Personal Injury Law

Why I Still Have A Job

By Bill Marler, Esq.

I suppose I should be shocked by the headline at KTLA today: “Local Slaughterhouse Used Sick Cows to Feed School Children,” but I have grown a bit too cynical for that. Apparently, Hallmark Meat Packing Co. of Chino, California has been cited for violating food safety and animal cruelty laws after video footage showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downed" cows - considered too sick or injured to walk - to force them into a federally inspected slaughterhouse.

Hallmark supplies the Westland Meat Co., which processes the carcasses. The facility is a major supplier to a USDA program that distributes beef to needy families, the elderly and to schools through the National School Lunch Program. Westland was named a USDA "supplier of the year" for 2004-2005 and has delivered beef to schools in 36 states.

According to press reports, downed cattle are 58 times more likely to carry mad cow disease than other cattle. Downed cattle also are more likely to carry other food-borne illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella, which kill hundreds of Americans every year.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).