Chino Meatpacking Worker Arrested in Recall Case
Daniel Ugarte Navarro Charged With Five Felony Counts



(ABCNEWS) By JACOB ADELMAN
February 19, 2008 1:31:33 PM PST

Share Police arrested one of the meatpacking workers charged with animal cruelty in a case involving a Chino slaughterhouse that led to the nation's largest-ever beef recall, authorities said Tuesday.

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Slaughterhouse ScandalDaniel Ugarte Navarro was taken into custody Saturday at his Pomona home on a warrant issued the day before, Chino police spokeswoman Michelle Vanderlinden said. He was released Sunday on $7,500 bail.

Navarro, 49, of Pomona was charged with five felony counts of animal abuse and three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal, San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus said.

Navarro, who had worked as a pen manager at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., could face up to 5 years and 8 months in prison, if convicted, she said.


Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino, who worked under Navarro, was charged with three misdemeanor counts and remained at large, Ploghaus said.

Both men were fired after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video showing crippled and sick animals at the slaughterhouse being shoved with forklifts.

Prosecutors are continuing to investigate the slaughterhouse for possible labor violations, Ploghaus said.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which announced the recall Sunday of some 143 million pounds of beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, were also investigating.

A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, prosecutors said.

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, chairwoman of the House Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee, called the videotaped treatment inhumane and said she was concerned it "demonstrates just how far our food safety system has collapsed."

DeLauro, D-Conn., also called for an independent investigation into the government's ability to secure the safety of meat in the nation's schools. Westland was a major supplier of beef for the National School Lunch Program.

DeLauro asked Undersecretary Dick Raymond to list schools that could have received the recalled meat, as well as provide an explanation of where the meat was sold commercially and whether it was mixed with beef from other processors.

She also asked how the agency was addressing staff shortages among slaughterhouse inspectors - an issue also raised by several food safety experts and watchdog groups.


Anywhere from 7 percent to 21 percent of inspector positions were left vacant by the USDA, depending on the district, said Felicia Nestor, a senior policy analyst with Washington, D.C.-based Food and Water Watch.

USDA spokesman Keith Williams said the agency did not have a shortage of inspectors. He said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

Williams said the recall was done primarily to revoke the USDA's seal of inspection for the meat - not because of the risk of illness.

Health officials have said no illnesses were being linked to the newly recalled meat.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.

--- Associated Press writer Gillian Flaccus contributed to this report.




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