Kinship Circle: DUE 3/12: No Plea Deal For Hallmark Abusers!
March 3rd, 2008 5:59 pm by Kelly GarbatoMore HSUS video here.
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From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 8:09 PM
Subject: DUE 3/12: No Plea Deal For Hallmark Abusers!
KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY – PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN
3/2/08: No Plea Deal For Hallmark Animal Torturers
Defendant’s Name: Luis Sanchez
NEXT APPEARANCE: 3/13/08, 8:30am, Disposition/Reset (PLEA DEAL)
Court Case #: FSB703329 / Court: S23
Judge: Michael Dest
Defendants Name: Daniel Navarro
NEXT APPEARANCE: 3/24/08, 8:30am, Arraignment
Court Case #: FCH800088 / Court: C1
Judge: Stanford Reichert
HSUS UNDERCOVER VIDEOS: tinyurl.com/yul2lw
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District Attorney Michael A. Ramos
San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office
316 N. Mt. View Ave.
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0004
ph: 909-387-8309; fax: 909-387-6313
email: da [at] da.sbcounty.gov
Dear DA Ramos and the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office:
I applaud your office for its proactive stance in the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company case. Criminal charges filed against former Hallmark workers Daniel Ugarte Navarro and Luis Sanchez are purportedly the nation’s first felony charges for animal cruelty at a slaughterplant.
I understand police spotted 11 occurrences of illegal activity in the Humane Society of the United States undercover video. One-time pen manager Navarro faces jail time of eight years and eight months if convicted of five felony and three misdemeanor cruelty counts. Sanchez, Navarro’s prior helper, could get three years behind bars for three misdemeanor counts of using machinery to maneuver animals.
But Sanchez may walk away with a slap on the wrist if the DA accepts a plea deal. Public defender Mario Martinez claims his client was “just an employee making $9 an hour. He was following directions.” This is no defense for circumventing animal cruelty laws.
Please do not strike a deal at Sanchez’s March 13 hearing. I also urge you to seek maximum penalties for Navarro, when he is arraigned March 24, 2008. Both defendants violated California’s animal cruelty and downed animal protection laws. Both should be prosecuted for their transgressions. California’s downer law orders incapacitated animals to be humanely euthanized or removed.
Apparently Hallmark management endorses or ignores violent means to force infirm animals to the kill box. As you know, the accused are videotaped electrically prodding the heads, necks, spine and rectums of animals crumpled on concrete. The cows can do little more than blink and moan in response. Navarro is seen paddling a non-ambulatory cow in the face and eye. The animals are dragged in heavy chains and hoisted on forklift prongs, mercilessly rammed and rolled over pavement.
I sincerely hope the DA’s ongoing investigation brings charges against Hallmark management as well. Navarro cast previous plant owner Donny
Hallmark as the decision-maker, telling Chino police his boss directed him to coerce animals with a forklift or fire concentrated water jets into their nostrils and throats.
I call upon your office to set a strong precedent for prosecuting animal abuse within the livestock industry. Hallmark Meat Packing Company officers and employees need to be held responsible for animal torture.
Thank you,
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SOURCE OF INFORMATION / REFERENCE LINKS
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Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company flaunts a history of animal welfare transgressions. In 1993, Farm Sanctuary filmed workers jostling debilitated animals with forklifts. Between 1996 and 2004 two California humane groups contacted USDA repeatedly after their probe uncovered 11 verified instances of abuse at Hallmark. In 2005, USDA records showed various breaches, such as “too much electric prodding.” And USDA recently found Hallmark had killed cows forced to stand for pre-slaughter inspection since February 2006.
* DA offers cruelty deal / Lawyer: Meat worker did his job
www.dailybulletin.com/ci_8401481
* Cruelty charges filed against slaughterhouse boss
* Animal Cruelty at Hallmark Slaughter Plant Must be Prosecuted
community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_hallmark_da?rk=97NgX2pqSBdnW
* These Are Downed Animals (FACT SHEET)
www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/DownedOnTheFarmPHOTOS.pdf
* VIDEO: Charged with Cruelty / Slaughterhouse Employees Charged
video.hsus.org/index.jsp?fr_story=38247e8c8ea570aca40146c9477f280b28113254
* VIDEO: HSUS Investigates Slaughterhouse/ Cruel and Unhealthy Practices Uncovered
video.hsus.org/index.jsp?fr_story=38247e8c8ea570aca40146c9477f280b28113254
* VIDEO: Cheap Meat – Working in a Slaughterhouse
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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts kinship circle brenda shoss hsus humane society of the united states farming factory farming factory farm livestock cow bovine farmed animals downed animals downers usda animal abuse cruelty to animals animal cruelty Secretary of Agriculture department of agriculture agriculture animal agriculture Westland Hallmark Meat Co. undercover investigation undercover investigation slaughter slaughterhouse safety food food safety public health meat beef school lunches Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act pet companion animal pet food dog canine dog food cat feline cat food feed bovine spongiform encephalopathy bse tse transmissible spongiform encephalopathy foodborne pathogens kill floor news in the news flickr photos video Luis Sanchez Daniel Navarro Michael A. Ramos San Bernardino County
