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1.
RESULTS OF SLAUGHTERPLANT AUDITS
“…the absolute worst thing
that happened in 2007 was the horrible abuse of dairy
cows at the Westland/Hallmark Meat plant in California,"
[ http://tinyurl.com/3bbke4
] wrote Temple Grandin ( http://www.Grandin.com
), “This was one of the worst animal abuse undercover
videos [ http://tinyurl.com/39avqg
] I have ever seen.” About 7% of the 34.3 million
cattle slaughtered in the U.S. in 2007 were cows who
had been used for dairy production. These cows are
the animals who are most likely to become non-ambulatory.
Steers (castrated male cattle) almost never do, animal
science experts report.
According to Grandin, the biggest problems
occur in slaughterplants that are not required to
comply with a strict auditing program by a customer.
During 2007, 44 cattle plants and 27 pig plants in
the U.S. and Canada were audited by McDonald’s
or Wendy’s International. Of them, 91% of the
cattle plants and 92% of the pig plants received a
passing score (see Grandin article for scoring guidelines).
Two cattle plants completely failed. At one, which
constituted the worst audit failure in the past five
years, a conscious animal was hung on a slaughter
line and “a totally untrained employee cut off
its leg with a hock cutter.” At the other, “an
employee stuck an electric prod in the anal area of
two cows.” Grandin notes that both plants “had
a severe lack of management commitment to welfare.”
She reports that the restaurant auditing program,
now beginning its ninth year, “clearly show
that the vast majority of the beef and pork plants
are doing a good job.”
The auditing program criteria are based
on guidelines set by the American Meat Institute (AMI).
Federal slaughter laws require that farmed animals
(excluding fish and poultry) be rendered insensible
with one stunning attempt prior to slaughter. However,
the AMI guidelines deem an acceptable stunning effectiveness
rating to be 99% for pigs and 95% for cattle and sheep.
The National Chicken Council considers 98% to be an
acceptable stunning standard for chickens. Notes the
Animal Welfare Institute: “Even if every single
slaughter plant was able to meet these voluntary industry
goals…185 million chickens, 1.8 million cattle
and sheep and 1 million pigs would still be killed
inhumanely each year in the United States.”
(Regarding chickens, see also: http://tinyurl.com/2pfkmb
)
The slaughter process at one California cattle slaughterplant
is the subject of the Press-Enterprise article (with
photos) included in the sources below.
COMPLIANCE IS PREVALENT
Meat & Poultry, Temple Grandin, March 1, 2008
http://www.meatpoultry.com/news/headline_stories.asp?ArticleID=92069
HOW MANNING BEEF SLAUGHTERS, PROCESSES A COW INTO
A STEAK
The Press-Enterprise, Sean Nealon, March 28, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2vk8nb
THE TRUTH BEHIND HUMANE SLAUGHTER LAW
PRNewswire-USNewswire, March 25, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS226056+25-Mar-2008+PRN20080325
and see: http://tinyurl.com/2om5jn
2.
PREVENTING COW LEG PROBLEMS
Swollen hocks (the hind leg joint) and
other joint ailments present welfare problems for
cows used for dairy production and affect the quality
of meat from them (see item #1).
Free-stall housing, in which cows are provided with
bedded stalls but are free to roam the barn, is becoming
increasingly popular. A recent survey by Colorado
State University of 113 dairies found that leg injuries
can nearly be eliminated in free-stall barns with
good management of cow beds. In the best dairies,
0% of cows had swollen or injured hocks. In the worst
ones, 12-47% of cows did. The difference between the
best and worst dairies was management’s attention
to details of bed cleaning and maintenance.
LOOKING CLOSER AT LEGS
Meat & Poultry, Temple Grandin, January 1, 2008
http://www.meatpoultry.com/news/headline_stories.asp?ArticleID=92061
3.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION RE NON-AMBULATORY ANIMALS
On April 1st, members of California’s
Assembly Public Safety Committee advanced A.B. 2098
( http://tinyurl.com/2p6v3s
), a bill to criminally charge slaughterplant officials
who sell the meat of non-ambulatory cattle, goats,
pigs, or sheep. The bill would make it a misdemeanor,
with a fine of $20,000 and up to a year in jail. Assemblyman
Paul Krekorian, who introduced the bill, wants it
to apply also to meat sent out of state. The California
Cattlemen's Association wants the bill to prohibit
dairies and ranchers from transporting or delivering
non-ambulatory animals, and to ban stockyards, auction
yards, marketing agencies and dealers from buying,
selling or receiving them. (The latter already is
the law in California (see "Animal Care Regulations"
(599f): http://tinyurl.com/3xul72
). California already bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory
animals in state-inspected plants, but most plants
are inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The bill must pass several other legislative steps
before being sent to the governor.
