WASHINGTON -- Slaughterhouses are butchering cattle and hogs while the animals are still conscious despite a federal law that requires livestock to be killed humanely, the union of federal meat inspectors said Wednesday.
The meat industry ignores the law "with virtual impunity" because of lax enforcement by the Agriculture Department, according to a petition being filed with USDA by the union and animal rights groups.
USDA officials denied the allegation. "Inspectors are required to take action against humane slaughter violations. If they don't, they're being negligent," said Linda Swacina, a spokeswoman for the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The petition said inspectors should be stationed full-time in areas of the plants where animals are stunned and bled, and plant operations should be stopped any time there are violations of humane handling regulations.
The Humane Slaughter Act "is not a top priority. It's not a medium priority. It's not a priority at all," said Arthur Hughes, a spokesman for the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals. He said training of new inspectors is so lax that many inspectors don't know the law exists.
Animal-welfare experts say conditions in slaughterhouses have actually improved dramatically in recent years at the insistence of the McDonald's and Wendy's restaurant chains.
McDonald's set animal-handling standards for its meat suppliers, helped develop industry training videos and started inspecting the plants for compliance in 1999. Wendy's followed suit last year.
After the inspections started, there was a "huge improvement" in the plants' slaughter practices, according to a Colorado State University professor, Temple Grandin, who designed the inspection system.
Animals are supposed to be rendered unconscious before they are bled and dismembered, and "McDonald's and Wendy's do a much better job of enforcing" the federal law than USDA, Grandin said in an interview. She said the department's enforcement often varies from plant to plant depending on the vigilance of the USDA veterinarians who are assigned to the facilities.
Leaders of the inspectors union meet bimonthly with the department to discuss issues in meat plants but have not expressed concerns about violations of the humane slaughter law, Swacina said.
"It has never been on their agenda," she said. "They have never brought this issue up with us as a problem."
The accusations in the petition are largely based on complaints about a IBP Inc. beef plant in Wallula, Wash.
State prosecutors declined to file charges against IBP, but the company reached an agreement with the Washington Agriculture Department that allowed the agency to monitor the plant.
"Conditions with regard to animal welfare in meatpacking plants have never been better," said Janet Riley, a spokeswoman for the American Meat Institute, which represents packers. "In the last five years, we have made phenomenal strides."
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