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.