DENVER — Denver voters will decide the fate of Denver's only slaughterhouse and one of the nation's largest lamb processing facilities in November.
A pro-animal group gathered more than 30,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
For Isabel Bautista, what happens inside Superior Farms in Denver is generational.
"I actually started at Superior Farms on September 19, 2000, and the reason why we found out about Superior Farms is because my mom worked here before," she said.
She started off cleaning product, and now, almost 25 years later, she's the operations manager.
"I'm so grateful that Superior Farms opened the doors to me and my family and the opportunities," Bautista said.
But now, the future of her job is uncertain, as are 160 of her coworkers and the Colorado growers and ranchers who provide up to 80% of the lambs Superior Farms processes.
"They're scared. Just just like me," Bautista said. "We're counting the days because we know this is important for us, but I think it's making a very big impact on their emotions."
The November ballot measure threatens to close the meat processing plant in 2026 and ban all future ones in Denver.
Natalie Fulton, social media lead for Pro-Animal Future, said they've considered the loss of jobs.
Pro-Animal Future is the group bringing the ballot measure forward.
"[That's why we included a provision in our legislation that would require the city of Denver to prioritize affected workers," Fulton said.
She said impacted employees could find new jobs, but the 1,200+ lambs that come in and out of the facility daily can't get another life.
"Most of the people who work there now probably wouldn't be working there by the time it closes anyway," Fulton said. "We want to give people the opportunity to vote for a better world for animals."
Bautista, on the other hand, said turnover at Superior Farms is "super low." She said employees are able to have a stake in the company.
Denver7 asked the general manager, Gustavo Fernandez, how that process works. He said employees start taking ownership the day of employment, and currently, 40% are fully invested, 30% are at two years of vesting, and 30% are at a year or less of vesting.
The pro-animal group's bigger issue isn't just animal protection but environmental justice, too.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently fined the slaughterhouse $120,000 for chemical risk violations.
In a statement to Denver7, Superior Farms said in part that they entered into an agreement with the EPA on September 10 to “…upgrade the refrigeration system at our Denver, CO facility, adding efficiencies and redundancies that align with our commitment to food quality and employee safety.”
The future of Superior Farms could also have national implications, like Colorado's role in the global lamb market.
"And the fact that Colorado, as a state, comprises about a quarter of the total lamb production within the U.S.," said Jennifer Martin, associate professor in the Center for Meat, Safety and Quality at Colorado State University. "If we don't have that land production in the U.S., as our study indicates, we speculate that we will continue as a country to rely on importing lamb from other countries to meet the U.S.’ demand for lamb consumption."
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