Sheriff: Abuse Case Probe 'Curtailed' By Perdue Plant Closure

Shawn J. Soper, Staff Writer

OCEAN CITY (11/26/2004) - Local law enforcement officials this week said the possible investigation into the alleged animal cruelty case at Perdue's now defunct processing plant in Showell reached a dead end when the facility closed earlier this month.

The animal rights advocacy group Compassion Over Killing two weeks ago released a videotape as well as a daily log recorded by one of its undercover investigators who was hired by Perdue and worked in the Showell processing plant for two weeks in September. The advocacy group's investigator secretly recorded the videotape and compiled the daily log outlining the daily abuse of chickens being processed at the plant in a story that made national news.

The seven-minute tape shows Perdue workers shoving and throwing live chickens down the processing line and shows the birds stacking up on top of each other as they await their fate. The video clearly shows chickens being hung upside down by their feet as their throats are slashed, after which they wildly flap their wings. The tape and daily log also document chickens slowly dying on the assembly line while workers take their lunch break.

Compassion Over Killing released the videotape and log to local law enforcement agencies strongly urging they investigate the abuses and take the appropriate action in terms of prosecution, but the plant closed shortly after allegations surfaced, curtailing any effort to investigate the situation. Perdue closed the plant as planned in the first week of November as part of a corporate restructuring, and the closure had nothing to do with the allegations of animal cruelty.

However, with the plant closed and the hundreds of workers dispersed among the company's other facilities in the area, the investigation from a local standpoint has reached a dead end, according to Worcester County Sheriff Chuck Martin.

"The plant is closed and as far as our prosecution is concerned, there's really not much we can do," he said. "I've sent a letter to the complainant explaining any investigation from our end has been curtailed by the plant's closing."

Martin said the local investigation had reached a standstill, but his department was willing to work with the advocacy group if it could produce some names or identify offenders.

"They had people out there working undercover, and if they are willing to come forward to testify or present names of alleged offenders, then we might pursue it further, but most of those workers have been shipped out to other facilities," he said. "The ball is really back in their court as far as we're concerned."

While the alleged animal cruelty case appears to have come to a standstill, the future of the now-closed Perdue plant at Showell remains very much in doubt. Perdue closed the facility as part of a larger effort to streamline and consolidate its efforts on Delmarva.

Company officials said the Showell operation was one of the least efficient among its network of processing plants across the Eastern Shore and the only one operating in a single shift. Nonetheless, the operation in the north end of Worcester County produced 23 million birds annually before closing two weeks ago.

Perdue announced it was not cutting back on production in the area, but rather was shifting the production from the Showell plant to the company's other plants in the area. As a result, the move is considered more of a reconfiguration than a downsizing, which means most of the facility's 326 employees have been relocated to other plants in the area. Similarly, Perdue continues to contract with the 138 local growers that supply birds to the operation.

In the meantime, the Showell facility sits idle and empty, but there has apparently been considerable interest in its future. The real value of the property is in its wastewater treatment capacity potential.

The facility has a large storage lagoon and acres of spray irrigation fields that could be converted to private or even public use. It is widely believed the facility has the capacity to treat and dispose of as much a one million gallons per day, which is roughly the equivalent of 4,000 EDUs. With sewer treatment capacity at a premium in the rapidly growing north end of the county, several private developers and even public interests, including the county, are interested in purchasing the plant and its capacity, which could be converted to provide sewer service to as many as 4,000 new homes.

However, with the plant just closing two weeks ago, not much has happened with the closed plant yet, according to Worcester Director of Economic Development Jerry Redden.

"It's still in limbo," he said. "There has been some interest from both the private and public sectors, but we don't expect anything to happen until after the first of the year. We're kind of in a hurry up and wait mode for the moment."

Redden said his department is interested in the future of the plant, largely from the standpoint of jobs and economic development.

"There are some entities doing their due diligence on this plant," he said. "Just the like the Tyson situation, we're putting out some feelers to see if there is any interest. We hope to have a better sense of where this is going after the first of the year."

Copyright © 2004 The Maryland Coast Dispatch.