permitted to view photographs or video of the shocking abuse. In spite of this disheartening setback, prosecutors are confident that the case will proceed.

Regrettably, this ruling fuels widespread attitudes that discount the horrendous suffering of farmed animals, reducing them to mere commodities devoid of feeling. Recent cases have resulted in minimal sentencing and probation for acts of cruelty toward farmed animals. In another Florida case earlier this year, defense attorney Robert Barrar epitomized this disregard by stating, “The simple fact is that slaughterhouses are designed to kill, slaughter and inflict pain upon animals to be prepared for food for humans.”

Don’t turn away from the gruesome abuse that occurs in slaughterhouses. Farmed animals, like sheep, cows, chickens, and pigs, feel pain and fear just like we do. One of the best ways you can help farmed animals is to stop eating meat and dairy. Learn about transitioning to a plant-based diet here.

Learn more about the Florida slaughterhouse case here.