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Alleged Animal Cruelty by Chino Meat Supplier Exposed by Humane Society
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Alleged Animal Cruelty by Chino Meat Supplier Exposed by Humane Society
Alleged Animal Cruelty by Chino Meat Supplier Exposed by Humane Society
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will look into allegations that a Chino meat packing company has violated federal rules on the treatment of cattle. The announcement comes after the Humane Society released a video taken inside the packinghouse. KPCC's Inland Empire reporter Steven Cuevas has details. A warning: Some of the descriptions in this story are graphic.
Steven Cuevas: A Humane Society employee has spent more than a month working undercover at the Westland-Hallmark Meat Company in Chino. He wore a hidden video camera and recorded what the Humane Society says are abusive tactics used by employees to force sick or injured cows to slaughter.
Video clip: After the USDA inspector left, many of the cows that had passed inspection earlier later went down. The manager at this point wants to move her to another pen, so he's telling the worker not to euthanize her yet, wanting instead to try to use the forklift to get her up again. Every effort is made to get her to slaughter before she goes down again.
Cuevas: Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture barred the slaughter of so-called "downed cattle" for food after concerns about "Mad Cow" disease. Westland-Hallmark supplies frozen ground beef for various federal programs, including the National School Lunch program. The company won the Department of Agriculture's "supplier of the year" award in 2005.
Westland-Hallmark has suspended operations until it can complete an internal review. In a prepared statement, Westland president Steven Mendell says two employees seen in the video have been fired, and a third suspended. The U.S. Agriculture Department said it will investigate the allegations, but said there was no evidence that the country's beef supply was put at risk by actions at Westland-Hallmark.
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