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The Humane Society of the United States said it met with
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer last week to discuss videos
it shot during April and May of downer cattle being ignored
or mistreated at auction houses in Maryland, New Mexico,
Pennsylvania and Texas.
"Also, in the past three months alone HSUS has received
detailed information from slaughterhouse employees, animal
control officers, regional humane societies and other percipient
witnesses reporting acts of egregious mishandling. We are
continuing our investigations of the problem," HSUS said
in a hand-delivered letter to Schafer dated May 2.
In January, HSUS released video taken at Chino, Calif.-based
Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. showing downer cattle
mistreatment that led to a 143 million-pound ground beef
recall in February.
"These animals were not in slaughter facilities. However,
even though this is not a food safety issue, these actions
of animal cruelty are not acceptable," Schafer said in a
statement, adding that USDA is reaching out to states and
industry groups to address the issue.
"We met with Secretary Schafer and his staff, and they are
probing the issue. We are confident that they are taking
the matter seriously," HSUS President Wayne Pacelle told
Meatingplace.com , adding that the group
will present evidence to local law enforcement where warranted.
Video content
In a statement on the HSUS Web site, the group described
video details, including:
- At the
Livestock Exchange (LSX) in Hereford, Texas, HSUS investigators
videotaped two downed cows left in the parking lot for
four hours.
- At the
Westminster auction in Maryland, HSUS investigators documented
a downed cow abandoned outside of the auction barn.
- At the
Clovis Livestock Auction in New Mexico, two downed cows
were filmed over a period of five hours.
- At the
Greencastle Livestock Auction in Pennsylvania, HSUS investigators
documented a two-day-old calf unable to stand and left
to die.
HSUS called
on USDA to impose civil and criminal penalties for inhumane
handling, require immediate humane euthanasia of all nonambulatory
livestock and disallow slaughter for consumption of any downed
animals.
Industry reacts
Livestock Marketing Association President Jim Santomaso said
in a statement the association intends to work immediately
with the businesses where the improper handling reportedly
occurred. He said the group asked to meet with HSUS, but that
did not happen. He also noted those recording the incidents
did nothing to aid the animals in distress.
National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President for Producer
Education Ashby Green said the group has so far distributed
more than 2,000 cattle care and handling training videos to
the nation's 1,250 livestock markets and other cattle sales
locations. It is also in the process of conducting hands-on
staff training sessions at livestock markets.
National Meat Association Executive Director Barry Carpenter
condemned the practices the videos revealed, said the images
were not representative of practices throughout the industry
and noted the animals were not destined for the food supply.
AMI President J. Patrick Boyle said livestock, their handlers
and the meat industry all benefit from humane handling and
urged livestock producers to adhere to proper culling practices
to ensure that only healthy animals are sent to market. He
said animals depicted in the videos would not have passed
USDA inspection or entered the food supply. |