In March, a bill was introduced in the
U.S. Senate to strengthen penalties against slaughterplants
that illegally handle non-ambulatory cattle (see:
http://tinyurl.com/3bbke4
). Additionally, a bill has been introduced in California
to place state-monitored video cameras in cattle and
poultry slaughterplants. It would also require the
state reimburse school districts for recall costs.
CALIF. PANEL ADVANCES CRIMINAL PENALTIES
AGAINST SLAUGHTERHOUSES
The Mercury News, Samantha Young, April 1, 2008
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8772086
IN AFTERMATH OF BEEF RECALL, SLAUGHTERHOUSE BILL
PROCEEDS IN ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
The Press-Enterprise, Jim Miller, April 1, 2008
http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_Local_D_cows02.35d7e79.html
4.
FINANCIAL FALLOUT FROM BEEF RECALL
The ultimate monetary cost of the Hallmark/Westland
recall (http://tinyurl.com/3bbke4
) may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, according
to the Grocery Manufacturers Association. In addition
to the 46 states that received beef from the company
through the National School Lunch Program, hundreds
of companies marketed Westland beef or sold products
containing it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has ordered all of it be destroyed. The USDA
is reimbursing states for recall losses resulting
through the lunch program. "We're essentially
eating the cost," a USDA spokesperson said. Affected
companies and the USDA plan to seek compensation from
Westland. The company has laid its workers off and
is not expected to reopen.
IMPACT OF MEAT RECALL BEGINNING TO SHOW
USA Today, Julie Schmit, March 30, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2008-03-30-meat-recall_N.htm
5.
FARM SANCTUARY: CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS
“Powerless to form unions or protests
of their own, farm animals have found a champion in
Baur,” writes one reviewer of "Farm Sanctuary:
Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food,"
a new book by Gene Baur (see: http://www.genebaur.org
). President and co-founder of the organization Farm
Sanctuary [a Farmed Animal Watch sponsor], Baur holds
a degree in sociology and a master’s in agricultural
economics. Visits to a stockyard launched his advocacy
work: "We would find living animals discarded,
sometimes in trash cans or on piles of dead animals.
We rescued them, and began advocating for reforms,"
Baur wrote. Initiated in 1986 out of a Delaware row
house, Farm Sanctuary now provides refuge to more
than 800 farmed animals residing on two spacious farms
in California and New York. "As I spent time
with animals, I realized how much like us they are
in many respects: their emotions, their memories,
their relations with each other,” said Baur,
“At the same time, I came to understand the
outlook of farmers and others who perceive and see
animals differently than we do at Farm Sanctuary."
“Farm Sanctuary is a thought-provoking
examination of the ethical questions involved in the
production of beef, poultry, pork, milk, and eggs.
It addresses the systematic mistreatment of the ten
billion farm animals who are exploited specifically
for food in the United States every year—as
well as the plight of farmers who fall victim to the
`get bigger or get out’ mantra embraced by corporate
agribusinesses,” explains Kathleen Gorden, editor
of East Valley Living ( http://tinyurl.com/2vj98q
). “To read in Baur's work…about how we
tyrannize animals and pervert their nature to satisfy
our ungoverned appetites, is to understand how much
we, in turn, pervert our own nature,” states
Rod Dreher in his Dallas Morning blog ( http://tinyurl.com/2swzql
). “Baur urges readers to avoid ‘factory-farmed
meat, milk and eggs’ and, where possible, to
visit local farms that sell at neighborhood farmers
markets. Or try eating vegan one day a week,”
writes Ellison Weist in the Lake Oswego Review, “Baur
keeps the consumer guilt trips to a minimum and, in
doing so, may win himself some vegan converts along
the way” ( http://tinyurl.com/34hztg
). Concludes the Los Angeles Times: “This is
a habit-changing book”: http://tinyurl.com/3alcc5
ONE MAN'S BEEF WITH THE FARMING INDUSTRY
ASU Web Devil, Channing Turner, March 19, 2008
http://www.asuwebdevil.com/issues/2008/03/19/style/704188
MAKING A CASE FOR FARM SANCTUARY
Star-Gazette, John P. Cleary, March 18, 2008
http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/LIFE/803180304
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