USDA in Des Moines must stop inhumane slaughter Of the 10 USDA districts charged with enforcing the Humane Slaughter Act, the Des Moines district has both the worst record and the plant with the most violations.
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general issued a scathing report, accusing the USDA food safety division of not fulfilling or even understanding its legal obligations where humane slaughter enforcement is concerned.
Specifically, the inspector general found that USDA does not meaningfully attempt to stop repeat violations of the Humane Slaughter Act and that many USDA inspectors do not even understand what is required of them. Even when the inspector general's staff monitored their actions openly, USDA inspectors still did not understand or carry out their humane slaughter mandate.
Records just obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Lewis and Clark Law School's animal legal clinic and my organization indicate that little to nothing has been done over the past year to improve the situation.
Of the 10 USDA districts charged with enforcing the law, the Des Moines district has both the worst record and the plant with the most violations. There were two plants with similarly dismal humane slaughter records, but the other one was shut down by the Jackson, Miss., USDA district office. Des Moines' office should do the same with its worst plant, Triple J Family Farms in Buffalo Lake, Minn.
A report on the plant from the Des Moines office was gruesome: The plant manager shot a cow through the head and then tormented the animal for more than 10 more minutes. Instead of even trying to put the animal down, as he was legally obligated to do, the plant manager electrocuted the cow with an electric prod, over and over, trying to get her to leave the stunning box, where two cows were trapped in a space intended to hold one.
The USDA inspector who filed the report noted that because the gate to the stun box was halfway down, the cow's escape was a "physical impossibility." But that didn't stop the plant manager from trying. The cow's screaming brought two USDA inspectors and the plant's "slaughter QA supervisor" to the scene. But their presence did not deter the plant manager from continuing to electrocute this poor cow....
It goes on, getting increasinlgy graphic. Very sad. The "Humane Slaughter Act" is not being enforced by the USDA,
Left Whole Foods today where the seafood guy claimed that their farm raised shrimp was better than the wild caught because of the standards that WF requires. Ok, sure.
Left Whole Foods today where the seafood guy claimed that their farm raised shrimp was better than the wild caught because of the standards that WF requires. Ok, sure.
Up until five days ago Whole Foods was buying their wild-caught shrimp from a supplier that uses slave labor to catch the shrimp. Of course WF dropped the supplier once the new story broke.
WF denies they had any idea that slave labor was involved ... yet they brag about the standards they require??? WTF
Well, they are auditing their entire supply chain now, per the article. I don't eat meat of any kind including shrimp, but I do appreciate their having standards of any kind when it comes to what they sell, which is more than I can say about most grocers. When I do buy any meat for family members, I buy it at Whole Foods because they are at least trying.
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Of the 10 USDA districts charged with enforcing the Humane Slaughter Act, the Des Moines district has both the worst record and the plant with the most violations.
USDA in Des Moines must stop inhumane slaughter
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/06/21/usda-des-moines-humane-slaughter-act/11228013/
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general issued a scathing report, accusing the USDA food safety division of not fulfilling or even understanding its legal obligations where humane slaughter enforcement is concerned.
Specifically, the inspector general found that USDA does not meaningfully attempt to stop repeat violations of the Humane Slaughter Act and that many USDA inspectors do not even understand what is required of them. Even when the inspector general's staff monitored their actions openly, USDA inspectors still did not understand or carry out their humane slaughter mandate.
Records just obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Lewis and Clark Law School's animal legal clinic and my organization indicate that little to nothing has been done over the past year to improve the situation.
Of the 10 USDA districts charged with enforcing the law, the Des Moines district has both the worst record and the plant with the most violations. There were two plants with similarly dismal humane slaughter records, but the other one was shut down by the Jackson, Miss., USDA district office. Des Moines' office should do the same with its worst plant, Triple J Family Farms in Buffalo Lake, Minn.
A report on the plant from the Des Moines office was gruesome: The plant manager shot a cow through the head and then tormented the animal for more than 10 more minutes. Instead of even trying to put the animal down, as he was legally obligated to do, the plant manager electrocuted the cow with an electric prod, over and over, trying to get her to leave the stunning box, where two cows were trapped in a space intended to hold one.
The USDA inspector who filed the report noted that because the gate to the stun box was halfway down, the cow's escape was a "physical impossibility." But that didn't stop the plant manager from trying. The cow's screaming brought two USDA inspectors and the plant's "slaughter QA supervisor" to the scene. But their presence did not deter the plant manager from continuing to electrocute this poor cow....
It goes on, getting increasinlgy graphic. Very sad. The "Humane Slaughter Act" is not being enforced by the USDA,
WF denies they had any idea that slave labor was involved ... yet they brag about the standards they require??? WTF
undercurrentnews.com/2014/06/21/whole-foods-drops-cp/