Exclusive: Human Slaughter Homes Operating in the Shadows
For five years Joey Lawrence brought joy and laughter into the lives of millions through his role as Joey Russo on the hit television sit-com "Blossom". But when network executives said, "Whoa!" on the series in 1995, Lawrence's career also came to an abrupt end.
The short path the remainder of Lawrence's life took is as disturbing as it was tragic.
In 1997, pigeonholed and broke, Lawrence was sold by NBC to a slaughter home in Van Nuys for 50 dollars. He hasn't been seen since.
Unlike nursing homes, in which paying residents are fed, cared for and rarely beaten, those unfortunate enough to be consigned to slaughter homes are typically exploited as slave labor for an indefinite period before they are slaughtered, their organs harvested for sale.
Revolted by what he has learned about slaughter homes after his grandmother vanished last year, Brandon Ebert of Newark, New Jersey has dedicated himself to bringing their ugly truth to light.
"She had fallen and broken her hip, and lacking the money to cover the gaps in her healthcare insurance, my grandpa traded her to a slaughter home for a used coffeemaker and a case of Miller Genuine Draft," said Ebert.
Ebert suspects there are upwards of one hundred slaughter homes currently operating in the New York City area alone, many of which supply the local entertainment industry with low cost extras and stunt doubles for dangerous, often degrading work.
"Many of these so-called boozy grandmas you see on TV and on movies aren't actors. Often times they're senior citizens rented from a home who've been intoxicated with large amounts of alcohol," Ebert said.
In one film in particular, Troma Entertainment's "Toxic Avenger", an elderly woman acting against her will is approached by two young men who, under the pretense of helping her with a heavy bag of groceries, punch her in the stomach and steal her car.
"People shouldn't be treated like that," Ebert added, "They should be treated at least as well as animals."
Not so, says Roger Clemons, administrator of the Shady Glen Human Waste Treatment Center, a slaughter home in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"There are over six billion humans living on this planet, draining its finite resources. Some people have got to go, starting with those who can't hack it. It's called natural selection. Try looking it up," said Clemons.