By Dave Gram, Associated Press Writer | November 3, 2009
MONTPELIER, Vt. --A Vermont slaughterhouse ordered closed Friday after video showed calves kicked, shocked and cut while conscious had its operating license suspended three times earlier this year for similar conduct.
U.S. Department of Agriculture records show Bushway Packing Inc. of Grand Isle was shut down for a day in May, again in June and again in July after an inspector cited it for inhumane treatment of animals.
The revelation came Monday as the Humane Society of the United States released more video footage taken with a hidden camera this summer. The video shows days-old male calves culled from dairy herds being dragged, kicked, repeatedly shocked with electric prods and apparently cut while still conscious.
"We found even two calves who appeared to be skinned alive while they were still conscious," said Michael Markarian, the Humane Society's chief operating officer.
The video also appeared to back up a Friday statement in which U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack described the conduct of a USDA inspector at the slaughterhouse as "inexcusable."
It showed an unidentified inspector appearing to coach a plant worker on how to avoid being shut down by another inspector and failing to stop an animal being cut while awake.
A call to the slaughterhouse on Monday was not immediately returned, nor was a call to a Ronald Bushway listed in Grand Isle.
USDA spokesman Caleb Weaver said Monday he could not comment on the inspector's conduct because it was a personnel matter.
Markarian said it appeared several calves were abused because they would not or could not stand up to be prepared for slaughter. The slaughterhouse specialized in "bob veal" -- meat from days-old calves that ends up in hot dogs and lunch meats. Meat sold as veal usually come from animals raised to about 4 months old.
Some in the Vermont dairy industry said they worried the revelations would give an enterprise generally viewed as wholesome a black eye. Bushway Packing was certified as an organic processor, raising extra concern in that sector.
"That's not right, that's really nasty," said Paul Stecker, an organic dairy farmer from Cabot, after watching the video on the Humane Society's Web site. "I wouldn't be in this business if that's the way it was. That's not the norm, I can tell you that."
Stecker said the slaughterhouse's problems also would bring attention to an aspect of dairying most farmers don't like or talk about much: The vast majority of male calves born on dairy farms face very short lives.
"That kind of thing hurts us all, like our industry really needed that," he said.
Dairy farmers nationwide have been struggling as a global milk glut has resulted in dramatically lower prices for their milk.
The Humane Society said it would propose tighter rules for the meatpacking and related industries, including a requirement that male calves born on dairy farms be kept there until they are 10 days old to ensure they are strong enough to travel.
Kelly Loftus, a spokeswoman for the state Agency of Agriculture, said she expected there would be strong opposition to such a measure.
"There are labor costs involved. There are feeding costs involved," she said. With the current crisis in dairy farming, "any extra expense could mean that a farm has to close."
Nicole Dehne of Vermont Organic Farmers, a group that certifies Vermont farms as organic under an agreement with the USDA, said the group's national counterpart is meeting in Washington this week and will discuss humane treatment of farm animals.
Organic rules now are geared mainly toward ensuring meat labeled organic comes from animals raised without hormones or chemicals.
"I think consumers expect organic regulations to cover all aspects of animal welfare, including slaughter and transportation," Dehne said. "If we need to tighten the regulations in regard to processing facilities, and come up with guidelines to address more humane transportation, I think we would respond to the expectations of the organic consumer."
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 3,352 Location: NC
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #1 on Nov 3, 2009, 9:13am »
I watched the video. Part of me wishes I hadn't, as sometimes, ignorance is bliss. I wonder how long those folks have to work there before they become completely desensitized to what's going on around them like that. I wonder how their home lives are. I really wonder if anything will change. Closing one plant, will it change anything? Will they be able to get the bill passed that makes it so dairies have to keep the calves 10 days? Bigger picture, will dairies be able still be able to sustain themselves with the added cost/burden of the extra days, with their already burdened farming bringing so many down? Is there a chance the dairies might just start to dispatch the calves themselves, rendering the meat useless to anyone, due to this?
Those are just questions running through my mind, of course I don't mean for them to be answered here. Some of the actions on the video are hienous and are definitely actions of someone completely desensitized to the plight of the animals they are dealing with.
I wonder also if a compromise couldn't be obtained. One that doesn't put dairy farmers more at risk of going out of business or the lives of the calves completely wasted, while the calves that do go to slaughter are treated more proper. We have such a shortage of jobs in the country. There's plenty of eligible people that could be hired to oversee these operations. They could be FORCED to video all of their days so that it could be checked at any time. A few less calves slaughtered in the day, more time spent on each one, maybe only two minutes more per calf, I don't know what that'd equate to in $$, but in treatment, it could equate to everything for the slaughter houses and the dairy farmers.
Uggh..sorry. I don't even know if what I'm writing makes sense at this point. It's just frustrating to see something like that and not be able to DO anything about it, again.
Joined: Feb 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 1,432 Location: The Dalles, OR
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #2 on Nov 3, 2009, 10:08am »
What to do with the unwanted bull calves has always been vexing issue. My darling talks about simply knocking them on the head as soon as they were born. Fifty years later he's still sick at heart about that solution. But he couldn't afford feeding them. However, this slaughter house solution is vile. I too have no answers for a better solution.
