Breaking: Auction Workers Convicted of Animal Cruelty Following MFA Investigation

Today, Octavios Hillard, Kenneth White, Roy Stewart, and Clayton Harris were convicted of criminal animal cruelty for viciously beating, kicking, punching, and dragging animals. These convictions were the result of shocking hidden-camera footage of animal abuse secretly recorded by Mercy For Animals at Southeast Mississippi Livestock in Hattiesburg. Each of the animal abusers were sentenced to two months probation and ordered to pay $238 in fines and court fees.

Watch the hidden-camera video footage that led to the convictions here:


Mercy For Animals praises the Forrest County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office for promptly pursuing justice in this important matter.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Mercy For Animals has uncovered criminal animal abuse at livestock markets. In 2012, a Mercy For Animals investigation documenting an ongoing pattern of cruelty, egregious violence, and severe neglect at Ontario Livestock Sales, one of the oldest and largest livestock auctions in southern California, resulted in the criminal convictions of the owner and multiple employees.

Mercy For Animals is calling on the national Livestock Marketing Association to crack down on animal cruelty by requiring auctions to install video monitoring systems that live stream to the web to prevent abuse, ensure animals have access to food and water at all times, provide proper veterinary care for sick and injured animals, and implement comprehensive training and auditing programs to prevent abuse.

Please sign our petition to the Livestock Marketing Association urging them to implment animal welfare policies and oversight to prevent criminal animal abuse at all its member auctions.

And remember, one of the most powerful ways each of us can help end the needless suffering of farmed animals is to simply stop eating them. Visit ChooseVeg.com for helpful tips and delicious vegetarian recipes.