Pork company announces more corrective actions over video
Source: Associated Press
Pork company announces more corrective actions over video
Steve Karnowski, Associated Press
Updated 6:45 pm, Friday, November 13, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A Minnesota pork processor that's a major supplier to Hormel Foods said Friday that it has taken additional corrective measures in response to Hormel's concerns over actions depicted on an undercover video shot by an animal welfare group at an Austin slaughterhouse.
An employee shown paddling pigs has been disqualified from working in the livestock area of the plant, and two other employees were also disciplined for horseplay for throwing what appeared to be a blood clot or blood-soaked paper towel, said Nate Jansen, vice president of human resources and quality services at Quality Pork Processors. He declined to say what that discipline involved.
QPP also implemented additional corrective measures that Hormel demanded in a letter Thursday, Jansen said. They include retraining of all employees on proper animal handling and conduct, stepped-up video monitoring and surprise audits, stationing humane handling officers to observe all animal handling, and a confidential hotline for employees to report any actions that violate animal care standards.
"We've been working very closely with them to make sure we're meeting the high standards that they have for us," Jansen said in an interview.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Pork-company-announces-more-corrective-actions-6631029.php
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)this better not be pr bullshit. i hope the aw groups keep filming them.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)to prevent filming of these and other horrors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)and honestly, ar activists to their credit, will do it anyway.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)....
And people debate me when I say that working in the meat industry can exacerbate mental issues.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)and yet, I'm still debated about it.
How can anyone think, oh yeah I could work around screaming, dying creatures all day and it wouldn't affect me one bit. You know that you'd carry that home with you.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)if people pretend its not true, they won't have to change their eating habits because "everything is really ok"
retrowire
(10,345 posts)As soon as I got to the point of them saying "Animals don't have emotions."
I literally had to stop my jaw from dropping and just politely saying, "Well, that's where we differ in thought on this subject."
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)if it is true ignorance or shutting ones eyes to the truth. i mean, if someone believes that these animals have the same emotional capacity as the family dog, gonna be a lot harder to eat them.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)he's one of the folks who doesn't truly believe that his dog has emotion, and that rather, the dog is only a machine filled with conditioned reactions.
It only wags it's tail because he's a provider of food for example.
ugh.
I even tried getting him to explain how abused dogs can become traumatized if they didn't have emotion. How could they have anxiety or fear?
ALL conditioned reactions. None of it could be called emotion!
I just.. can't even.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)wordpix
(18,652 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)the town finally got rid of one of those 'crazy' slaughterhouses. Took the town years and years, countless court trips. Court trips bring in evidence like- The slaughterhouse only paid $5.00 (5 dollars) in Federal taxes. The town went almost broke trying to get rid of that place.
Here's a PDF of her notes/letter, that show what this mayor and one small town went through, not long ago.
http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/mayorpaulabaconletter.pdf
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)that graph told the story. it dehumanizes every being for profit. pure capitalist evil.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)the few humane laws we have in America for animal treatment. Can see in that PDF of court records how one slaughterhouse that was closed down in Canada (for the same crap) moved into a small town and ruined that town for many years.
Can you imagine a Corp. that demands over 500 jury trials over just the tickets for blood backing up into peoples homes.?
It took 6 years for Bushes FOIA to release simple pictures of USDA animal transport violations for that same slaughterhouse.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)and replaced. the usda basically takes orders from big ag. unfortunately, if citizens united is not overturned, this kind of collusion will only get orders of magnitude worse, as pols get owned by the ultra rich greedy capitalists.
we need a major reset in this country
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)going to develop a sickness.
This is the tip of the iceberg regarding the hidden cruelty of meat processing.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)becuse once they become desensitized, they commit even worse atrocities, and then they become more desensitized, ad infinitum.
its completely depraved.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)I've slaughtered chickens and it didn't turn me into a psycho. My uncle use to work at a slaughter house for good pay (at least it seemed like good pay because he always drove a Cadillac.) And he was the kindest person I've known.
Personally, I think it is the conditions of their employment that turns them into ghouls. They get paid crap so it attracts those people who can't find any other work. They get few breaks and no sick leave or other benefits. So, they are constantly on their feet working for minimal pay it makes them angry, exhausted and isolated from families and friends. When the Unions controlled the slaughter houses, there wasn't as much of this abuse as there is today.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)my dad killed chickens too where he grew up. nice guy. but there is a big difference between the family farm and the assembly line approach to the viscious slaughter of sentient beings for profit. and yes, the horrid treatment of animals carries over to the horrid treatment of workers. they are all objectified and commodified. its all about treating living beings as things for profit. its grotesque and obscene all around.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)They would kill one animal at a time, or what was needed for the family/tribe. These slaughterhouse workers are murdering animals all day every day.
Judi Lynn
(160,449 posts)ciaobaby
(1,000 posts)This is just a snapshot of the horrors of factory farming. Those who continue to buy meat are part of the problem.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)i always feel a little better at the store walking past the dead animal section without putting any money in the murderers' pockets.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)meat eater or not, its Americans tax money Federal and State.
