You would hope a cow in the final moments of her life, no longer of use to humans and destined to become dog food, would be treated with at least some dignity and slaughtered quickly. You would hope she would suffer as little as possible considering she was at the end of a life filled with cruelty.
Sadly, as captured by our undercover investigator’s hidden camera, this was not the case. Upon arriving at Bravo Packing, which slaughters cows for dog food and horses for exotic animal food, this cow was apparently already in extreme distress. This video shows her suffering from an apparent illness or injury, impairing her ability to stand. Disabled cows like her are protected under federal and state laws. That made no difference for this poor cow.
In fact, the last moments of her life were spent being shot multiple times in the head with a handheld captive bolt. The first shot, designed to punch a hole through her skull and into her brain, failed to render her unconscious. Instead of taking the time to ensure she was no longer conscious, to minimize her torment, she is instead dragged from the trailer by a chain and slams to the concrete floor into a pool of blood and feces.
In total, this cow was shot four times in the head with the captive bolt, but it took more than 10 minutes for her to stop moving. In that time her distress, pain and suffering are apparent through her agonized vocalizations and her uncontrolled movements. This can only be described as egregious cruelty.
Not only did the workers in this video show total disrespect for the cow and, we believe, violate both federal and state laws, we also believe they disregarded food safety regulations. This video shows the worker preparing a pair of carcasses for use for animal food very close to pools of blood, standing water and mounds of feces, with no apparent concerns for the potential of cross contamination.
In October 2020, a sample of one of Bravo’s products, Performance Dog Food, was obtained by Animal Outlook and tested positive for Salmonella. We subsequently notified the FDA, which performed an inspection of Bravo Packing that confirmed evidence of Salmonella contamination along with Listeria, leading to a recall of two Bravo Packing products in March 2021.
Animal Outlook is calling for criminal charges against Bravo Packing for allegedly violating multiple state and federal laws relating to the horrendous treatment of this cow, and also to their lack of compliance with food safety protocols.
We will not stop investigating these facilities to expose the truth -- not while animals continue to suffer. Will you support our undercover investigators and legal advocacy by making a one-time donation or by joining our United for Change Monthly Giving Program?
Thank you. With your support, we work today to build a better tomorrow for all animals.
With gratitude,
Cheryl Leahy
Executive Director
P.S. You can read more about this investigation and our previous Bravo Packing product testing here.
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