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In testimony before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Dr. Dean Wyatt testified as to how the agency supports unhealthy practices at the national slaughterhouses and endangers the nation's meat food supply.
Dr. Wyatt, a public health supervisory veterinarian with the USDA's Food and Safety Inspection Services ("FSIS"; www.fsis.usda.gov/), testified to numerous instances where FSIS executives overruled his and other inspectors' citations of slaughterhouses' abuses endangering the safety of the nation's meat supply. For example, Dr. Wyatt recounted such abuses and acts of cruelty as:
- cows being shot multiple times in the head regardless of regulations requiring immediate unconsciousness with a single bullet;
- calves being dragged and thrown, while others were deprived of food and water resulting in death from dehydration and starvation;
- conscious pigs shackled and stabbed on the slaughter line despite rules that they be stunned and unconscious before butchering;
- pigs being trampled by one another while being unloaded from a truck by a worker with a paddle;
- and a frustrated employee hitting a pig in the face 8-12 times.
Dr. Wyatt also testified that he was directed by his superiors to "drastically cut back" the time spent on ensuring that animals destined for food were treated humanely. In fact, according to Dr. Wyatt, he and other inspectors were chastised, reprimanded, and demoted for reporting violations. Dr. Wyatt was also threatened with termination.
Prior to his testimony, Dr. Wyatt had issued orders to shut down of Vermont's Bushway Packing on three different occasions. Each time, Dr. Wyatt's superiors overruled his orders and allowed the plant to reopen without it addressing the underlying health and humane issues. Subsequently, in October 2009, the Humane Society of the United States video-recorded the same instances of inhumane abuse at Bushway triggering a flood of calls for reform of the industry (www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2009/10/calf_investigation_103009.html).
Dr. Wyatt's testimony coincided with a report from the Government Accountability Office reprimanding FSIS for its lax enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act ("HMSA"; uscode.house.gov/download/pls/07C48.txt). FSIS was also reprimanded for lacking a comprehensive hiring strategy, as well as a lack of clarity in guiding and training inspectors.
Deputy undersecretary for Food Safety at the USDA, Jerold R. Mande, told the subcommittee, "I want to assure [the subcommittee] that [FSIS is] deeply committed to the humane handling of livestock and to meeting the [FSIS's] obligations to enforce HMSA at federally inspected establishments." Mande further testified that FSIS is making a series of improvements to its enforcement of animal-handling practices within slaughter facilities.
Asked why he blew the whistle and ruined his career, Dr. Wyatt responded: "I truly believe that the USDA inspector is the only advocate animals have in slaughter plants. When we turn our backs on the helpless, when we fail to speak on behalf of the voiceless, when we tolerate animal abuse and suffering, then the moral compass of a just and compassionate society is gone."
The agency's actions and inactions may go a long way to explain the rash of salmonella and e. coli outbreaks over the last few years.
For more info: EcoStar Law, PLLC: www.ecostarlaw.com.
Comments
Go Veggie!
I too am horrified at the handling of factory farms. Thank you for standing up and being a voice. I will no longer eat meats from factory farming, due to the way the animals are treated and the lack of government inspection on the food we eat. It is very scary for me to feed this food to my family, so I have chosen not to. I often wonder how we allowed this type of destruction to happen in our country. A lot can be said about a country by the way its animnals are treated. I can say that I am mortified by this action and the lack of public outcry you would normally expect from such abuse.
Vegans don't contribute to animal cruelty and don't worry about eating animal flesh laced with chemicals. Vegans are more healthy than carnivores. GO VEGAN!
GoVeg!
I agree, I no longer eat meat, but just not eating meat does not solve the problem! Something needs to be done to stop this horrific practice in America, that has somehow become the norm. Not eating meat does not stop the pollution and destruction of our waterways due to the poor handling practices of the animal waste etc., that is being put upon us as something we are suppose to just tolerate! How far does this have to go!
Whether vegan or omnivore...this kind of behavior is disgusting.
This barbarity MUST STOP! The USDA is incompetent and squandering tax payer dollars. Overruling a vet?...one of their own is obscene. Remember how long it took them to "discover" the source of the tomato problem??? Wasn't us, it was Mexico and jalepenos. Curious how the USDA "figured" it out AFTER they essentially devasted the American tomato industry. Jerks! If they can't figure out spinich or jalapenos, can the consumer begin to imagine what they do to live animals to slaughter. Maybe we should send USDA complimentary copies of The Jungle so they can bone up on food safety and the history thereof.
Just to clarify - these atrocities are hapening in slaughterhouses - which process animals from ALL TYPES of farms. So even if you buy only free range meat the animals you purchase may still have gone through a slaughterhouse like the ones referred to in this article. If you want to boycott products created with cruelty - avoid buying meat all together. My husband and I stopped eating animals (went vegan) 2 years ago and we both feel amazing - emotionally, spiritually & physically. We both lost excess weight and gained so much more. It is a wonderful thing to know you are not supporting cruelty or environmental destruction.
Good job Dr. Wyatt! I can't imagine how hard that must have been...to go up against "the machine". I commend you and the efforts of Rep. Dennis Kucinich to help the horribly abused factory farmed animals. Thank you...thank you!!!
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