Coalition Asks EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gases and Other Toxic Air Pollutants From Factory Farms

http://www.commondreams.org/print/47276

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2009 3:17 PM

CONTACT: Friends of the Earth [1] Kate McMahon, 202-222-0715, kmcmahon@foe.org

Coalition Asks EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gases and Other Toxic Air Pollutants From Factory Farms

WASHINGTON - September 21 - The Humane Society of the United States and a coalition of environmental and public health organizations filed a legal petition [2] with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to regulate air pollution from factory farms.

The petitioners joining The HSUS include Association of Irritated Residents; Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment; Clean Air Task Force; Dairy Education Alliance; El Comité para el Bienestar de Earlimart; Environmental Integrity Project; Friends of the Earth; and Waterkeeper Alliance.

"Unregulated air pollution from massive factory farms has a devastating impact on human health and the environment," says Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel for Animal Protection Litigation and Research at The HSUS. "The EPA should hold these big agribusiness corporations accountable for the enormous harm they are inflicting on local communities, independent family farmers, and the environment."

The 69-page petition provides detailed scientific and legal information about the significant emissions of methane and nitrous oxide-two greenhouse gases-as well as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from factory farms, and how all of these pollutants have been shown to have negative effects on human health and welfare, including adverse effects on climate and the environment in the United States.

The petition further explains how reducing emissions of major pollutants from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which are massive industrial facilities confining thousands or even millions of animals in warehouse-like conditions, will improve human health, reduce suffering of farm animals, protect habitat for wildlife, and reduce the effects of climate change and other environmental problems. Regulating air pollution from CAFOs will also create a strong incentive for new CAFOs to employ production methods that reduce emissions.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has deemed the livestock sector "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." This same report found that animal agriculture was responsible for contributing 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions-more than even the transport sector.

In the United States, confined farm animals produce 500 million tons of waste every year, more than 3.3 times the amount of waste created by humans. Nevertheless, the EPA does not currently require these animal factories to meet any testing, performance or emission standards under the Clean Air Act.

CAFOs economically harm small family farms engaging in practices that are better for animal welfare and more environmentally sustainable. These independent farmers cannot financially compete with large factory farms, which cut corners and jeopardize environmental and public health. Forcing factory farms to comply with environmental and health standards would level the playing field and help small farmers become more competitive.

"Our lungs and the future of our planet are not animal factory subsidies," said Tom Fratz, president of the Association of Irritated Residents and a resident of the San Joaquin Valley, an air basin in California with more than 2.6 million dairy cows. "President Obama promised us during the election that he would protect rural residents from this pollution and we expect EPA to keep that promise."

"Hog lots and other factory farms aren't just stinky, they're also destabilizing our climate," said Kate McMahon of Friends of the Earth. "The EPA has a legal obligation to protect the public by cracking down on this economic and public health threat - a threat that has yet to be addressed by climate legislation pending in Congress."

"The people who live in the communities devastated by unregulated air pollution from animal factories deserve protection" said Charlie Tebbutt of the Western Environmental Law Center and co-chair of the Dairy Education Alliance. "Implementing this petition will get animal factories into the Clean Air Act process and give communities better opportunities to protect themselves."

"Through global warming and deposition, the toxic emissions from industrial animal operations have profoundly impacted our water resources" said Hannah Connor of Waterkeeper Alliance. "By actively regulating the emissions from this industry, EPA will be taking a positive step towards protecting and enhancing not only the quality of our Nation's air resources, but also the quality of our Nation's water resources, and the public health and welfare of our communities."

FACTS:

• Over the last several decades, increasing numbers of animals are being warehoused in fewer, but larger, operations, in which many of them are intensively confined in small spaces such as battery cages, veal crates and gestation crates.
• The increased waste and emissions associated with factory farming result in air pollution that contributes to climate change, causes serious public health concerns, and harms the environment.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) deemed the animal agriculture sector "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." This same report, Livestock's Long Shadow, found that global meat, egg and milk production generate more greenhouse gas emissions than even the transport sector.
• Pollution from farm animal production is only continuing to increase, making emissions from CAFOs some of the nation's largest sources of pollution.
• Despite clear evidence that CAFOs significantly contribute to emissions of methane, nitrous oxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter, the EPA does not require CAFOs to meet any testing, performance or emission standards under the Clean Air Act.
• Numerous scientific surveys, including the U.S. Inventory Report adopted by the EPA, establish that CAFOs meet the standards for regulation under section 111 of the Clean Air Act as a source that causes or contributes significantly to air pollution which endangers public health and welfare.

