Obama Announces Heightened Protections for "Downers" and Food Safety |
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March 14, 2009
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Cows unable to walk should never be forced to slaughter. © USDA |
In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said this morning that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will close the loophole allowing downers to be used for food. He called food safety "something I take seriously, not just as your President, but as a parent."
The president also formed a new Food Safety Working Group to look into food safety laws and recommend improvements, and ordered the Food and Drug Administration to employ more food inspectors.
This remarkable progress is the fruit of long years of work. The most intense news coverage resulted from last year's undercover investigation at a slaughter plant in Chino, Calif., but The Humane Society of the United States has been pressing for serious reform for many years.
Cattle too sick or injured to walk, or downers, often harbor diseases, including mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Besides the obvious public health risks of allowing downers in the food supply, the animals suffer terribly when workers try to force them, by merciless physical abuse, to move toward the slaughter line.
After decades of working to protect farm animals and people, the HSUS's 2008 investigation at the Hallmark Plant in Chino, Ca., led to a momentous and historic beef recall and the closing of that plant. Closing the downer loophole is the final chapter in this investigation.
Here is a timeline of the Hallmark investigation, and the decades of our work leading up to it.
First Investigations
During 1991 and 1992, five HSUS investigators found that downed animals were the victims of abuse and neglect at 73 percent of the thirty-one livestock markets and stockyards they visited. Downed animals were trampled by their healthier penmates or winched and dragged by their necks, ears, legs and tails. Auctioneers and meatpackers carried on a low-bid trade in downers, making a mockery of the livestock industry's professed commitment to elimination of downed-animal misery.
In 1992, The HSUS testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry and proposed remedies to the problem that were based on its investigative findings.
Joining Forces for Farm Animals
In the late 1990s, The HSUS joined Farm Sanctuary and other groups in petitions to the FDA and USDA to classify meat from downers as adulterated, a designation certain to remove incentives for owners to prolong the agonies of already suffering animals.
The more important collaboration with Farm Sanctuary came in 2001, when The HSUS made heavy commitments to have downed-animal legislation incorporated into the farm bill. Unfortunately, the House conferees gutted the farm bill's animal welfare prvisions by creating a "study" bill to review the situation of downers, subverting the wishes of thousands of citizens who had communicated their desire to see this needless cruelty ended.
The Discovery of Mad Cow Disease
Mad cow disease is believed to have originated in Britain, where it was discovered in 1986. In December 2003, a downed cow—unable to stand or walk—in Washington State was allowed in the U.S. food supply. That crippled animal was infected with mad cow disease. Within weeks of that discovery, the USDA responded with a package of regulations that The Center for Progressive Regulation, a nonprofit research and educational organization of university-affiliated academics, called "meaningless public relations measures" and "marred by huge loopholes" rather than a sincere effort at protecting U.S. consumers.
In 2006, the USDA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) criticized the USDA for its inconsistent application of policies and regulations related to downed animals after observing nonambulatory cattle processed at two slaughter plants. In a review of 12 slaughter plants observed in 2004 and 2005, the OIG found that 29 downed cattle were slaughtered for human food.
In June 2005, a downed BSE-infected cow was discovered in Texas. In March 2006, a downed BSE-infected cow turned up in Alabama. U.S. cattle ranchers lost an estimated $11 billion in beef exports from 2004 to 2008 as a result of worldwide publicity about the risks of mad cow disease in U.S. beef.
The HSUS repeatedly demanded absolute bans on downers in the slaughter process, but little meaningful progress took place, in spite of government statements that the food supply was safe and that animals weren't being mistreated.
January 2008
The abuse of downed dairy cows commanded the national spotlight after an HSUS investigation documented the horrific practices at Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. The investigation findings were released Jan. 30, 2008.
Watch the investigation video» | Read the story»
February 2008
On Feb. 17, USDA announced the recall of 143 million pounds of beef—the nation's largest recall to date—from Hallmark/Westland. Read the story»
The HSUS's Wayne Pacelle and Dr. Michael Greger testified in Congress. Read about Dr. Greger's testimony» | Read about Wayne Pacelle's testimony on his blog»
April—May 2008
The HSUS documented more abuse of downed dairy cows—this time at livestock auctions in New Mexico, Maryland, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Some cows were left to languish for hours, and even overnight. The investigation findings sparked outrage by some in the livestock industry.
Watch the investigation» | Read the story»
June 2008
On June 20, a manager of Westland/Hallmark was convicted of felony animal cruelty. Read the story»
Before releasing the latest documentation of downer abuses, The HSUS briefed then-Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer about the latest abuses and renewed a request that the USDA act immediately to ban processing any downed cattle for food.
The HSUS also urged the USDA to extend the ban to the 1,200-plus livestock markets and auctions that operate around the nation, and require that operators of those facilities and slaughter plants immediately and humanely euthanize downer cattle upon identifying them in that non-ambulatory state.
Watch the investigation» | Read the story»
Related Links
The High Cost of Cheap Meat
Learn How a Humane Diet Is Also The Healthiest
Congress Grows Impatient with USDA's Pace on Downer Policy
The HSUS Exposes More Appalling Abuses of Dairy Cows at Livestock Auction in New Undercover Investigation
Congressional Reactions to Continued Cattle Abuse
HSUS Investigation Prompts USDA Beef Recall; Congress Reacts
Investigative Update: Cruelty at Calif. Slaughter Plant
Expanded Undercover Investigation Shows Mistreatment of Downer Cows Is Commonplace at Livestock Auctions
Shedding Light on the Treatment of Dairy Cows
Undercover Investigation Reveals Rampant Animal Cruelty at California Slaughter Plant – A Major Beef Supplier to America’s School Lunch Program
