Inspectors Verify Abuse Of Cows in California

[flashl]

Mistreatment Was Captured on Video At Slaughterhouse

Employees at the now-closed Southern California slaughterhouse where inhumane treatment of cows was captured on a gruesome undercover video committed "egregious violations" of federal animal care regulations, the U.S. Agriculture Department has determined.

The agency's Food Safety and Inspection Service formally withdrew its inspectors from Hallmark Meat Packing in Chino on Monday after verifying the mistreatment and discovering other problems at the plant, an agency official said yesterday.

"They've got some obvious multilevel issues," said Kenneth Petersen, assistant administrator of field operations, which inspects the nation's 6,200 meat processing plants. "For them to get out from under this, they are going to have to explain what exactly happened, why it happened and what are the multiple measures they're going to put in place to prevent it from happening again."

The problems came to light last week when the Humane Society of the United States released video footage taken by a Hallmark employee who was working undercover for the Washington-based animal welfare group. The film showed workers using chains to drag cows unable to stand; shoving and rolling crippled cows with forklifts; and rampant use of electric prods to drive infirm animals to slaughter.

Washington Post

Guess, 'our' government had to finally allow USDA to conduct an inspection after the video went around the world.

[Cassandra]

1. What, no "Happy Cows"...

making jokes and cheese?

[flashl]

2. No, we are left to wonder if these 'down' cows were really diseased. nt

[dropkickpa]

3. The gutting of regulatory agencies will allow

more and more of this to happen. Repugs don't like regulatory agencies (might hurt the profit margin with all their silly rules), and have fought to dismantle them as much as possible. This is the tip of the iceberg. It's going to take years if not decades to repair the damage done by this idiots actions.

A USDA vet/inspector I occasionally converse with has told me that they're dying for funding and personnel. Her job is luckily safe, but many others, especially those who inspect fatory meat operations, are not. Fewer inspectors due to budget cuts, less qualified inspectors so they can be paid less, etc etc are all contributing.

[flashl]

4. And, inspectors who blow the whistle are subjected to brutal reprisals. nt