LeMas Ltd. Shoots Live Pigs to Sell Ammo

Update!

PETA’s release of the secret pig-shooting LeMas video footage has touched off a firestorm of discontent aimed at company officials who are losing friends left and right. In its letter to PETA slamming LeMas for cruelty to animals, former video production company president Gibby Media Group stated: “We did assist in the hourly editing and reproduction process [for the LeMas video], which we regret. … We want to assure PETA that Gibby Media Group does not want to be associated with cruelty to animals, and that we do not condone the use of unauthorized live animal ammunition testing.”       

Animals have friends everywhere, and this case is proof that they need them everywhere. When a caseworker in PETA’s Research & Investigations Department played video footage that was sent to us anonymously, the screams of animals in terrible agony drew the entire department to his computer. There was stunned silence and horror as we all watched while live tethered pigs were hideously wounded by powerful “blended metal” ammunition. One moment, the animals were contentedly eating pumpkins, and the next, they were screaming, bucking, kicking, and trying to run for their lives and away from the tethers that bound them. One of the pigs reacted so violently after he was shot that he snapped the tether and ran out of the camera’s field of vision. The shooter yelled for others to catch the terrified and badly wounded animal.

It could have been a slasher film, complete with graphic slow-motion scenes and prominent background music, but it’s a professionally produced promotional video by Gibby Media Group of Spokane, Washington, for LeMas (Law Enforcement Military Ammunition Sales) Ltd. of Little Rock, Arkansas, the manufacturer and distributor of the bullets.

PETA sent a complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in September 2004. We have finally received the results of the USDA’s investigation, which the agency completed in March 2005 but withheld from PETA until January 2006.

To avoid a USDA hearing for its illegal treatment and use of the pigs, LeMas Ltd. was allowed to pay a paltry “stipulation” of $2,750 for the following offenses:

• Conducting research on hogs without being a registered research facility
• Failing to appoint an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) prior to conducting research on hogs
• Conducting research on hogs without proper training and without using properly trained staff
• Conducting research on hogs without first engaging an attending veterinarian
• Failing to maintain IACUC records while conducting research on hogs
• Causing trauma and behavioral stress to hogs while conducting research
• Physically abusing hogs while conducting research
• Failing to comply with the regulations in the humane handling, care, and treatment of animals

For some unknown reason, the USDA blacked out three entire pages of affidavits. In fact, there are numerous redactions in all the USDA documents that PETA has received. Our attorneys are appealing the decision to withhold this information from PETA.

Because the LeMas video credits Blackwater Lodge Training Facility in North Carolina, PETA believed that the pigs were shot on Blackwater’s property. We filed a criminal complaint of cruelty to animals with the appropriate prosecutor, providing expert opinions from veterinarians who had watched the horrifying video. The prosecutor investigated the matter and told us that Blackwater denied that the illegal activity took place on its property. A further review of the video revealed a blurry image of a shoulder patch worn by one of the men, who appeared to be helping out in a gel-block analysis of the bullets’ power, which is an accepted method of testing ammunitions. We ascertained that the patch belonged to the Spokane Police Department and refiled our complaint with the Spokane County prosecuting attorney, who called to say that as much as he’d like to prosecute the people who carried out the illegal cruelty seen in the video, he had confirmed that the pigs were shot in Arkansas, not Washington state.

Sadly, the statute of limitations in Arkansas is one year from the date of the crime so PETA cannot refile a complaint asking for criminal charges against LeMas. If the USDA had not delayed sending us its report of the investigation, which was undertaken as a result of our complaint to the agency, and if it had revealed to Arkansas law enforcement that a crime had been committed in Arkansas, LeMas officials could have been charged with cruelty to animals.

Unfortunately, the USDA is becoming increasingly accommodating to animal users and abusers, often making PETA wait for up to two years to obtain documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Please write to USDA Secretary Michael Johanns to ask that he order his agency to act swiftly to correct these unfair practices and to provide assurances that the USDA will contact local law enforcement if it finds evidence of cruelty to animals during investigations:

The Honorable Michael O. Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
12th Street and Jefferson Drive S.W., Rm. 200-A
Washington, DC 20250
202-720-3631
202-720-2166 (fax)
agsec@usda.gov

LeMas Ltd.
1818 N. Taylor, Ste. 213
Little Rock, AR 72207
501-960-5847 (John Hamilton)
509-951-4968 (Stan Bulmer)
501-961-1826 (fax)
www.LeMasLtd.com

Back to Top