Thread: PETA files complaint against Agriprocessors

PETA files complaint against Agriprocessors

By NIGEL DUARA | Associated Press Writer
3:13 PM CDT, September 5, 2008

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville was cited for improper slaughtering of cattle three days after the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a federal complaint against the facility.

The complaint was filed after PETA reviewed a hidden-camera video shot during the week of Aug. 11 to Aug. 18 that shows workers making a second cut to a cow's neck without rabbinical supervision, apparently in violation of the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act.

The animal-rights group on Friday also called for the plant to install video cameras with a live feed to the Internet to monitor its workers.

PETA said it initially complained to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service on Aug. 22, but has yet to receive a formal response, so it went public with the video.

Amanda Eamich, a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services spokeswoman, said the agency met with the plant's management three days after the PETA complaint and told its in-plant veterinarian to review the plant's slaughter methods.

"One of our in-plant inspectors did cite the facility on Aug. 25," Eamich said.

The citation did not include a fine or any other penalties, Eamich said, and was simply a record of noncompliance. She declined to say whether the PETA video and complaint prompted the meeting and citation.

A PETA investigator said the group would have preferred to handle the complaint without going public.

"We wanted to get that conduct stopped long before (Friday) behind the scenes," said Hannah Schein, an investigator with PETA.

Schein said the undercover investigator got a job in a different section of the plant, but toured the kill floor during his breaks.

The Agriprocessors plant was the site of one of the largest single-site Immigration raids in U.S. history on May 12, when 389 workers were charged with being in the country illegally. Most also faced criminal charges of identity theft.

In a statement, Agriprocessors spokesman Menachem Lubinsky said kosher regulations give "blanket approval" for a second cut when slaughtering cattle.

"The second cut in fact only hastens the elimination of any pain or suffering, if there is any," Lubinsky said.

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services slaughtering guidelines state: "For Kosher slaughter, the sticking is done by a (slaughterer) chosen from the community, trained in the laws of the orthodox religion, and supervised by a rabbi in his area."

Schein said the undercover video was shot as a follow-up to a tour by a group of rabbis who spoke to workers about their conditions in early August. The rabbis said at the time that they left satisfied that the plant was safe and properly treating its kosher food.

"Since they had such personnel turnover, we wanted to make sure that they weren't cutting corners on animal handling," Schein said. "We didn't want them backsliding."

Schein said that kosher law allows for a single cut to an animal's throat, and said the rabbis on the tour saw only one cut.

The video, available on PETA's Web site, shows a cow being harnessed, turned over and cut by someone in a green poncho. A few seconds later on the tape, another person in an orange poncho cuts the animal's throat again.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 4287.story

I thought they had to answer to a 'higher' authority? Maybe not.