USDA Bans Slaughter Or Sale Of 'Downed' Cows

by ANC Staff

In what is being hailed as an historic victory for farm animals and for the animal protection advocates who have lobbied tirelessly to help them, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced on December 30 that, "Effective immediately, USDA will ban all downer cattle from the human food chain."

The ban comes one week to the day after the first confirmed case of Mad Cow disease was reported in the U.S., and after more than a decade of lobbying by animal protection groups seeking the ban.

Prior to Tuesday's statement, the USDA had consistently defended and advocated for sending downed cows - those who are too sick or injured to stand or walk - to USDA slaughterhouses.

Animal advocacy organizations across the nation expressed their relief and satisfaction at the USDA's apparent U-turn on the issue.

"The development is a tremendous step forward for the humane treatment of farmed animals. The action will prevent enormous animal suffering," said a press release from Farm Sanctuary, which has been investigating, documenting and exposing the cruel treatment of downed animals since 1986.

"Downed cattle, too sick or injured to even stand, are commonly dragged to slaughter with chains or pushed with forklifts or tractors, and suffer from painful abrasions, torn ligaments and broken bones," they pointed out.

"With a ban on the sale and slaughter of downed animals, livestock owners will be forced to treat their animals more humanely so that they do not become nonambulatory in the first place," said a press release issued by "HumaneLines", a joint project of the HSUS and the Fund for Animals.

"And those animals who do become too sick or injured to walk on their own will no longer have to suffer the cruelty of being dragged, beaten, or pushed with bulldozers to the killing floor," the HumaneLines statement continued.

Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The HSUS, commented "We are delighted with Secretary Veneman's emphatic declaration that downed cattle are unfit for human consumption and will not be channeled into the human food supply."

"This decision also means that these animals will no longer be inhumanely treated by being dragged by chains or pushed by bulldozers to get them to slaughter," he said.

While a number of states restrict the movement of downers at state-licensed facilities, the newly-announced federal ban will apply in all states and at all federally inspected slaughterhouses, which account for the vast majority of all animals slaughtered in the United States.

While the immediate catalyst for this ban has been the discovery of mad cow disease in the US, it was also the result of years of lobbying by animal advocacy organizations like Farm Sanctuary, and was also undoubtedly influenced by the outpouring of emails, letters, and phone calls from the public to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.