PETITION TO PROSECUTE PEL-FREEZ FOR CRUELTY TO RABBITS

Dear Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith,

I was shocked to learn that you found nothing wrong with the cruel treatment of rabbits at Pel-Freez Arkansas LLC. Your decision not to charge Pel-Freez, claiming they did not "knowingly" subject these rabbits to animal cruelty, is appalling to me.

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) investigated Pel-Freez, the largest rabbit processing plant in the United States, and found great suffering at their slaughterhouse. You can clearly see the cruelty in the video posted at Rabbitcruelty.com. Pel-Freez workers strike rabbits in the face with the dull edge of a blade, making no attempt to ensure that rabbits are properly stunned. Workers then break the legs of and decapitate conscious rabbits, all under the eye of Pel-Freez management. LCA filmed terrified rabbits screaming loudly as broken bones protruded through their skin and their heads were cut off. When the blade went dull, workers had to use a sawing motion get through the neck. Some rabbits continued to scream until their vocal cords were finally sliced in two.

In light of the evidence that Last Chance for Animals has uncovered, revealing rabbits suffering on a massive scale, I request that you prosecute Pel-Freez for subjecting rabbits at their facility to cruel mistreatment. There is more than enough evidence to conclude that Pel-Freez is aware that breaking the limbs and cutting off the heads of fully conscious rabbits causes unjustifiable pain to these animals. In a commercial facility as large as Pel-Freez, it is simply illogical to conclude that this systemic mistreatment is occurring unknowingly.

As you know, you are responsible for criminal prosecutions of state crimes in Benton County. It is not too late to send a clear message that animal abuse will not be tolerated in Arkansas.