Virgin Islands Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen Jr. sought to set the record straight at a meeting of the Senate’s Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture Wednesday about a St. Croix animal shelter and abattoir services in both districts.
Contrary to widespread rumors and some published reports, the department plans to partner with the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center as it had in previous years, Petersen said. Contracts between the department and the shelter were submitted but are awaiting approval of the 2025 budget before being finalized.
Petersen said Agriculture had reached out to the shelter Aug. 6.
“We were proactive in executing a new contract. So we ask from them all their support documents to prepare the contract and put numbers in there — but not being sure if those numbers were accurate until the budget bill is passed,” he told the Senate.
Another misconception Petersen tried to clarify was the state of the territory’s slaughterhouses.
The St. Croix abattoir was repaired, approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and is now operational. The boiler and other repairs were complete, he said. The only element left to do was receive and install a new hoist. Currently, the abattoir is only processing pigs, he said.
“Otherwise everything else has been accomplished that we’d planned to get accomplished,” Petersen said. “For the past two weeks, we’ve been servicing farmers, especially pig farmers who have need for slaughter.”
The half-century-old slaughterhouse had been closed for at least six months, Petersen told the Source in an interview Tuesday before the hearing.
“Because of the age, there has been a constant need for maintenance and repair of everything — we got to the point where the repairs weren’t good anymore,” Petersen said.
Federal regulations require an abattoir to be a hygienic facility, not unlike a hospital, free from roof leaks and pipe corrosion. The boiler, used to sterilize equipment, is essential for the operations, he said.
Having the abattoir offline had a serious impact on the community as a whole, Abattoir Director Curleen Rogers added in an interview with the Source Tuesday. Rogers said she
envisions a future where a dedicated maintenance crew provides ongoing preventative care for the facility.
“It would be wonderful,” she said, “and it would have a positive impact on us right now.” Currently, the team is composed of a director, a quality control officer, a sanitation manager, a laborer, and three butchers, one of whom was hired recently. Many of the staff have been with the abattoir for years and are approaching retirement, prompting the need to look toward expanding the team in the near future.
The facility processes a variety of livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats. On a monthly basis, they handle five to eight cattle, 30 to 40 sheep, and a similar number of pigs, with goats being processed less frequently. However, the volume of animals brought to the abattoir fluctuates, largely due to the farmers’ breeding cycles. “When the abattoir is down, it takes a while for farmers to start breeding again,” Rogers explained. This cyclical nature affects the flow of animals, making consistent operation crucial for both farmers and the facility.
Looking ahead, Rogers said she hopes to hire more butchers and bring in new equipment, which would allow the facility to increase its capacity and meet the needs of local farmers more effectively. “The more people we have, the more we can do,” she said, emphasizing the potential for growth and improvement at the abattoir.
Meanwhile, on St. Thomas, a plan to set up a mobile abattoir should not be mistaken for a temporary facility, Petersen said during Wednesday’s Senate hearing. Many places on the mainland only use mobile abattoirs, he said.
While the ultimate goal was to have a brick-and-mortar facility, he’d been recently convinced the aged Nadir plant was beyond repair and did not conform with existing building codes. The plan was to demolish the building and purchase the mobile unit in 2025.
The committee also approved a bill that would create an annual U.S. Virgin Islands Beer, Wine, and Spirits Festival. Although many senators agreed the bill needed a lot of work, they sent it to the Rules and Judiciary Committee for further consideration.
— Ananta Pancham contributed to this story.
