The vast majority of urban North Americans had probably never even heard of downer cows until recently.
Revelations of animal abuse perpetrated on downer cattle in California’s Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company have brought the term into the public eye and prompted the largest meat recall in history.
It involved 143 million pounds of beef, which is enough to feed 2.2 million Americans for a year.
The recall involves meat processed two years ago, when an incriminating video was shot of workers abusing downed animals. Now there is controversy over why the makers of the video, the Humane Society of the United States, waited two years to bring this abuse to light, thus allowing more animals to potentially be subjected to inhumane treatment.
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Good question, isn’t it? The society appears to have been more intent on instigating public outrage than it was in protecting animals. It makes us question the group’s real motives, but that doesn’t obscure the fact that humane animal treatment is an issue.
Producers’ attempts to extract what value they can from older animals is understandable, particularly in times of low returns. But there is no excuse for inflicting suffering on animals too old, injured or sick to stand.
Besides the basic moral requirement for humane treatment, the outcry surrounding the recent U.S. case clearly shows the folly of such actions in terms of industry reputation and beef market damage.
In the Hallmark/Westland case, where it is presumably as difficult as it is in Canada to find skilled plant workers, individuals directly responsible have been criminally charged and calls for training and more inspection have been made.
Among recommendations by the American Meat Institute:
- Livestock brokers and dealers should be required to provide documented training for employees in proper animal handling and transport.
- Audits should be performed on farms and on cattle in transit.
- The United States Department of Agriculture should require every inspector doing ante-mortem inspection to be certified for proficiency in animal handling.
Such measures will involve higher costs to packers, for training, and to government for audits and inspections.
In the case of packers, the cost might be worth its weight in terms of humane handling and public perception. For government, public opinion would likely support extra expense for inspection to ensure humane treatment of food animals.
The addition of further rules and regulations is seldom embraced. But the public is watching, as never before, to ensure humane treatment. The industry must ensure it can bear the scrutiny.