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)As to Hormel's corrective statements about change for purposes of profit and image, there's reason to be skeptical especially given the corruption that infests our govt. 'regulatory' agencies and political system on every level.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)President Obama. They don't toot their horns.
Even some Republicans 'help' against the infestation of gov. corruption. Here is a recent letter from one Republican about our very corrupt Federal agencies, DOI & BLM. I'll put the whole letter here. This is just a tiny piece of our Govs corruption. And only ONE, happens to be a Republican can get off ass enough to even send a damn letter.
November 10, 2015
The Honorable Sally Jewell
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary Jewell:
I am outraged to learn that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) illegally sold nearly 1,800 wild horses to a Colorado rancher who in turn sold them to Mexican slaughter plants at a great profit. It is unacceptable that BLMs disregard of the law resulted in the use of taxpayer funds to facilitate the inhumane slaughter of iconic American wildlife.
In a recent report, the Department of the Interiors Inspector General (IG) found that BLM did not follow current law and also failed to follow its own policy of limiting horse sales and ensuring that the horses sold went to good homes and were not slaughtered.
The report states that BLM allowed an individual livestock hauler to purchase 1,794 horses between 2008 and 2012. Using intermediaries, he then sold the majority of these animals to slaughterhouses in Mexico for considerable profit. BLM received information that the hauler was sending his horses to slaughter, but neglected to thoroughly investigate these claims and continued selling animals to the hauler.
Selling wild horses for slaughter is a violation of law and the Bureaus own policies.
BLM manages the U.S. wild horse population and is empowered to humanely destroy excess horses. While BLM can sell excess horses to third parties in certain circumstances, the Bureaus internal guidelines prohibit the sale to slaughterers by requiring buyers to provide good homes and humane care to the animals
Moreover, during the period investigated by the IG, Congress prohibited BLM from spending funds for the destruction of healthy, unadopted, wild horses and burros in the care of [BLM] or its contractors or for the sale of wild horses and burros that results in their destruction for processing into commercial products.
Last year, more than 150,000 American horses were butchered in Canada and Mexico and then transported overseas for consumption in Japan, Italy and other countries. Horsemeat can be toxic to humans and these animals can suffer incredible abuse even before arriving at the slaughterhouse. During transportation, they are often confined without food and water in overcrowded trailers. At the slaughterhouse, horses are further inhumanely treated, and are sometimes alive and kicking during dismemberment
I am also troubled that, as part of this illegal sale, $140,000 of taxpayer money was used to transport horses to the buyer. Moreover, the sale by BLM helped the buyer earn more than $150,000 in profits from selling the horses for slaughter. These are funds that properly belong to the American public.
It is shocking that the employees who sold the animals to the hauler received bonuses for these sales. It is even more disturbing that BLM continued to sell horses to the hauler even after they were given information that he was sending the horses to slaughter. And it is a dereliction of duty that BLM did not attempt to verify the information they received.
BLM must be held accountable for breaking the law.
I respectfully request that the Department of the Interior provide my office with written answers to the following questions within 30 days:
1.Please describe the discipline imposed upon BLM employees who facilitated these illegal transactions. If these employees were not terminated, please state why the agency believes it is proper to continue to employ individuals who supported criminal activity.
2.What steps are Interior and BLM taking to recover the $140,000 of taxpayer funds use to deliver horses to the hauler?
3.Is Interior or BLM taking action to recover the haulers profits from the illegal slaughter of the horses?
4.Is Interior or BLM taking action to recover bonuses paid to any employees who facilitated this crime?
5.Does BLM receive reports that buyers of horses may be illegally selling horses for slaughter? If so, why were reports ignored in the case described in the IG report? Can you say with certainty that reports have not been ignored in any other potential cases?
6.The IG report identifies Southwest Livestock LLC as a kill buyer that exported 12,000 horses per year to Mexico for slaughter after such activity was banned. Please describe what actions, if any, you are taking to ensure that this company is not engaging in horse slaughter and is held accountable for its illegal activities.
7.Please provide your understanding of why federal and state prosecutors failed to take action in the case described in the IG report.
In particular, please describe any interaction that employees of Interior or BLM had with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Colorado or the State of Colorado Conejos County District Attorneys Office with respect to the activities described in the IG report, noting the following:
◾Whether any employees testified under oath about these activities.
◾Whether any employees were offered incentives for their testimony, such as potential immunity or reduced charges.
◾Any family relationships that employees of Bureau of Land Management have with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Colorado or the State of Colorado Conejos County District Attorneys Office.
I look forward to your prompt response and thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/
Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress
cc: The Honorable Neil Kornze, Director, Bureau of Land Management
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)wordpix
(18,652 posts)Why they're still allowed to operate these factory farms where sows can't even turn around to see their piglets is beyond horrible.