To download the petition, click http://www.foe.org/sites/default/files/HSUS_et_al_v_EPA_CAFO_CAA_Petition.pdf [2]

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Friends of the Earth [1] is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.

Friends of the Earth Links: Homepage [1]FOE (Press Center) [3]FOE (Action Center) [4]

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Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org

URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/09/21-14

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20080530 Cows, Lies and Videotape

Cows, Lies and Videotape

May 10^th, 2008 by Westminster Eagle columnist Kevin Dayhoff (1,997 words)

May 30, 2008

Author’s note: A shorter version of the following was published on May 14, 2008 in the Westminster Eagle newspaper and The Tentacle – an online magazine.

For other posts about this mater, click on: Agriculture Cows Lies and Videotape

On May 7, the Humane Society of the United States – HSUS - released videotape of an “undercover investigation” which claimed to show the “shocking abuse of ‘downer’ cows occurs not just at slaughter plants but … at livestock auctions and stockyards around the country.”

One of the stockyards “investigated” was the Westminster Livestock Auction (WLA.)

The event was to serve as a follow-up to the sensational video the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) released last January which “documented” an undercover investigation of conditions at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company of Chino, California.

The HSUS had hoped, in January, to stimulate some action on an initiative that began in earnest in 2002 which, according to a HSUS press release, resulted in Congress directing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “to investigate the question of downed animals at livestock auctions and markets.”

The investigation was to include “the scope of problems, the causes, and the resulting cruel treatment of animals,” and follow up with “regulations to provide for the humane treatment, handling, and disposition of nonambulatory livestock by stockyards, market agencies, and dealers.”

Last February, shortly after the HSUS released the video of its “undercover investigation” of the Chino meat packing facility the USDA ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef that came from that California processing plant. As a consequence of the recall, the facility closed and has yet to re-open.

The HSUS had hoped “the largest meat recall in U.S. history,” would get Congress moving. It did not.

If anything, the video released in January further called in question the tactics of the HSUS. The video in question “documented” an incident at the Chino plant that was alleged to have happened four months earlier in October 2007.

In spite of the suggestion by Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS, that the video depicted, “torture … right out of the waterboarding manual,” and that the video “must serve as a five-alarm call to action for Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” the HSUS – curiously - sat on the video for four months before releasing it.

After four months more product was introduced into our nation’s food supply, the HSUS exclaimed, “Our government simply must act quickly both to guarantee the most basic level of humane treatment for farm animals and to protect America's most vulnerable people, our children, needy families and the elderly from potentially dangerous food.”

The 143 million pounds of beef recalled amounted to the volume of product processed in the four months the HSUS failed to produce the video.

USDA Secretary Ed Schafer said the recall was the result of “one cow that we know of went down just before moving into the gate, and we were supposed to be notified and were not,” in spite of a 2004 government requirement, as a precaution to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) from entering the food chain. The 2004 rule requires that livestock be able to walk after USDA inspection.

Speaking at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association conference shortly after the January HSUS video surfaced, Secretary Schafer, according the news reports, “condemned the treatment of the dairy cattle shown on the undercover video taken at a Hallmark Meat Packing Co. plant in Chino, Calif.”

However, he added “that ‘The Humane Society, since late October, has been willing to let animals suffer out there,’ rather than notify USDA immediately of the abuses.”

Secretary Schafer “ordered a review of the plant's practices and an inspector general's investigation of the company. He said that investigation has already uncovered violations of federal regulations.”

In February, Secretary Schafer reiterated that, “for four months, theoretically, animals were not being properly treated, and the Humane Society stood by and allowed it to happen,” according to the New York Times.

