FRESNO, Calif. —Federal regulators who shut down a central California slaughterhouse after receiving an animal-welfare video were investigating Tuesday whether beef from sick cows reached the human food supply.
The video appears to show workers bungling the slaughter of cows struggling to walk and even stand. Under federal regulations, sick animals cannot be slaughtered for human consumption.
The investigation will determine whether sick cows were slaughtered and whether meat products from the company should be recalled, said Justin DeJong, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The agency suspended operations Monday at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford after receiving the video Friday from the animal-welfare group Compassion Over Killing. The footage shows animals bleeding and thrashing after being repeatedly shot in the head with a pneumatic gun in unsuccessful efforts to render them unconscious for slaughter.
Federal regulations say that to avoid unnecessary suffering during slaughter, animals must be rendered unconscious by a single shot to the head from a pneumatic gun that fires a bolt through the skull to pierce the brain.
In-N-Out Burger, a fast-food chain, severed its ties with the company after learning about the situation.
The USDA said investigators are trying to determine whether the cows in the video were just lame or sick, the latter of which would render them unfit for human consumption.
Central Valley Meat, owned by Brian and Lawrence Coelho, declined to comment on the video, saying company officials had not seen it. On Tuesday the company hired a public relations firm, which issued a statement saying the company is cooperating with investigators.
“Central Valley Meat is working closely with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to address animal-handling concerns arising from a covert video provided to USDA by an animal-rights group. Central Valley Meat takes these issues very seriously and is now developing a plan of action to present to FSIS to remedy any potential violations of USDA guidelines
,” the company said.
