Following the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sending the Mississippi State University Police Department a letter requesting prosecution for workers involved in two incidents in the MSU Meat Science Lab, the university has stated the organization is putting both incidents out of context.
The incidents took place on March 2 and Aug. 17 and both involved steer’s throats being slashed while the animals were still conscious. PETA claims the incidents violate section 97-41-1 of the Mississippi Animal Cruelty Code, which says anyone needlessly torturing, tormenting, unjustifiably injuring, cruelly beating or needlessly mutilating an animal shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter said both incidents were taken out-of-context by PETA, and the university and U.S. Department of Agriculture had come up with solutions after shutdowns of the university’s harvesting operations. The solutions centered on the installation of new equipment.
Salter said both incidents could be traced to malfunctions of a device called a "knock box."
“The animals are stunned by the use of a knock box,” Salter said. “It subdues the animal, but there is some amount of wiggle room.”
Salter said after the March incident, the meat lab shut down for a few days for a solution to be found. New equipment with less of a margin for error was installed. The August incident was caused by a slight malfunction of the new equipment, which was corrected in the following days. The lab was up-and-running again by the end of August.
Salter said 99 percent of the time, the meat science lab operated as a “gold standard” for both university and commercial operations, and MSU has its own guidelines for animal cruelty in addition to USDA and state guidelines.
“That’s been part of our DNA at the university,” Salter said. .
Salter also said even though PETA put the incidents out of context, USDA reports are public record and anyone has the right to refer to them.
All products from non-research animals harvested at MSU are sold in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station store on campus.