New video of mistreated cows released

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WASHINGTON - An animal advocacy group released undercover video footage Wednesday of sick or injured dairy cows that it contends were mistreated at an auction facility where cattle are sold for slaughter.

Three cows too sick or weak to stand were sold at the Portales Livestock Auction in Portales, N.M., the Humane Society of the United States said. Such cows pose increased risk for mad cow disease, E. coli and other infections, partly because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems often are weak.

But the facility's owner said he was certain that there was "no way" a so-called downer cow could have gotten into the food supply, and a top federal official agreed.

In January, the Humane Society released undercover video from a California slaughterhouse that led to the nation's largest beef recall. In May, the group released video of downed cows being abandoned or mistreated at four auction facilities around the country.


Chicago Tribune