LAKE BUTLER, Fla. — A Union County slaughterhouse owner is facing an animal cruelty charge after disturbing conditions were discovered at the facility, forcing officers from the Department of Agriculture, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Union County Sheriff's Office to investigate claims of animal neglect and food safety issues.
It all started from a tip received by law enforcement by a customer of Rogers Wild Game Processing. According to police, Animal Control found one pig and one cow in a trailer at Rogers Wild Game Processing Wednesday morning. The animals were alive but had been in the trailer for a little less than a week, with no food and water.
There were no employees on scene when law enforcement arrived. The business was supposed to be open, according to their website, but officers said that the owners and employees have disconnected all of their phone lines.
Dumpsters on the property over flowed with animal waste and numerous small portable coolers contained animal parts. Customers and officers on scene say they cannot believe the conditions of the facility.
“You just wouldn't believe something like this would be happening and the facility," Union County resident Brian Griffis said.
Neglected animals, coolers full of animal meat covered in flies, and a strong stench of rotting parts were discovered Wednesday at Rogers Wild Game Processing in Lake Butler.
The facility provides taxidermy and farm kill services.
Customer Brian Griffis says he took three of his cows to the facility in September and still doesn’t have the meat. Griffis says he drove by and saw law enforcement at the facility Wednesday and stopped to get answers.
“There was a guy here and he said come over here and see if your stuff is still in the cooler and I followed him over there in it and of course when he opened the door my three cows are right there in the front and the meat looks green," Griffis said.
We caught up with the facilities owner Roger Tanner about the accusations. He says some of his employees are unreliable and because of supply shortages, sometimes it takes longer to get meat back to customers. He says he doesn't have anything to hide and denies animals on the property are neglected.
"If your animal has been on the trailer that long they should not have been but with help these days it is a struggle sometimes but I'm not blaming anybody I'm taking the blame. We gave them food everyday, I'm not trying to fatten them up but we did put feed and water in there," Owner Roger Tanner said.
Griffis says he is angry and wishes the facility had more communication with customers.
“I would have kept them and cared for them somewhere else when you take them to them they butcher them that day they don't sit in the trailer and lose all kind of weight for three days its inhumane to keep them in a place that tiny for three days," Griffis said.
Union County Animal Control removed the animals discovered in the trailer on the property and are attempting to locate its owners.