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Washington, D.C. (March 11, 2008)
– Following a recent suggestion in Congress that the government should install
video cameras in US slaughterhouses to ensure the humane and safe treatment of
animals killed for human consumption, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the
Humane Farming Association (HFA) today call on legislators to reject any attempt
by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use cameras in lieu of inspectors.
Recent undercover video footage
obtained by an investigator from an animal protection organization
revealed abhorrent acts of cruelty to livestock at the
Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, Calif. The footage
showed downer cows being tortured prior to slaughter, raising both
ethical and food safety issues.
For more than a decade, animal
advocates have presented detailed reports and
graphic video documentation
from a number of slaughter facilities across the country to
demonstrate this widespread problem. In the wake of the Hallmark
case, which led to the biggest beef recall in US history, the USDA
is now considering the installation of video cameras as a deterrent.
“Documentation has been obtained on
videotape at slaughter plants because animal advocates were there
in person recording what they saw. These people were able to
move about the plants and rotate the cameras to catch the plant
workers engaged in illegal activities,” said AWI President Cathy
Liss. “Animals must be watched from the time the truck arrives and
animals are unloaded, through the stunning and slaughter process,
until the last animal on the vehicle is killed. Under USDA’s
proposal, where will the cameras be positioned and who is going to
watch all the footage?”
“Government-installed video cameras
aren’t the answer,” said Gary Dahl, Colorado representative for the
National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals. “The law was
specifically crafted to allow an inspector who is present and
observes violations of the Humane Slaughter Act to stop the
slaughter line on the spot. How on earth can this happen with a
video camera?”
From 2001 forward, Congress has
provided millions of additional funds to the USDA for humane
slaughter enforcement. Additional monies were intended for the USDA
to hire new in-plant employees to work full-time on Humane Slaughter
Act enforcement only, but to date, none have been hired. When the
Government Accountability Office issued a report in 2004 citing
widespread animal welfare issues under the USDA’s watch, the report
was ignored by the agency.
“Using cameras to give meat packers
a ‘Good Slaughter Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ is just another
publicity stunt by the USDA,” said Gail Eisnitz, an HFA senior
investigator whose acclaimed 1997 book Slaughterhouse exposed
a myriad of problems behind the closed doors of the US slaughter
industry.
AWI and HFA are concerned with the
lack of conviction to enforcement shown by the USDA; the agency must
hire inspectors to work in plants full-time with the sole
responsibility of enforcing the regulations for humane handling,
stunning and slaughter of animals as mandated by the Humane
Slaughter Act.
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Since its founding in 1951,
the Animal Welfare Institute has lead efforts to foster the humane treatment of
animals raised for food in the United States, including involvement in the
passage of the original 1958 Humane Slaughter Act. AWI has fought the spread of
factory farms for decades, and continues to improve the conditions of animals on
farms with its Animal Welfare Approved standards. For more information,
please visit www.awionline.org.
Founded in 1985 and now
over 200,000 members strong, HFA has gained national recognition and respect
through its hard work and its highly-visible and successful campaigns. The goals
of HFA are to protect farm animals from cruelty; to protect the public from the
dangerous misuse of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals used on factory
farms; and to protect the environment from the impacts of industrialized animal
factories. Learn more at www.hfa.org.
CONTACT:
Cathy Liss, Animal Welfare Institute, (703) 836-4300
Gail Eisnitz, Humane Farming Association, (828)
299-1246
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