Filed under: Westland Meat Company
Have any of you ever heard of the Westland Meat Company? How about Hallmark Meat Packing? These two companies are partners in crime - literally. They are slaughterhouse partners, that had been the #2 supplier of beef to school districts’ lunch programs all over the nation. After an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States, it was discovered that these companies were inhumanely treating and killing the livestock at their slaughterhouse. A formal investigation was then led by the Department of Agriculture, which eventually forced the plants to close. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, after investigation, stated that these slaughterhouses were “in clear violation of Federal regulations and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act” (source: http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/02/usda-westland.html). The HSUS released video captured by a person working undercover for them, in which downed cows (cows that were too sick/weak to stand on their own) were stabbed with electric prods in attempts to force them to stand, they were stabbed with the prongs of forklift, stabbed in the face and eyes and they were even dragged by chains in order to get them to “the killroom”. It is illegal to slaughter a downed cow because they are highly susceptable to diseases such as E. Coli, salmonela and mad cow disease. The slaughter plants were closed, and two employeers were charged with felony animal cruelty. Think about that - these possibly diseased cows were not only being tortured, but were being slaughtered for human consumption - mostly as school lunches!! More than 150 school districts across the nation pulled meat from cafeterias and two major restaurant chains have stopped getting meat from that slaughter plant. No one can guess the large costs so far in terms of lost credibility to federal regulators, investigation expenses as well as additional cost of replacing food.
If you would like to see some of the undercover video released by the HSUS, click on this link, scroll down just a little and then of the picture of downer cow. I warn you, this video contains graphic images. http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/undercover_investigation_update_013008.html
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