What’s on your plate? Stop eating diseased animals

Watkins Glen, N.Y. – In 2009 President Obama mandated that downed cattle be humanely euthanized instead of being slaughtered and entering the human food supply.  Downed animals are animals that are too injured or sick to stand up on their own.  Last March, the Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading animal farm protection organization, submitted a Petition of Rulemaking, requesting the rule be amended to include all downed livestock, not just cattle.  Earlier this month, the USDA asked for public comments on the petition; the open comment period ends on April 8.

Without this amendment, staggering numbers of downed sheep, pigs, goats, and other livestock are still being slaughtered for human consumption.  According to the Farm Sanctuary, in 2005 the USDA released findings that “the annual number of downed sheep in the United States was estimated at 39,000, downed goats 36,000, and … there are approximately 850,000 downed pigs every year.”  Inspectors are currently allowed to approve these animals for human consumption, at their discretion.  Their “judgment” is the only thing keeping diseased animals off your plate.  This poses a health risk to people, all for the sake of a few extra bucks for the livestock industry. 

Some of the diseases downed animals carry are pneumonia, hepatitis, swine influenza virus (SIV) H1N1 and H3N2, and Scrapie which is the sheep form of Mad Cow Disease.  Additionally, because the animals are on the ground and unable to stand, they are in contact with feces which means there is more likelihood they will become contaminated with E-coli or salmonella.  Excluding all downed livestock would eliminate animals that are so inured or diseased they can’t even stand up from being processed as human food.

This common sense restriction must be implemented as soon as possible to further safeguard the human food supply.

Aside from health concerns, another reason to support this petition involves the humane treatment of these animals.  Downed pigs, sheep, and goats are subjected inhumane treatment in order to process them for food.  In the previous decade alone, FSIS inspectors witnessed horrific abuse against pigs.  According to the petition, in 2002 one inspector saw a slaughterhouse employee dragging a conscious sow that was squealing and blinking “on her back from a trailer to an unloading ramp.”  In 2004, another inspector saw an employee allow other pigs to trample a downer pig in an alleyway and then try to force that pig to rise.  Yet another record reports “the kicking and probing with a ‘Hot Shot’ of a downed pig, ‘causing excessive pain.’”  Other reports note pigs dragged by their tails and kicked, and downed sheep being denied food and water.

According to Gene Baur, the President of Farm Sanctuary, life for cattle has improved since downed cattle were excluded from the food supply.  “There is stronger incentive for farmers to take better care of their animals so it has had a positive impact,” he said

If you care about making our food supply safer and treating these animals more humanely, please submit a comment.  Farm Sanctuary has even composed a sample comment to help get you started.  Meredith Turner, a spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary, said “Comments will have tremendous sway, hearing public outcry and demand for this is tremendously important.  They have to know that consumers are demanding it, because otherwise they have zero incentive for doing this.” 

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