Fast-forwarding to the recent HSUS investigation, which involved the WLA, The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association put the matter in an additional context in a statement released on May 7:

“At noon today, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a long-time critic of animal agriculture in this country, released a video and news release calling attention to the alleged mishandling of downer cattle at livestock auction markets in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Texas.”

Livestock Marketing Association President Jim Santomaso then pointed out, “America’s 1,200 livestock marketing businesses annually handle an astounding number of livestock. In 2006, according to government figures, 35.6 million head of cattle and calves moved through those markets. The overwhelming majority of those markets practice appropriate handling of all livestock moving through their businesses – because proper handling is both a humane and economic necessity.”

Undaunted, the HSUS’s next step was to prove that state regulations of the livestock industry are inadequate. On May 7, the HSUS asserted that the “video evidence produced by this (recent) investigation clearly demonstrates that dairy farmers and auction houses have not solved the problems on their own—far from it.”

Mr. Pacelle emphasized on May 7^th: “These new video images show that the rot in the factory farming system of raising animals goes much deeper. The problems are systemic, the laws and regulations are inadequate, and the industry's resolve insufficient.”

A press release which accompanied the press conference, claimed that the released video of “undercover investigation,” which included the Westminster Livestock Auction (WLA,) showed the “shocking abuse of ‘downer’ cows occurs not just at slaughter plants but may be an everyday happening at livestock auctions and stockyards around the country… Animals are “left to suffer for hours and in one instance overnight.”

The media immediately pounced upon the story like so many aroused vultures. The headlines screamed: “Sick Cows Abandoned To Die At Auction Houses” – “WUSA News 9 Now”: and the “Maryland Daily Record” web site cried, “Video: Mistreated cows at Maryland auction house.”

In the carefully choreographed press conference on May 7, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle played the “undercover” video shot at the WLA and exclaimed: “This is just pitiful… This poor creature, too weak to move, just left there to languish and to die…”

For the animal lovers among us, and those of us who actually know “where our food comes from”; we understand that the integrity of the food chain is only maintained in the real world by constant vigilance. In that capacity, the HSUS has historically played an important role. It is concurrently critical that the HSUS remain above reproach in their advocacy.

Having some background in livestock auctions and hauling livestock from when I was much younger, I was curious. And a review of the video indicated immediately that it just didn’t add up.

“Every place we looked, we found problems with downed animals,” said Pacelle.

Well, everyplace I looked, I found problems with the HSUS’s allegations – and what may be “pitiful” is the HSUS’s “undercover investigation,” of the WLA on April 22. The more the “incident,” was looked into, the more the mysteries multiplied.

In the first seconds of the HSUS video, a cow that is unable to walk is filmed in the unloading gate at WLA.

In a follow up interview, Jim Horak Sr., the owner of the WLA since 2004, said that a hired trucker unloaded the cow at a busy moment that evening, just as “the man who handles the gate was (away) moving other cattle that had just been unloaded.” Please understand that this is occurring at a busy time at the stockyard, which handles as many as 800 or more head of livestock the evening of a sale.

When the “gatekeeper” returned just as the cow was unloaded, he found the cow “down.” Upon being told that the WLA did not accept livestock that cannot walk, the driver refused to take the cow back and quickly left.

The cow was immediately, “carefully,” moved outside of the gate and offered alfalfa hay, according to Horak. Meanwhile the owner of the cow was notified that the WLA would not accept delivery of the cow and that the owner had to come back and pick up the animal. The owner refused.

“They were not here to buy or sell anything – the cow was placed here to cause trouble,” concluded Horak.

Horak states he has handled thousands of animals and no one – until the HSUS - has ever questioned him before about how the yard handles animals.

Indeed, one of the immediate mysteries about this incident is how is it an HSUS undercover investigator just happened to be there for the “minutes” this one particular cow, out of hundreds of animals, was still in the unloading chute?

The fact that the cow was humanely moved is obvious. One of the most important advocacies of the HSUS is that diseased and sick cows - which the HSUS implies may even have “mad-cow disease” - are being inhumanely “dragged and prodded with inhumane handling methods, and increasing the threat of carrying and passing disease.”

