Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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A slaughtering company was ordered to immediately suspend operations today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Department of Agriculture following the results of an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States that appears to have documented animal abuse that federal inspectors did not correct.
Dr. Temple Grandin, a woman considered to be a national authority on humane livestock slaughtering who also spoke about practices at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, reviewed the undercover footage from Bushway Packing, Inc. in Grand Isle, Vermont that was obtained during August and September. She and one of her doctoral students at Colorado State University pronounced that “the conditions and acts shown in the videos that we received were not as severe as those shown in the Westland-Hallmark investigation in 20087-2008; however, the handling practices and attention to insensibility in this plant are unacceptable and must improve.”
Video footage shows veal calves, some with their umbilical cords still attached and yet unable to walk, being kicked, slapped, and repeatedly shocked with electric prods.
“The deplorable scenes recorded in the video … are unequivocally unacceptable,” said Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. “The callous behavior and attitudes displayed in the video clearly appear to be violations of USDA’s humane handling regulations.”
Vilsack indicated that the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has launched an investigation into the allegations against the business, and took immediate action.
“The Department fully supports the investigation of all those involved in these alleged violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” he added. “To this end, I have also called on our Inspector General to conduct a criminal investigation into the events in the video.
“FSIS has a rigorous program to train inspection personnel in verifying humane handling and slaughter at establishments. When an FSIS employee observes behaviors that are not in compliance with [regulations], they are obligated to take immediate action. The behavior of FSIS and establishment personnel witnessed in this video is inexcusable.”
Michael Markarian, operating officer for the Humane Society of the United States, praised Vilsack for his “decisive action to address the problems at this slaughter plant and for taking animal welfare concerns seriously.”
Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee said the alleged animal welfare practices are “disturbing.” He was also quick to note that such practices are “not representative of the industry as a whole in Vermont and such actions will not be tolerated in our state.”
The calves shipped to the facility were primarily being prepared for slaughter for veal. Calves, especially male calves within the dairy industry, are often sold to veal manufacturers. Many such calves are confined to maintain low muscle growth and tenderness of the meat they provide. Although Iowa has not passed laws to phase out the use of veal crate confinement systems, the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine and Michigan have passed such laws. Even so, those states still allow transport and slaughter of calves at any age.
Readers should be aware that the video posted below, provided by the Humane Society of the United States, contains graphic images:
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