As always, with thanks to Stacey at ‘Our Compass’ for supplying this article;
Mark
USDA releases years of slaughterhouse records following lawsuit
Veterinary neglect is common to all farms visited. Animals that suffer from innumerable health problems are not treated for reasons of economic profitability. / October, 2019. Castilla la Mancha, Source Tras Los Muros
No laws can protect animals bred to be dead, why people champion regulations or laws that REQUIRE violent death, is bizarre. In slaughterhouses, where animals are violently killed after brief existences of suffering, there is NO REGULATION that can protect animals – it’s a SLAUGHTERHOUSE.
I disagree with the “transparency” term for the above reasons, same as I don’t praise CCTV in slaughterhouses: slaughterhouses are where animals go to violently die, how anyone can praise a recording of animals violently dying, is bizarre. If people are so happy to use CCTV as demonstrative of animal “protection”, what is more protective of animals than NOT KILLING ANIMALS?
Following a lawsuit, the USDA released the below records establishing the frequent torture that occurs IN ADDITION TO animal violation and suffering and violent death. It’s almost as if, despite the “humane-treatment-of-animals” mantra of anag cheerleaders, they’re admitting to the abject horrors defenseless animals are forced to endure: if killing animals is so “humane” there would be no reason to try to withhold slaughterhouse “violations”.
Veganism is the ONLY humane and the ONLY logical protection for animals. SL
USDA source links, all records below following article:
Source Sentient Media
Marking a step towards transparency in food production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has disclosed on its website records revealing the handling of farmed animals in slaughterhouses. The records, dating back to January of 2017, were made publicly available following a settlement between the federal agency and animal protection organizations Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Farm Sanctuary.
In a complaint filed in 2018, the nonprofits alleged that the USDA had violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to release requested records showing its enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. These laws govern the treatment of billions of animals killed for food in the U.S. each year as well as food safety.
“This is the biggest step in improving government transparency at slaughter since the USDA began disclosing these records pursuant to [the Freedom of Information Act],” said Erin Sutherland, a staff attorney with AWI’s farmed animal program.
The release of the USDA records, despite a failed attempt by the agency to have the case dismissed, offers what AWI calls “a rare window into a heavily guarded aspect of food production.” The group believes that the proactive disclosure of animal handling records could boost transparency and safety in the U.S. food system.
While traditional FOIA requests require federal agencies to release information upon request, the process can be lengthy. “The delay associated with fulfilling these requests renders the records almost useless by the time they are received,” AWI’s farmed animal program director Dena Jones said in 2018. But according to the law, FOIA also requires federal agencies to “proactively” disclose records subject to frequent FOIA requests.
In the fiscal year 2019, the USDA received a total of 26,458 FOIA requests, the majority—77 percent—going to its Farm Production and Conservation program which includes such agencies as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service. That year, the USDA reported that it is taking steps to increase its proactive disclosures, including making FOIA information more accessible on its websites and publishing monthly APHIS FOIA logs.
The settlement brings an encouraging step. Yet there is much to be done when it comes to transparency in animal agriculture. The industry is protected by industry favoring ag-gag laws that silence investigators and whistleblowers who often provide the public’s only insight into the realities faced by animals and workers inside factory farms and slaughterhouses. Corporations also wield immense power over their supply chains, compounding the secrecy in food production and complicating the role of government oversight.
While there is a long way to go, Farm Sanctuary general counsel Emily von Klemperer said the agreement by the USDA to publicly post slaughter records constitutes “a huge victory.”
“These records routinely expose inhumane treatment of animals at slaughter facilities and are critical to our efforts to educate the public and hold the agency accountable to enforce what minimal legal protections farm[ed] animals have,” she says.
Download Your FREE Vegan PDF HERE
Order a FREE vegan kit HERE
Dairy-Free Info HERE
Take the Dairy-Free Challenge HERE
Click HERE for more Dairy-Free
Fish alternatives can be found HERE
Learn about eggs HERE
Find bacon alternatives HERE and HERE
Take PETA’s Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide along with you next time you head to the store! The handy guide will help you find humane products at a glance. Order a FREE copy HERE
Searching for Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, Personal-Care Products, Vegan Products, or more?
Click HERE to search.
Free PDF of Vegan & Cruelty-Free Products/Companies HERE
Click HERE to find out How to Wear Vegan!
Want to do more than go vegan? Help others to do so! Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only compassionate route to being an animal friend:
PETA HERE
Vegan Outreach HERE
Get your FREE Activist Kit from PETA, including stickers, leaflets, and guide HERE
Have questions? Click HERE
Regards Mark and Stacey
World Animals Voice 