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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer on Tuesday announced
his intention to ban slaughter of cattle at federally inspected
facilities that go down after initial inspection.
"Today I am announcing that USDA will begin working on a
proposed rule to prohibit the slaughter of all disabled
non-ambulatory cattle, also known as 'downer cattle.' In
other words, I am calling for the end of the exceptions
in the so called 'downer rule,'" Schafer said in a statement.
Under current regulations, a downed cow can still be slaughtered
if a USDA inspector reassesses the animal and determines
it is still safe for consumption. An example would be an
animal that tripped and broke a limb, rather than fell due
to illness. The rule became controversial after USDA recalled
143 million pounds of beef in the wake of video that showed
downed cattle at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. seemingly
headed to slaughter without re-inspection.
Schafer said the current rule has been "challenging to communicate
and has, at times, been confusing to consumers." He characterized
Tuesday's decision as a way to simplify the issue and positively
impact humane cattle handling by reducing the incentive
to send marginally weakened cattle to market.
Impact
Schafer minimized the impact of the decision on slaughter
facilities, noting that last year, of the nearly 34 million
slaughtered cattle, fewer than 1,000 cattle that were re-inspected
were actually approved by the veterinarian for slaughter.
"This represents less than 0.003 percent of cattle slaughtered
annually. As you can see, this number is minimal," said
Schafer.
The decision comes at the end of a 60-day enhanced surveillance
period when USDA inspectors were instructed to spend 50
percent to 100 percent more time verifying and documenting
humane handling practices at federally inspected plants.
Schafer said USDA is still analyzing those results.
The American Meat Institute, which along with the National
Meat Association and the National Milk Producers Federation
had petitioned USDA in April requesting this move applauded
today's action. The Humane Society of the United States,
which was responsible for video taping animal abuse at Hallmark/Westland,
also praised the move.
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