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Central Valley Meat Co., the slaughterhouse whose operations came grinding to a halt last week after allegations of animal cruelty, has been given the green light to resume operations today.The Hanford, California beef supplier, whose customers included the national school lunch program, McDonald's, and, until they cut ties, SoCal's beloved In-N-Out burger chain, was accused by animal rights group Compassion Over Killing of subjecting their cows to abusive treatment.
Aaron Lavallee, spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said Monday that Central Valley Meat Co. had agreed to make a number of "corrective actions," including additional training for its workers on the humane handling of cows.
Compassion Over Killing provided federal officials with video that shows workers using electric prods on diseased "downer cows" that could barely walk. The abuses were happening regardless of USDA inspection.
Among the pledges made by Central Valley Meat include "better training, better monitoring of its facilities and more frequent third-party audits of its operations," reports L.A. Now.