If you're not a vegetarian or if you're not eating local beef, you should read this:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.
It's the nation's largest beef recall ever. The Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., as it turns out, had an inordinate number of "downer cattles" -- cattle that were unable to walk which is an indicator of potential mad cow. That's bad enough, but the Westland people were torturing and abusing their downers in order to get them to move. The video, which CNN just showed a part of, is shocking and upsetting and I won't post it here.
Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.
Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager. Three misdemeanor counts _ illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal _ were filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were fired.
Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.
Seven years ago, I made a choice to not eat beef or pork products and this story pretty much summarizes the reasons why. Corrupt agri-businesses, abuse, inhumane slaughter techniques, growth hormone and all the rest of it.