Animal Cruelty Tape Prompts Schools' Burger Reprieve

Video of "Meat and You: Partners in Freedom" from The Simpsons episode, Lisa the Vegetarian

After the Humane Society revealed a tape of mistreatment of cows at the nation's "No. 2 supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program," burgers and other beef products were temporarily yanked off NYC schools' menus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had put an "administrative hold" on all products from Hallmark Meat Packing Packing in Chino, CA and asked all schools to stop using products from Westland/Hallmark Meat.

Newsday reported NY state officials were able to determine that no products from Hallmark were "delivered to the USDA distribution centers that service Long Island and New York City schools." Sick, injured cows are more susceptible to bacteria and diseases like mad cow disease, and the Humane Society's video had shown workers, per the HSUS, "kicking cows, ramming them with the blades of a forklift, jabbing them in the eyes, applying painful electrical shocks and even torturing them with a hose and water in attempts to force sick or injured animals to walk to slaughter."

According to the NYC's Department of Education, 300,000 burgers are served in NYC cafeterias a week (about 800,000 meals are served a day). It's unclear whether any downed cows made it into the food supply (the U.S.D.A. says not, the Humane Society says there may have been some commingling); the Office of the Inspector General is investigating.

Here's the USDA's Q&A about the matter.

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By Jen Chung in News on February 10, 2008 11:51 AM

Comments [rss]

Karen

Once an animal has reached the slaughterhouse, it should be slaughtered ASAP. BUT...if an animal is obviously too weak to stand and walk, and is a downer, its only endangering public health to slaughter it for food. The only thing these cows are fit for, is leather goods, NOT any kind of food product-that means, they should not be slaughtered for pet food, either. How do we know, that the reason they can't stand and walk, is mad cow disease? And, as the tape's narrator pointed out, these cows have been lying in manure for hours, and once the cow is butchered, there's the real danger of that manure contaminating the meat. Haven't the meat companies learned anything from the e coli contaminations? Do these people like being sued by victems of e coli? If they can't look at it from a humane point of view, you'd think they'd look at it from a financial point of view-consider how much money the next lawsuit for contaminated meat is going to cost them.

Karen

Once an animal has reached the slaughterhouse, it should be slaughtered ASAP. BUT...if an animal is obviously too weak to stand and walk, and is a downer, its only endangering public health to slaughter it for food. The only thing these cows are fit for, is leather goods, NOT any kind of food product-that means, they should not be slaughtered for pet food, either. How do we know, that the reason they can't stand and walk, is mad cow disease? And, as the tape's narrator pointed out, these cows have been lying in manure for hours, and once the cow is butchered, there's the real danger of that manure contaminating the meat. Haven't the meat companies learned anything from the e coli contaminations? Do these people like being sued by victems of e coli? If they can't look at it from a humane point of view, you'd think they'd look at it from a financial point of view-consider how much money the next lawsuit for contaminated meat is going to cost them.

slappy

I suppose if they gave each one a kiss and a going away party before they killed them it would make for "healthier" meat products. Of course they shouldn't be abused. Heck, they shouldn't be killed at all!