Video of workers abusing cows raises food safety questions

Humans consider themselves "civilized", yet many care not about the pain of animals.

I don't mind the circle of life, I just think that since we have the means to slaughter in a cleaner, painless, and less barbaric fashion, we should.

I'd also ask that the animals be allowed to "live" a little. ie. not cooped up in small pens atop their own feces, or in small cages for the duration of their life. And I'd especially not eat veal. Chained to a pole for their short life and then butchered painfully... I can't eat veal knowing what it went through.

What it comes down to is the mighty dollar. More animals are crammed into small spaces and killed in the most efficient way possible in order to save money. We should be above that.

reply to post by Kruel


And then there is Mad Cow disease...I would go mad too if I sensed that that is what was waiting for me.

I love how most people have no clue at all about basic agriculture.

Most animals are free range. Pastures around my area are around 160 acres. There are heated buildings, adequate water, and regular feedings when needed.

People do not want animals to be given antibiotics, yet they want them to be taken care of.

Next time you get sick, go free range and just sit around. Oh and make sure you are organic, no chemicals either.

Might as well stop using tooth paste right now.

reply to post by Dulcimer


I think he was talking about poutry, in tiny cages with their beaks cut off so they don't peck eachother when they go mad from closterphobia.

Even chickens are let out.... what more can I say. People see a few biased videos or photos and believe the entire industry is like that. It is not.

That is all I am trying to say in my posts.

Originally posted by Dulcimer
Even chickens are let out.... what more can I say. People see a few biased videos or photos and believe the entire industry is like that. It is not. That is all I am trying to say in my posts.

Don't be naive not all chickens are let out at all, especially in egg production. Also, nice open paddocks and abattoirs are 2 separate things. I think it should be obvious that closer scrutiny and higher standards are warranted.

Ive given up KFC a while ago and I guess I'll have to see where my beef comes from but I am pretty sure ALberta AAA beef is some of the best and cleanest there is. I also think as a person who has hunted and ate food I have killed and butchered myself that respect for the food the earth have given us and the life that was sacrificed to keep me alive should be treated with great respect.

In this day and age I bet 70% or even more of the population in North America wouldnt even know how to kill and clean their own food but rather just know how to open its package. Thats why I am an advocate for propper hunting because it teaches you the value of a meal and a life imo.

The reason you are seeing this sort of thing occur is indeed the move toward huge packing plants. It is forced by the low prices of meats on the store shelves. The profits are so small that smaller operations can no longer exist. In other words we pay too little for our meat. It has and is destroying the family farm or ranch.

Another major issue is that even if someone were to want to open a small meat packing facility it would never be allowed. People have become so far removed from their food source that the rural areas are littered with housing developments. There is an odor concerned with feed lots and the packaging plants. In most cases when it is attempted the owner is immediately sued by the same people who want to buy their meat.

Just before I moved to Alaska from Southeast Idaho there was a great example of this involving a feed lot that had existed for more than 150 years. For some unimaginable reason, even though there were huge tracts of land to choose from, a developer built some upper middle class homes right next to the feed lot. The following year the breeze blew the wrong way while a new resident from Los Angeles was having an outdoor get together. He of course sued and shut down this 150 year old family business and was awarded a large settlement for the offensive odor interfering with his party. Think about this! The lot was there for 150 years!!!!!! The house was there for 1 year! The judge sided with the, forgive me for this, City Boy who built a house next to a feed lot.

That was just one example of what is occurring as people with no ties to Farming or Ranching insist on building in historically agricultural areas pushing the farmers onto less suitable land. You can kiss the Rancher who cares well for his livestock and brings an excellent product to market goodbye! Why? Because nobody want to pay enough for their live-giving products so that they can themselves survive.

Obviously I was raised around Farms and Ranches (we had large fruit orchards). Livestock is pampered and treated with the utmost respect on a Family operated Ranch or Farm. Too keep the prices where they are expect them to disappear in the VERY NEAR Future.

As you can see, what you see on the tape is a result of a far more complex picture than a few insensitive workers. The decisions that forced this were made by the consumer when they decided food was of such little value when compared to other non-necessities.

