Personal Injury Law

Mendell Swears To Tell the Truth

From reading the newspapers today, you would think that Steve Mendell, who owns Westland and managed Hallmark, who were partners in the Chino slaughterhouse, was given a rough time on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Mendell gave the impression that he is not a very curious man.   He had not looked at a second Humane Society video tape that actually showed "downer" cows being forced into the "knock" box at the Chino slaughterhouse.   That narrated video was the "smoking" gun that caused the United States Department of Agriculture to demand Mendell make the largest recall of beef in US history.

USDA was suppose to send him a copy.  It never did.  He never bothered to go looking for it on the Humane Society website where it was available to anyone.  After it was shown to him by the House Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, Mendell amended his testimony to acknowledge that at least two "downer" cows had made it into the food supply in violation of USDA policies.

Sure, Mendell went through some discomfort before the Subcommittee.  He clearly does not like watching the Humane Society video tapes.  He wanted to say the tapes showed there was an animal welfare problem, not a food  safety issue.  After the second tape, he had to admit to both.

For the most part, however, Mendell came across as a victim.  A  CEO who could produce documents, training manuals, and numerous government and third party audits.   But, he was personally clueless as to what was going on in the pens and on the floor of the slaughterhouse.  "Obviously, my system broke down," he said.

Best places to go for stories are: The Chicago  Tribune; The New York Times; and the Los Angeles Times.

Full post as published by Mad Cow Blog on March 13, 2008 (boomark / email).