Judge Clears Way for HSUS Lawsuit Challenging Inhumane Poultry Slaughter |
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September 8, 2006
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Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights
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Citing recent studies showing that inhumane poultry slaughter methods increase the risk that bird carcasses will become contaminated, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Sept. 5 that a lawsuit challenging slaughter methods could proceed.
The HSUS, East Bay Animal Advocates and several individual poultry consumers filed the suit in November, 2005, challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's policy of excluding chickens, turkeys and other birds killed for human consumption from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958. Two workers' rights organizations—Equal Justice Center in Austin, Texas, and Western North Carolina Workers' Center in Morganton, N.C.—and two individual poultry workers joined the suit. The organizations and workers allege that the inhumane slaughter of birds creates dirty, dusty and dangerous working conditions as live birds flap and struggle.
The USDA sought to have the suit dismissed, arguing that the plaintiffs could not file because they were not affected by the exclusion of birds from humane slaughter protections. In her decision allowing the case to proceed, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, noted several recent studies that show inhumane slaughter methods increase the risk that carcasses will become contaminated with dangerous bacteria that can sicken consumers. The court also held that the workers could file suit based on injuries and poor working conditions caused by current inhumane slaughter practices.
Nine Billion Birds Suffer Each Year
"The Court's decision marks the first step in ensuring that turkeys, chickens, and other birds are protected from the worst slaughter abuses, as Congress specifically ordered more than 50 years ago," said Sarah Uhlemann, an attorney with the Animal Protection Litigation Section of The HSUS, who represents the plaintiffs in the case.
The HSUS' attorneys are now preparing to argue the case in full and—for the first time in our country's history—formally open the debate in the courts over whether birds killed for human consumption deserve legal protection during the slaughter process.
When enacting the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, Congress recognized that certain slaughter practices, including hanging conscious animals by their legs from metal shackles and slaughtering animals while still fully conscious, cause "needless suffering." To alleviate this widespread suffering, Congress mandated that all livestock be rendered insensible to pain before shackling and slaughter. Yet each year, more than 9 billion chickens, turkeys and other birds suffer from these very practices.
What You Can Do
Urge Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns to follow the plain language of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958, and ensure that the nine billion birds raised for food each year in the United States at least receive legal protection from the worst slaughter abuses.
See the Video
Electric Stunning
Traumatic Catching
USDA Poultry Slaughter Policy
Related Links
The Dirty Six: The Worst Practices in Agribusiness
An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Electrical Stunning of Poultry
An HSUS Report: The Welfare of Animals in the Broiler Chicken Industry