When I was a child between my Father and his 10 Brothers and Sisters, my Mother and her 11 Brothers and Sisters we had more than a dozen large Farms and Ranches totaling millions of acres. Today not one is left and many went the hard way through Bankruptcy. I never once witnessed an animal being abused or meat given anything but the best care. To this day I long for one of those steaks and the produce I grew up eating. What is on the store shelves now is absolute crap and most people don't know because they have never tasted the real thing.

OK, I'm done ranting.

reply to post by Silenceisall


Glad to be vegetarian. The idea that life is a commodity breeds this kind of inexcusable behavior.

Thanks for reporting it.

I would no sooner eat slaughtered or other wise mammals. They are conscious beings, my experience with Extraterrestrials showed me that early on in life.

If I were to come back as an Angel I would be the Patron Saint of Animals and Nature.

I just came here to support your thread and to raise my voice in the denial of ignorance.

reply to post by Silenceisall


The price we pay for mass food production. The glory of the Western Society, and the Capitalist system.

Don't like it?

Raise your own food.

Let me tell you guys a little story.
Once a long time ago there were these little helpless creatures. They used to get picked on, tortured and eaten by all the other animals. Long story short it is a poisonous frog now.

I will guarantee this to all of you. Give it about 10-20 years and all the animals
that are tortured will have a will of defending themselves. They will evolve, and start carrying a new disease.

Don't get me wrong beef tastes delicious. I eat beef, but I hate to see cruelty towards any creature.

Originally posted by Dulcimer
Even chickens are let out.... what more can I say. People see a few biased videos or photos and believe the entire industry is like that. It is not.

That is all I am trying to say in my posts.

That is such crap. I live in an area that is one of the biggest pork producing areas in the world. Yet I have NEVER seen a pig here. Work it out. They're all stuffed in cages in buildings in the dark and fed drugs and they're brothers and sisters. It's monstrous. It's okay to eat meat. But DON'T EAT FACTORY MEAT.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by Silenceisall

 

The price we pay for mass food production. The glory of the Western Society, and the Capitalist system.

Don't like it?

Raise your own food.

NO! You are making a conscious choice to inflict horrible cruelty on generations of living creatures. It's okay to eat meant, but buy more expensive free-range meat. That way you encourage the market to change and to treat animals humanely.

Another recent story with a video. This is where your beef comes from. Buy Free-Range.

An investigation by The Humane Society of the United States at a cattle slaughterhouse has documented that animals too sick or injured to stand or walk—called "downers" by industry—have been kicked, beaten, dragged with chains, shocked with electric prods, sprayed in the face with hoses and pushed by forklifts in efforts to get them to their feet to pass USDA inspection.

More Torture



[edit on 31-1-2008 by rizla]

reply to post by flice


No, of course we don't do that generally, but this is about extreems (becoming norms). And when such is exposed in Europe it has instant consequences. I hope it will in this case too.

Originally posted by TheWalkingFox
First off, read the article. These are methods being used to loophole FDA regulations. Downed animals aren't legal for butchery, due to health concerns. The downed cow could have some weird disease, or an injury - and in commercial farm conditions, an injured animal is an animal with a septic infection. It's to be killed, and discarded. So these farms use these "techniques" to force the animal to its feet so it will once again be "legal" for processing.

Yikes, not just abusing possible sick, injured, elderl cows, but doing it to get around the downed cattle issue.
This is the scary part of the article.

Downed cattle could be diseased and butchering these abused animals gets possibly contaminated food into groceries and schools

So... California cows aren't that happy after all!

I'm sure some people will milk this story for all it's worth. But really, it's nothing to lose your chaps over. The criminals will get belted, no doubt.

Okay, so one thing to do is buy free-range meat.

Here's another tip. Always buy chicken with the legs still attached. The chickens raised in confined and claustrophobic environments have burned or deformed legs, so they cut them off before packaging. If they have legs, they weren't so badly treated.

Personally, I'd rather eat free-range, or soya, but it's better than nothing.

Buy chicken with the legs still on.

reply to post by apc




Reading this story that is the first thing I thought of.. the Happy California Cow commercials....

Your right, not all that happy after all.