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WASHINGTON,
D.C. (March 25, 2008) – “The hog was lying in the cradle
and all four feet had been removed. The hog was observed to be
kicking and shaking its head. It exhibited skin twitching and
irregular but rhythmic breathing with deep abdominal and thoracic
movement. It appeared to be gasping for breath,” a US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) inspector wrote about a still-conscious hog at a
slaughter plant in Frankenmuth, Mo.
With meat recalls due to bacterial
contamination and the horrific handling and slaughtering of downer
cows making headlines in recent months, consumers are increasingly
aware of some of the problems occurring behind slaughterhouse doors.
But new documentation reveals how dire the situation really is. The
Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has released the first report of its
kind to analyze humane slaughter enforcement at state, federal and
foreign slaughterhouses.
Drawing from over 1,000 documents
obtained from sources including 60 public records requests to
federal and state agriculture departments from 2002 to 2007, the
report exposes the lack of sound enforcement at plants throughout
the United States and across the globe.
“This report shows that enforcement
of humane slaughter law is a low priority of the US Department of
Agriculture, state agriculture departments, and the U.S. animal
agriculture industry as a whole,” said author Dena Jones, a
consultant to AWI. "Legal and regulatory changes need to be made in
the current inspection system to better protect the approximately 10
billion animals killed for food each year in the United States.”
Currently, humane slaughter laws
require that livestock be rendered insensible with one stunning
attempt before they are killed. However, American Meat Institute
guidelines consider an acceptable stunning effectiveness rating of
99 percent for pigs and 95 percent for cattle and sheep, while the
National Chicken Council has set an acceptable stunning standard of
98 percent for chickens. Even if every single slaughter plant was
able to meet these voluntary industry goals, the report notes, 185
million chickens, 1.8 million cattle and sheep and 1 million pigs
would still be killed inhumanely each year in the United States.
Little time is actually spent by
agriculture department inspectors observing the handling, stunning
and slaughter of animals. Nonetheless, the citations recorded by the
USDA are disturbing. At a plant in Benton, Ark., an inspector noted,
“At approximately 1:00 p.m. [a Holstein cow] had a 1 cm hole in its
forehead from a captive bolt stunner. At 1:10 p.m. the cow had not
been moved and was breathing regularly. An establishment employee
tried to re-stun the animal twice but the hand held captive bolt
stunner did not fire.”
Between 2002 and 2005, only 42
enforcement actions beyond issuances of deficiency reports for
noncompliances with humane slaughter laws were taken in the United
States. But whistleblower accounts and undercover videotape
documentation from inside slaughterhouses reviewed in the report
suggest that the current low level of humane enforcement is not due
to a lack of violations. Instead, crimes are either not observed or
recognized by inspection personnel, not reported through the proper
channel, or the appropriate remedial measures are not being taken.
“USDA inspectors must be present at
plants to ensure adherence to basic standards of decency, said AWI
President Cathy Liss. “At the very least, animals who are killed for
food are entitled to a merciful death.”
For a PDF
version (150 pgs, 1.4MB) of the report,
click here.
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Additional
Information:
Contact:
Cathy Liss, (703) 836-4300
Dena Jones, (617) 896-9292
For over 57
years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country
and on Capitol Hill. AWI promotes humane farming practices and
fights the growth of animal factories for the benefit of animals,
consumers, farm families, rural communities and the environment.
More information is available at
www.awionline.org.
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