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Supreme Court Hears 'Downed' Livestock Arguments
Justices seem skeptical about California law.
Compiled by staff
Published: Nov 15, 2011
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving a California law that bans non-ambulatory livestock, including hogs, from entering the food supply. The law requires non-ambulatory animals at packing plants to be immediately euthanized. The National Pork Producers Council joined with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians in filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in the case.
NPPC pointed out that, after transport from the farm to the packing plant, hogs can become non-ambulatory from fatigue. With rest, the overwhelming majority of them will walk, and processing them poses no food-safety or public-health risk. The high court was asked by the National Meat Association to find that the Federal Meat Inspection Act pre-empts the state statute.
The California Legislature approved the state law in 2008 after a video was released by the Humane Society of the United States, showing non-ambulatory, or "downed," cows at a California beef packing plant being dragged and prodded to enter the processing line. A federal district court judge blocked the California law, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco last year overturned the lower court ruling.
During arguments last week, several justices suggested that California went too far to protect animals already regulated by federal law overseen by USDA. Skepticism toward the California law appeared to be widely shared by the justices during the hour-long oral arguments.
"A slaughterhouse worker who is on the premises needs to have one set of rules that the worker follows so that the worker knows that if he follows the advice of a federal inspector ... that the slaughterhouse worker won't go to jail," attorney Steven J. Wells argued Wednesday for the meat association. "Congress has unmistakably ordained that one set of rules govern animal handling and treatment, inspection and determinations of meat quality for sale at federally inspected slaughterhouses."
The Supreme Court is expected to rule by June, 2012.
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Tagged: farm, usda, humane society of the united states
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I saw an young steer being tortured by having testicles yanked off, his horns yanked out and something was done to his tongue, I couldn't watch the video to see what they did. I then read 5 farm factory books from the library. The animals are raised inhumanly, inoculated with antibiotics, fed terrible food with hormones in it and other animal products, tortured, sometimes slaughtered alive, maimed, live in their own excrement, die in terror and fear. Live their whole lives in fear.
95% of our meat is from food factories. After reading these books I gave up eating meat forever and I suggest your read about farm factories and do the same. This is also polluting our environment and water tables. We demean ourselves by not respecting the animals of the land. Animals are my friends, I don't want to eat them.
Posted by Dorothy on January 23 at 7:01 PM
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It is not an affront to human decency. It is the real world. Nearly all of the time it has nothing to do with the animal is treated. Animals, like people can get sick on their own. Animals can come up lame, they can become aged, they can have an anal or vaginal prolapse, and you get the point. They can also, once in awhile suffer an injury loading, on the truck, or at the facility. Many times a vet is consulted and determines the best thing to do is sell the animal. Folks in animal agriculture study and learn for themselves, care for and treat animals, consult professionals and make the best decisions they can at that moment. Just like animal lovers everywhere.
Posted by Anonymous on November 15 at 8:34 PM
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The very term "downed," as it relates to a farmed animal is an affront to human decency anywhere. Here's a concept: Don't treat cows or other animals so wretchedly that they become too sick to stand or walk in the first place! Is that such a hard concept to understand? No animal, be she a cow, pig, calf, lamb, goat, turkey, duck, goose, or chicken should be so cruelly confined or transported to slaughter in such misery that he or she can no longer stand. That's just common decency of which, evidently, those in animal agriculture abundantly lack.
Posted by Anonymous on November 15 at 11:06 AM
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The very term "downed," as it relates to a farmed animal is an affront to human decency anywhere. Here's a concept: Don't treat cows or other animals so wretchedly that they become too sick to stand or walk in the first place! Is that such a hard concept to understand? No animal, be she a cow, pig, calf, lamb, goat, turkey, duck, goose, or chicken should be so cruelly confined or transported to slaughter in such misery that he or she can no longer stand. That's just common decency of which, evidently, those in animal agriculture abundantly lack.
Posted by Anonymous on November 15 at 9:17 AM
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