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #3 on Nov 3, 2009, 7:42pm »
If a law were passed that calves had to be ten days old there would be farmers lieing about age and a good portion would go the route of killing them shortly after birth. Some already do that, and it has been resorted to in the past when the calves cost money to send through a sale barn. Not something we've done or would have done if we were still in the business, but if they couldn't be sold before ten days to anyone it would have made it cost more.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 3,352 Location: NC
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #4 on Nov 4, 2009, 8:01am »
I talked to Mike (my DH) more about this last night. It's bothering me, I guess. Since the issue is with the slaughterhouses and how they are treating the calves, I would think the brunt of the issue should lay on them. The costs, etc. These people are proposing 10 days to keep calves, but why not compromise and say 5 days, to make sure they are steady on their feet, and the slaughter houses HAVE to slow down, can only do so many in a day, etc. The back lash should definitely be on them. They should be held accountable for their actions... It's just so frustrating an issue. Roseanna, what you said makes perfect sense.
Joined: Mar 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 2,954 Location: ny
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #5 on Nov 5, 2009, 8:21am »
Seems I recall that a bull calf once was not a curse to the farm it was future meat. That animal after being raised on grass alone for a few years can feed a family for a year. It is a shame and irresponsible that the industry is focused on one thing and one thing only, milk and in vast quantities irregardless of the waste, byproduct or environmental impact. The industry needs to be reorganized, not that it will ever happen.
What is worse is the lack of good slaughterhouses that can hire at a good wage responsible and ethical people.
This is a wake up call to everyone. More of us need to be sticking our noses in the slaughterhouse we use. No certification can prevent abuse.
Joined: Nov 2004 Gender: Female Posts: 3,237 Location: High Peaks of the Adirondacks
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #6 on Nov 5, 2009, 5:48pm »
I didn't see this. I posted about the same slaughterhouse closing in Across the Fence, and on my blog. I had been going to take my sheep to this slaughterhouse, only because there are so few options up here and it looked great online. Everything is two hours away for me, so I had thought... why not two hours away INTO VERMONT (the home of family farms)? Very, very sad. I've told everyone who farms in this area.
Milkmaid to Katika, Canadienne x Jersey born 5/12/2002 George Clooney, foster Jersey bull born 10/23/08 Charles Bronson, foster Jersey bull calf born 9/15/09 Birch, 23-year-old Azteca gelding 5 Romney mutt ewes, 3 Clun Forest ewes, and 1 Clun Forest ram dogs and cat
I always think of dairy farmers and their difficulties every time I hear someone being a blindly faithful, devout, and subservient follower of the god of the free market.
Are you bashing the "free market" system? Why? The free market does not advocate abuse. In the free market, businesses who do the wrong thing should fail and close and stories like this are what it's all about. Gov't interference in the free market gives rise to legislation that favors megacorps and squashes the little guys.
Elsie-Dee, Jersey x Shorthorn cow Several Standardbred horses, "recycled racers" 30+ laying hens, varying meat bird flock, Muscovy and Mallard ducks Solstice Point Farm Waterboro, Maine
Joined: Oct 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 53 Location: Mountains of Northern Vermont
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #8 on Nov 18, 2009, 6:09pm »
This is a big problem.
The problem on the slaughterhouse is that they were going too fast and didn't care. Bushway's was doing a lot of calves. The line speed makes for problems.
The problem on the farmers is they were bringing the calves in too young. It is easy to tell by looking at them - I see them when we go. I hate seeing them because they're all skin and bones, there's no meat. It isn't just the inhumane issues, its bad economics and bad sense. Instead of selling them newborn they should raise them up as rose veal on pasture. This requires being a little more diverse, not mono-culturing, not fixating on one product (milk).
The problem with the Humane Society of the United States is they are not really about humane animal treatment at all. Their founder is promoting mandatory veganism and isolating humanity from nature. If they were humane they would have notified the USDA and the Vermont Dept of Ag of the issue when they first found out a long time ago instead of spending months "undercover" and then piecing together a highly edited sensational video tape. Not only that but the HSUS abused the letter they obtained from Dr. Temple Grandin's assistant. Read the letter which is buried on the HSUS web site. The HSUS distorts it. I don't trust the HSUS one iota. Check out: http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/136
Unfortunately this gives all farmers and slaughterhouses a black eye. What we need is a lot more very small slaughterhouses and more farm diversity.
Joined: Aug 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 2,857 Location: Massachusetts USA
Re: Is anyone using this VT slaughterhouse? « Reply #9 on Nov 23, 2009, 6:23am »
Walter: You're right. The problem is that aside from Peta and HUS, no one is looking out for the interests and lives of animals. Without these two groups, these operations would continue to operate with the unofficial support of the USDA.
I don't agree with many of their positions, but someone has to do something in a world where few people give a d**n.
The problem is that aside from Peta and HUS, no one is looking out for the interests and lives of animals. Without these two groups, these operations would continue to operate with the unofficial support of the USDA.
I don't agree with many of their positions, but someone has to do something in a world where few people give a d**n.
That's where WE come in, obviously we give a you-know-what, otherwise we wouldn't be doing what we are doing. Peta wants to eradicate ALL animal consumption (and by-products--milk, eggs, etc)....The Humane Society isn't too far behind in the same lines of thinking. Trying to make people understand it's not "mean" to milk a cow, or take eggs from a hen....and WHY....that's the hard part!
Small-timers like US is what keeps the "little guy" in business, the lockers, the feedstores, hay people, etc etc. The old adage "you don't use it you loose it" would apply here.
On another note, my FIL thinks I'm mean to have our steers butchered. He thinks I should sell them....not realizing that they'd just end up in a feedlot somewhere with the same ending. Which life is better for them?? Which meat is more healthier for us?? They are not put on some "factory kill/disassemble" line....they are taken to one of our small, local lockers. It also helps keep my money local....... Janene
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