The Humane Society of the United States said it met with Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer last week to discuss videos it shot during April and May of downer cattle being ignored or mistreated at auction houses in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas.

"Also, in the past three months alone HSUS has received detailed information from slaughterhouse employees, animal control officers, regional humane societies and other percipient witnesses reporting acts of egregious mishandling. We are continuing our investigations of the problem," HSUS said in a hand-delivered letter to Schafer dated May 2.

In January, HSUS released video taken at Chino, Calif.-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. showing downer cattle mistreatment that led to a 143 million-pound ground beef recall in February.

"These animals were not in slaughter facilities. However, even though this is not a food safety issue, these actions of animal cruelty are not acceptable," Schafer said in a statement, adding that USDA is reaching out to states and industry groups to address the issue.

"We met with Secretary Schafer and his staff, and they are probing the issue. We are confident that they are taking the matter seriously," HSUS President Wayne Pacelle told Meatingplace.com, adding that the group will present evidence to local law enforcement where warranted.

Video content

In a statement on the HSUS Web site, the group described video details, including:
• At the Livestock Exchange (LSX) in Hereford, Texas, HSUS investigators videotaped two downed cows left in the parking lot for four hours.
• At the Westminster auction in Maryland, HSUS investigators documented a downed cow abandoned outside of the auction barn.
• At the Clovis Livestock Auction in New Mexico, two downed cows were filmed over a period of five hours.
• At the Greencastle Livestock Auction in Pennsylvania, HSUS investigators documented a two-day-old calf unable to stand and left to die.
HSUS called on USDA to impose civil and criminal penalties for inhumane handling, require immediate humane euthanasia of all nonambulatory livestock and disallow slaughter for consumption of any downed animals.

Industry reacts

Livestock Marketing Association President Jim Santomaso said in a statement the association intends to work immediately with the businesses where the improper handling reportedly occurred. He said the group asked to meet with HSUS, but that did not happen. He also noted those recording the incidents did nothing to aid the animals in distress.

National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President for Producer Education Ashby Green said the group has so far distributed more than 2,000 cattle care and handling training videos to the nation's 1,250 livestock markets and other cattle sales locations. It is also in the process of conducting hands-on staff training sessions at livestock markets.

National Meat Association Executive Director Barry Carpenter condemned the practices the videos revealed, said the images were not representative of practices throughout the industry and noted the animals were not destined for the food supply.

AMI President J. Patrick Boyle said livestock, their handlers and the meat industry all benefit from humane handling and urged livestock producers to adhere to proper culling practices to ensure that only healthy animals are sent to market. He said animals depicted in the videos would not have passed USDA inspection or entered the food supply.

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