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California Slaughterhouse Video Raises Abuse Questions; USDA to Investigate
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
WASHINGTON - A Southern California meat-packing company was barred from
supplying school lunch and other programs Wednesday while federal
investigators look into videotapes that showed workers mistreating sick
dairy cows.
Newly installed Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said "appropriate actions
will be taken" against Hallmark Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif., if it
violated food safety and animal cruelty laws.
Video footage showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing
"downed" cows - considered too sick or injured to walk - to force them into
a federally inspected slaughterhouse.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., sent Schafer and California Attorney General
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., letters calling on them to investigate because of
health concerns.
"These practices are not only inhumane, but can also cause food borne
illnesses that can endanger public health," the letters said.
"Downed cattle are 58 times more likely to carry mad cow disease than other
cattle. Downed cattle also are more likely to carry other food-borne
illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella, which kill hundreds of Americans
every year," the letters said.
"There is no immediate health risk that we are aware of," Schafer said, but
until the investigation is completed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has
barred any use of meat coming from the slaughterhouse in federal food and
nutrition programs.
Hallmark supplies the Westland Meat Co., which processes the carcasses. The
facility is a major supplier to a USDA program that distributes beef to
needy families, the elderly and to schools through the National School Lunch
Program. Westland was named a USDA "supplier of the year" for 2004-2005 and
has delivered beef to schools in 36 states.
The video, released Wednesday by The Humane Society of the United States
after a six-week undercover investigation, workers at a California
slaughterhouse repeatedly kicking cows and ramming them with the blades of a
forklift as the animals squealed in pain.
It also showed plant workers jabbing in the eyes and applying electrical
shocks to cows.
In one scene, the workers shoot high-intensity water sprays up the cows'
noses in what The Humane Society described as a form of animal
"waterboarding," or torture that simulates drowning.
USDA regulations and California law generally do not allow mistreatment of
disabled animals, such as dragging them by chains or lifting them with
forklifts. Federal regulations also call for keeping downed cows out of the
food supply because they may pose a higher risk of E. coli, salmonella
contamination, or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and
their immune systems are often weak.
In a statement, Steve Mendell, president of Westland and Hallmark, said the
company immediately terminated two employees shown in the video and
suspended their supervisor.
"We are shocked, saddened and sickened by what we have seen today," Mendell
said. "Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all
of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen
at our facility."
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of The Humane Society, called
the mistreatment of downer cows alarming to U.S. consumers because 95
percent eat meat.
"We need to know how this food is getting to the table," he said. "Even when
downed animals appear otherwise healthy, they may be harboring dangerous
pathogens."
California Slaughterhouse Video Raises Abuse Questions; USDA to Investigate
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
WASHINGTON - A Southern California meat-packing company was barred from
supplying school lunch and other programs Wednesday while federal
investigators look into videotapes that showed workers mistreating sick
dairy cows.
Newly installed Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said "appropriate actions
will be taken" against Hallmark Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif., if it
violated food safety and animal cruelty laws.
Video footage showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing
"downed" cows - considered too sick or injured to walk - to force them into
a federally inspected slaughterhouse.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., sent Schafer and California Attorney General
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., letters calling on them to investigate because of
health concerns.
"These practices are not only inhumane, but can also cause food borne
illnesses that can endanger public health," the letters said.
"Downed cattle are 58 times more likely to carry mad cow disease than other
cattle. Downed cattle also are more likely to carry other food-borne
illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella, which kill hundreds of Americans
every year," the letters said.
"There is no immediate health risk that we are aware of," Schafer said, but
until the investigation is completed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has
barred any use of meat coming from the slaughterhouse in federal food and
nutrition programs.
Hallmark supplies the Westland Meat Co., which processes the carcasses. The
facility is a major supplier to a USDA program that distributes beef to
needy families, the elderly and to schools through the National School Lunch
Program. Westland was named a USDA "supplier of the year" for 2004-2005 and
has delivered beef to schools in 36 states.
The video, released Wednesday by The Humane Society of the United States
after a six-week undercover investigation, workers at a California
slaughterhouse repeatedly kicking cows and ramming them with the blades of a
forklift as the animals squealed in pain.
It also showed plant workers jabbing in the eyes and applying electrical
shocks to cows.
In one scene, the workers shoot high-intensity water sprays up the cows'
noses in what The Humane Society described as a form of animal
"waterboarding," or torture that simulates drowning.
USDA regulations and California law generally do not allow mistreatment of
disabled animals, such as dragging them by chains or lifting them with
forklifts. Federal regulations also call for keeping downed cows out of the
food supply because they may pose a higher risk of E. coli, salmonella
contamination, or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and
their immune systems are often weak.
In a statement, Steve Mendell, president of Westland and Hallmark, said the
company immediately terminated two employees shown in the video and
suspended their supervisor.
"We are shocked, saddened and sickened by what we have seen today," Mendell
said. "Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all
of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen
at our facility."
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of The Humane Society, called
the mistreatment of downer cows alarming to U.S. consumers because 95
percent eat meat.
"We need to know how this food is getting to the table," he said. "Even when
downed animals appear otherwise healthy, they may be harboring dangerous
pathogens."