One can be sure that if the cow had been handled inhumanely it would have appeared on the HSUS “undercover” video.

Later, “Fox 5” TV reported that it discovered the HSUS knew the cow was not sick or diseased and in fact knew the cow had just had an operation for a twisted stomach – and was in a post-surgical weakened state. Not only was that information not revealed by HSUS at the press conference - but one has to wonder just how the HSUS knew that information in the first place?

Another TV station, “WUSA,” said HSUS accused that “auction workers were unwilling to waste a bullet to shoot her, so she sat there all night, and into the next day, until investigators finally called local officials, and they euthanized her.”

An allegation vehemently denied by Mr. Horak, who noted that many of his employees have been with the stockyard for decades and are dedicated to the history and traditions of the livestock auction and are keenly aware of the proper handling of the animals. Moreover, none of his employees could recall talking with a representative of the HSUS or making any such remark.

The employees did recall feeding and looking after the welfare of the cow.

On May 2, a week before the press conference in which the video was shown, “The HSUS brought preliminary evidence of the abuse to the attention of U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer … at a face-to-face meeting…”

In a letter handed to Secretary Schafer, HSUS claimed, “A downed cow left overnight at a Mid-Atlantic auction is shown. The day following the auction, she was filmed by HSUS investigators in an advanced state of physical distress. Her breathing was labored and she flailed helplessly on the ground. She had no protection from the elements and was without food or water for almost a day.”

However, Horak says that in spite of the fact that it could not stand (because of the surgery,) the cow not in distress. A fact of which is proven in the HSUS video, which one can be sure was edited to show the worse.

As far as the cow staying out overnight; that’s what cow’s do. They rarely if ever come into the farmhouse to watch TV at night. Furthermore, an employee checked on the cow at daybreak the next morning and gave it water and hay.

The cow died because hours later the HSUS called the local humane society which came out and shot the cow. The HSUS then put a picture of the dead cow on their press release.

If I ever have stomach surgery, please don’t take a video of me not being able to walk. Then claim “in distress,” and that I’ve been abused and have me shot by the local humane society so that a picture of my dead body can be put on a press release.

In a statement on May 7^th, the Maryland Department of Agriculture said it is investigating. Perhaps what needs to be investigated is the HSUS’s “undercover investigations,” in its ongoing war on food.

Kevin Dayhoff is a retired nursery stock farmer and the former mayor of Westminster, whose family has farmed in Carroll and Fredrick County since the 1700s. He writes a regular column for the Westminster Eagle, the Sunday Carroll Eagle, and The Tentacle on current events, history, agriculture, and politics. He can be reached at: kdayhoff AT carr.org

20080528 Maryland Department of Agriculture: Westminster Livestock Auction Operator Charged with Violations of Maryland Animal Health Law

Westminster Livestock Auction Operator Charged with Violations of Maryland Animal Health Law

CONTACT: Sue duPont 410-841-5889 Julie Oberg 410-841-5888

May 28, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 28, 2008) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture has charged the operator of the Westminster Livestock Auction Market, Mr. James Horak, with four counts of violating State Animal Health regulations. The charges are a result of an investigation into reported inhumane treatment of a non-ambulatory cow at the auction on April 22 and 23.

“After investigating this matter, the agency believes that the market was not was not prepared to handle downer animals that night and as a result a ‘downer’ cow was not treated in a humane manner,” said Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson. “Mr. Horak has been charged with violating the State’s Animal Health Law.”

The violations are:

1.) two counts of failing to provide humane treatment [COMAR 15.11.17.03A] by improperly moving a downed animal and failing to euthanize in a timely manner an animal that was in obvious distress.

2) one count of failing to provide the needed equipment for handling, moving and if necessary euthanizing the animal [COMAR 15.11.17.03A].

3) one count of failing to euthanize the downed animal at the close of the sale or place her in the care of a licensed veterinarian on April 22 [COMAR 15.11.17.03C].

Mr. Horak has 15-days to respond to the charges. Persons charged in this manner under the Maryland Agriculture Law have a right to a hearing before an administrative law judge.

