USDA to ban downer cattle slaughter

By Janie Gabbett on 5/20/2008 for Meatingplace.com

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer on Tuesday announced his intention to ban slaughter of cattle at federally inspected facilities that go down after initial inspection.

"Today I am announcing that USDA will begin working on a proposed rule to prohibit the slaughter of all disabled non-ambulatory cattle, also known as 'downer cattle.' In other words, I am calling for the end of the exceptions in the so called 'downer rule,'" Schafer said in a statement.

Under current regulations, a downed cow can still be slaughtered if a USDA inspector reassesses the animal and determines it is still safe for consumption. An example would be an animal that tripped and broke a limb, rather than fell due to illness. The rule became controversial after USDA recalled 143 million pounds of beef in the wake of video that showed downed cattle at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. seemingly headed to slaughter without re-inspection.

Schafer said the current rule has been "challenging to communicate and has, at times, been confusing to consumers." He characterized Tuesday's decision as a way to simplify the issue and positively impact humane cattle handling by reducing the incentive to send marginally weakened cattle to market.

Impact

Schafer minimized the impact of the decision on slaughter facilities, noting that last year, of the nearly 34 million slaughtered cattle, fewer than 1,000 cattle that were re-inspected were actually approved by the veterinarian for slaughter.

"This represents less than 0.003 percent of cattle slaughtered annually. As you can see, this number is minimal," said Schafer.

The decision comes at the end of a 60-day enhanced surveillance period when USDA inspectors were instructed to spend 50 percent to 100 percent more time verifying and documenting humane handling practices at federally inspected plants. Schafer said USDA is still analyzing those results.

The American Meat Institute, which along with the National Meat Association and the National Milk Producers Federation had petitioned USDA in April requesting this move applauded today's action. The Humane Society of the United States, which was responsible for video taping animal abuse at Hallmark/Westland, also praised the move.