Tönnies: PETA files criminal complaint against slaughterhouse
Part of PETA's motto states: animals are not here for us to eat or exploit in any other way. The organisation campaigns against speciesism — a worldview that regards humans as superior to all other living beings.
At the Tönnies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, the coronavirus has already been detected in more than 1’500 employees. PETA sees the cause of the explosive surge in infections in the systematic exploitation of humans and animals.
The suffering of the animals caused by the painful carbon dioxide stunning method used at Tönnies, as well as the poor working and living conditions of the employees, have been known for years, without any significant changes having been initiated so far.
PETA accuses the company management of having knowingly accepted the risk of coronavirus infections and the potential spread of disease. Due to the suspicion of wilful grievous bodily harm and violation of the Infection Protection Act, the animal rights organisation has now filed a criminal complaint with the Bielefeld public prosecutor's office against the management of Tönnies.
«The coronavirus scandal at Tönnies once again shows that profit in this industry is placed above the welfare of people, animals, and the general public — with apparently no regard for applicable laws or society's moral standards,» said Sandrina König, legal counsel and veterinarian at PETA. «The violence against sentient beings within the system of industrial animal farming must finally be seriously pursued using every legal and political means available.» Such cases are a systemic animal welfare problem.
Offence fulfilled even without COVID-19 illness
In their complaint, PETA points out that even infection with SARS-CoV-2 constitutes bodily harm in the legal sense of dangerous assault and battery — given the potentially serious nature of the disease COVID-19 — regardless of whether those infected actually fall ill. The organization sharply criticizes the fact that Tönnies knowingly risked further infections until production was halted, in the pursuit of maximum profit. PETA also warns of looming animal welfare problems caused by the coronavirus-related closure of the Tönnies slaughterhouse: the pigs intended for slaughter can no longer be adequately cared for at the fattening farms.
Tönnies has been refusing urgently needed changes for years
As recently as May, managing director Clemens Tönnies spoke out against abolishing the contract labor system in the meat industry — the primary cause of the poor living conditions of workers. Despite clear research findings from the company's own research foundation, the company has also refused for years to switch to less painful stunning methods for pigs. At Tönnies, 20’000 pigs are stunned daily with carbon dioxide, even though it is well known that this practice causes severe feelings of suffocation, breathing distress, and mortal fear. Even before the sensitive animals lose consciousness, they display their suffering through unmistakable defensive reactions such as attempts to escape, pushing back, or shaking their heads.
