FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Federal officials say
nothing they have seen so far in covert video shot in a California
slaughterhouse shows meat from cows that may have been sick made it into
the food supply.
But the federal government and McDonald's Corp. have suspended purchases of meat from the facility.
The suspensions by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the fast-food chain came after an animal
welfare group's video shot at a slaughterhouse operated by Central
Valley Meat Co. showed cows that appeared to be sick or lame being
beaten, kicked, shot and shocked in an attempt to get them to walk to
slaughter.
"There are behaviors in the
video which appear to be unacceptable and would not adhere to the
standards we demand of our suppliers," McDonald's said in release.
The video was shot in June
and July by an undercover operative for the group Compassion Over
Killing who worked at the plant and also gave a written statement to the
USDA about events not on tape.
"We do know that workers
were trying to make non-ambulatory cows not eligible for slaughter go to
slaughter," said Erica Meier, executive director of the animal welfare
organization. "We believe red flags are raised for sure with our video,
but it's up to the USDA to decide."
It's against the law to
slaughter a non-ambulatory animal for food out of concern that it could
be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow
disease.
The Hanford slaughterhouse
is in the same city where a dairy cow at a rendering plant was
discovered in April to have mad cow disease. The USDA said earlier this
month it was an isolated case and didn't pose a threat to the food
supply.
Central Valley Meat Co. primarily slaughters dairy cows that have lost their value as milk producers.
The USDA bought 21 million
pounds of beef from the company in 2011 for the national school lunch
and other federal food programs.
Records show the government
made five large-scale purchases of ground and chunk beef, spending more
than $50 million of the total $135 allocated by the government for such
acquisitions that year.
USDA spokesman Justin
DeJong said he did not know to which government food programs the beef
was allocated. The meat generally goes to the national school lunch
program and food distribution on Indian reservations, and is available
for discount purchases by community food banks.
"The department works to
ensure that product purchased for the federal feeding programs meets
stringent food safety standards and that processors comply with humane
handling regulations," the USDA said in a statement.
McDonald's also said it had
suspended purchases of meat from the slaughterhouse. The company did
not immediately say how much meat it had been buying. But a spokesman
for the chain said the percentage of meat purchased from the
slaughterhouse was in the single digits.
Regional fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger previously suspended purchases after learning of the allegations of inhumane treatment.
The New York Times reported
that Costco Wholesale Corp. also suspended purchases. That company did
not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The USDA acted quickly to shut down Central Valley Meat Co. on Monday after the video documented the treatment of dairy cows.
The video appears to show
workers bungling the slaughter of cows struggling to walk and even
stand. Clips show workers kicking and shocking cows to get them to stand
and walk to slaughter.
The video prompted the National Cattlemen's Beef Association to issue a statement.
"We firmly believe that
those knowingly and willfully committing any abuse to animals should not
be in the business - period," Dave Daley, a professor at California
State University, Chico, said in the statement released by the marketing
group. "The actions depicted in these videos are disgraceful and not
representative of the cattle community."
Central Valley Meat Co. has
referred all questions to a public relations firm that issued a
statement saying Central Valley Meat is cooperating with investigators
and developing a plan to remedy any potential violations of USDA
guidelines.
"Based on our own
investigation and 30 years of producing safe, high-quality US beef, we
are confident these concerns pose no food safety issues," the statement
said.
The video shows one man
standing on the muzzle of a downed cow. Other footage depicts cows
struggling after being repeatedly shot in the head with a pneumatic gun.
Federal regulations say slaughterhouses must be successful with a single shot.
Other clips show cattle
with udders so swollen they are unable to keep their legs under them to
walk, and workers trying to lift downed cattle using their tails.
Compassion Over Killing
also provided the video to the district attorney's office in Kings
County, where the plant is located. The office is following the federal
investigation before deciding whether to file state cruelty charges.
The case has attracted the
attention of Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado
State University and subject of a documentary about her life working
with livestock behavior issues while she struggled with autism.
In a release distributed by
the American Meat Institute, she said some video clips of cows
twitching after being shot in the head with a pneumatic gun are normal
reflexes, but she did note some problems.
"I did observe some overly
aggressive and unacceptable use of electric prods with non-ambulatory
cattle and in sensitive areas like the face," she wrote. "I would
classify this as egregious animal abuse."
Central Valley Slaughter House (MGN)
