Despite Repeated Crashes, Circle S Fails to Develop Humane Crash Response Plan As Workers Allegedly Smash Injured Birds Against Truck Sides, Jump on Them
For Immediate Release:
June 19,
2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Ridgeway, Va. -- Today, PETA fired off a letter to Robert Bushnell, Henry County commonwealth's attorney, asking him to investigate and, if appropriate, bring criminal charges against Monroe, N.C.–based Circle S Ranch and its employees for the mishandling of a June 14 incident in which a truck hauling 600 turkeys crashed outside Ridgeway, Va. Several witnesses reported seeing Circle S employees—who arrived nearly six hours after the crash—jumping on live birds, throwing birds against the side of a truck, and striking birds' heads against cages. Birds missing limbs and with internal organs protruding from their bodies were reportedly denied veterinary care or euthanasia, and approximately 540 turkeys evidently suffered and died at the scene, possibly of heat-related stress.
"It's bad enough that these turkeys end up having their throats slit, but that's legal," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "However, every Circle S employee who added to the birds' pain and suffering by abusing them and denying them emergency care needs to be charged with violating the state's anti-cruelty laws."
Trucks hauling Circle S turkeys also crashed in July 2010, February 2010, and September 2009. PETA has posted an action alert on its popular website asking visitors to urge the company to develop and implement a detailed plan to ensure that turkeys who are victims of crashes are promptly rescued, humanely handled, and painlessly relieved of their suffering on site.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Robert Bushnell, Henry County commonwealth's attorney, follows:
June 19, 2012
The Honorable
Robert L. Bushnell
Henry County
Commonwealth's Attorney
Dear Mr. Bushnell,
We hope this letter finds you doing well. This communication serves as a request for your office to investigate and, as appropriate, bring criminal charges against Monroe, N.C.–based Circle S Ranch Inc ("Circle S") and its employees. Circle S President Samuel Starnes can be reached at 704-764-7414. On June 14, 2012, several witnesses—who are available for interviews at your request—documented that Circle S and its workers allegedly crushed, threw, and fatally neglected turkeys near Ridgeway.
According to news sources, Lawrence Douglas Martin crashed a truck hauling 600 turkeys on U.S. 220 that day and was charged with reckless driving. Circle S personnel apparently did not arrive at the scene until nearly six hours later. (Please note that the company's headquarters is just three hours from the crash site.) When Circle S workers arrived, they allegedly rejected offers of water for the turkeys. Approximately 540 turkeys—piled on top of one another in transport cages and denied shade—evidently suffered and died eventually, including of what a veterinary technician at the scene suspected was heat-related stress.
Witnesses report that Circle S workers jumped onto live birds to pull—by the neck—others out of coops and reportedly dropped birds 10 feet to the ground. Circle S employees were also seen throwing turkeys against the side of a truck, striking the birds' heads against coops, and causing the birds to fall 4 feet to the pavement. Turkeys missing limbs and others whose internal organs protruded from their bodies were reportedly denied care and even euthanasia to alleviate their suffering and were instead tossed onto a truck for a three-hour haul. Other injured or ill birds—including one seen convulsing, whom a worker allegedly tossed to the ground—were evidently piled up along with dead turkeys. Circle S workers reportedly failed to confirm that turkeys were dead before dropping them into a dump truck.
Virginia Code § 3.2-6570 prohibits persons from ill-treating turkeys, denying them drink or emergency veterinary treatment, hauling them if it produces unnecessary suffering, and permitting others to abuse turkeys. None of this conduct is consistent with the turkey industry's accepted agricultural practices (attached), which require that turkeys be supported when put into—not thrown against—coops and that injured turkeys be euthanized and confirmed dead before being disposed of. We hope you agree that these allegations merit criminal investigation. Thank you for your time and consideration. I can be contacted at 607-258-0024 or DanP@peta.org.
Sincerely,
Dan Paden, Senior Research
Associate
Cruelty Investigations
Department