Editorial Pages Sound Off on HSUS Downer Investigation |
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February 22, 2008
By Elizabeth Bergstrom
HSUS' documentation of egregious cruelty to dairy cows at a major supplier to the nation's school cafeterias prompted the largest beef recall in U.S. history. Anyone tuning in for the latest news from the campaign trail has been greeted with images of slaughter plant workers abusing feeble cows destined for our nation's school lunchrooms.
The reaction from elected officials, consumer groups and food safety advocates has been swift and strong.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture promptly closed the Chino, Calif. plant and suspended its federal nutrition contracts with Westland. The San Bernardino County District Attorney brought criminal charges against two plant employees, including felony-level charges against a manager, a landmark step in prosecuting animal abuse.
The USDA roused reporters on a Sunday afternoon to announce the recall of 143 million pounds of beef. If it had hoped to bury the story while the rest of the nation was enjoying a holiday weekend, its calculation was wrong.
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Undercover video [WARNING: extremely graphic images] shows cows unable to walk being pushed and run over with a forklift at Hallmark. |
This whirlwind of events has caused lawmakers and consumers to ask: What's the cost of our appetite for cheap meat? If the answer is cruelty and unsafe food, it may be too much to stomach.
Members of Congress have announced at least four hearings into the matter.
Editorial pages around the country have denounced the actions of Hallmark/Westland and questioned whether the government is doing enough to protect animal welfare and food safety.
Here are some excerpts:
USA Today:
"The scandalous conditions at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing…only came to light because animal rights activists went undercover and filmed the horrific way workers tried to get the downer cows to stand…Recalls are a poor substitute for ensuring the safety of the food supply in the first place."
Read the full opinion piece here.
Houston Chronicle:
"Anemic enforcement by USDA inspectors, it turns out, could have endangered thousands of Americans, many of them children…The California abattoir where this savagery occurred was cited in 2005 for animal cruelty. But what made the case most shocking is the fact it probably isn't unique.
Read the full editorial here.
The New York Times:
"A nauseating video of cows stumbling on their way to a California slaughterhouse has finally prompted action: the largest recall of meat in American history…The question Congress needs to ask is how many people need to get sick or die before it starts repairing and modernizing the nation's food safety system?"
Read the full editorial here.
Los Angeles Times:
"Our food supply watchdogs, the USDA and the FDA, are falling down on the job…It would be more reassuring to see USDA officials, instead of soothing the public, reacting with the same consternation that consumers feel."
Read the full editorial here.
The Columbus Dispatch:
"The Humane Society's discovery of such appalling abuses, to which the plant's federal inspectors apparently were oblivious, is more evidence that the nation's food-safety system is in desperate need of an overhaul."
Read the full editorial here.
Philadelphia Inquirer:
"Talk about closing the door after the sick cow has left the barn. This episode shows the need for stricter enforcement of food-safety regulations, and more government inspectors."
Read the full editorial here.
The Sacramento Bee:
"The USDA faces a fundamental conflict as an agency that both promotes meat products and also inspects them…The modern-day "Jungle" revealed by the Hallmark plant suggests that the time is ripe for reform."
Read the full editorial here.
St. Petersburg Times:
"This is just the latest proof that the federal food-safety bureaucracy is broken…Considering that the meat from the Westland/Hallmark facility ends up in subsidized products for schools, needy families and the elderly, the neglect of duty by the company and the USDA is even more appalling."
Read the full editorial here.
Las Vegas Sun:
The Agriculture Department's rule allowing questionable animals to be slaughtered should be reversed. And the next time [USDA Secretary] Schafer wants to criticize those who have allowed inhumane and shoddy slaughterhouse practices to continue, he should stand before a mirror.
Read the full editorial here.
San Francisco Chronicle:
The Denver Post:
Updated March 3, 2008
Related Links
Undercover Investigation Reveals Rampant Animal Cruelty at California Slaughter Plant – A Major Beef Supplier to America’s School Lunch Program
Religious Leaders React to Abuse of Cows at Calif. Meat Packing Co.
An HSUS Report: Food Safety Concerns with the Slaughter of Downed Cattle
HSUS Investigation Leads to Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History
Congressional Reactions to the Hallmark Meat Packing Investigation
