In a report released December 9th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General called further attention to serious, ongoing problems that were exposed at the beginning of the year by The Humane Society of the United States' undercover investigation of the Hallmark-Westland slaughter plant in Chino, Calif.
"The Inspector General's audit clearly shows that lax agency enforcement of humane slaughter rules continues to allow unacceptable abuse of animals and food safety risks," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. "We urgently need stronger oversight and reform to prevent inhumane treatment of animals, reduce the risks of foodborne illness and boost consumer confidence in the food supply."
The audit looked at 10 "cull cattle" facilities. The facilities represent a subset of the 103 locations that specialize in slaughtering "spent" dairy cows culled from the herd as no longer productive, and of the 632 federally inspected establishments that slaughter cattle. "Spent" dairy cows are generally in weaker physical condition than other cows.
Even while these facilities were presumably on "best behavior," given that USDA announced its plans to have OIG investigators conduct an intensive audit in the field and that this audit took place during the height of industry scrutiny following the Hallmark scandal and subsequent massive beef recall, the audit still revealed many problems.
The report states that "an inherent vulnerability exists that such violations can occur and not be detected because FSIS [Food Safety and Inspection Service] does not have sufficient staffing levels to provide continuous surveillance of all operating areas within and around a slaughter establishment at all times." The HSUS notes that unless there is continuous oversight by inspectors observing live animals from the time they arrive by truck, through their offloading and handling in pens, chutes and kill boxes, these problems are bound to continue.
The report also flags numerous specific problems, such as the potential use of "downer doors" to bypass inspection and "pre-signed blank pen cards" to indicate an inspection occurred when it actually might not have, as well as the particular risks at cull cattle establishments that warrant heightened oversight.
Despite a belief that "the risks are greater at cull cow establishments
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