GRANTSVILLE, Utah — The owner of a butcher shop in Grantsville has been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly cutting off a steer's hoof while the animal was still alive and conscious.
Edward C. Roberts, 78, is the owner of Tooele Valley Meat. On Monday, the Tooele County Attorney's Office charged him with one count of aggravated cruelty to an animal, a Class-A misdemeanor, for an incident that occurred on Nov. 5.
Charging documents state that a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector was on-site when Roberts amputated the steer's hoof. The inspector reportedly told Roberts multiple that he needed to "stun" the animal first, but he proceeded to cut it off without doing so.
The USDA filed a suspension later that same day. The document provides further details, saying the steer was in a queue for a "stun box" when it tried to jump over a gate and got its foot stuck. The inspector said the steer appeared to have broken its leg in the process of trying to escape, but said it "did not give any indication of being in pain, no moans, vocalizations, heavy breathing or further flailing."
The inspector said after Roberts cut off the hoof, the steer was seen walking while putting weight on the stub of its dismembered front hoof as employees drove it to the stun box.
The advocacy group "Animal Partisan" applauded the county attorney's decision to prosecute Edwards, thanking them and the sheriff's office. The group, along with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), called for the county attorney to charge Roberts in the weeks following the incident. PETA said it made this request because the USDA "hasn’t initiated a criminal prosecution of any inspected slaughterhouses for acts of abuse since at least 2007."
According to a report from the Tooele Transcript Bulletin, the butcher shop released a public statement in December about the incident.
"We sincerely apologize for our actions this incident caused. While our intent was to act quickly to relieve an animal in severe distress, we recognize that our response did not meet federal humane handling standards or our own expectations," the statement read. "The animal had suffered a complete compound fracture and was trapped in a position where we were not able to access the head to properly stun it. In the urgency of the moment, we attempted to free the animal to prevent further suffering, but we fully acknowledge that our method of doing so was not appropriate. We take full responsibility for this error in judgment."