“Our goal is to ensure that an incident of the nature discovered on April 22 does not happen again,” said Maryland State Veterinarian Dr. Guy Hohenhaus. “The operator and his staff are cooperating fully with this investigation and have allowed us to close it quickly. This appears to be an unusual incident for the auction and the operator has already taken a number of steps to prevent such a situation from happening again.”

MDA has clear regulations governing the humane treatment of livestock at auction markets (COMAR 15.11.17) and each licensed market is provided a copy of the rules and protocols that they are required to follow. MDA has taken action to strengthen its penalties against anyone who violates state animal health laws and regulations.

House Bill 227, proposed by MDA and passed by the 2008 General Assembly, gives the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to issue administrative penalties (fines) of up to $10,000 in cases where these laws and regulations are broken. This law goes into affect on Oct. 1, 2008. In addition, MDA is currently reviewing its livestock market and dealer regulations to determine what actions are needed to strengthen them.

Specifically in response to the Westminster Livestock Auction Market situation, MDA has reviewed and revised its protocols for inspectors at livestock auctions to include: reporting and tracking downed animals; officially informing the livestock auction management of action that must be taken; and following up the day after a sale to make sure that the appropriate disposition of any downed animals has taken place.

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20080529 AP: Westminster Livestock Auction faces state charges

Livestock auction operator faces state charges

Hat Tip: Carroll County Times

By The Associated Press Thursday, May 29, 2008

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Agriculture has charged a livestock auction operator in connection with alleged inhumane treatment of a downed cow at auction last month.

James Horak, operator of the Westminster Livestock Auction Market, faces four counts of violating state animal health regulations, the department said in a news release.

State agriculture officials began investigating the market after the Humane Society of the United States released video footage in April of sick and injured livestock the group says were mistreated at auction sites and stockyards where cattle are sold for slaughter.

Horak could not be reached for comment. The department said he has 15 days to respond to the charges, which include failing to provide humane treatment and failing to euthanize in a timely manner an animal that was in obvious distress.

20080521 Westminster Eagle: Letters to the editor in response to my May 14th 2008 Westminster Eagle column – “Pictures are worth a thousand words, but

Westminster Eagle: Letters to the editor in response to my May 14^th 2008 Westminster Eagle column – “Pictures are worth a thousand words, but not the whole picture”

Find my May 14^th, 2008 Westminster Eagle column here: Pictures are worth a thousand words, but not the whole picture

Or here: 20080515 Westminster Eagle: Pictures are worth a thousand words but not the whole picture by Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster Eagle Letters 05/21/08

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=978&NewsID=903777&CategoryID=17346&on=1

Humane Society right to stand for cow that couldn't

I take offense at the tone of Kevin Dayhoff's column on the Westminster Livestock auction in the May 14 edition of The Eagle ("Pictures are worth a thousand words, but not the whole picture").

It was both snide and sarcastic as he described the reported inhumane treatment of a sick cow left outside the auction house overnight without food or water.

While I was not there -- nor was he -- I've been to enough livestock auctions in Maryland and Pennsylvania to know that poor or substandard treatment does indeed occur.

I'm glad the Humane Society takes an interest in monitoring these establishments, which, after all, are in the business of making money off these animals.

Mr. Dayhoff's column conveys the attitude that these "events" were misrepresented by the Humane Society and perhaps, were something of a witch hunt. I can't speak to that, but I feel these animals deserve humane, compassionate treatment while they are in our care -- even if they are eventually destined for our dinner table.

Michele Gramens

Westminster

Humane society found wrongdoing in Westminster

In response to The Humane Society of the United States' investigation into the treatment of dairy cows at livestock auctions in four states, including the Westminster Livestock Auction, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer stated:

"The dairy cattle shown in the video were non-ambulatory and were abandoned in parking lots of these auctions and yards. These animals were not in slaughter facilities. However, even though this is not a food safety issue, these actions of animal cruelty are not acceptable."

Secretary Schafer was spot on -- these animals, including the cow at Westminster, were abandoned in helpless and painful conditions by farmers, haulers and auction employees who should have known better.

Maryland law requires market operators to euthanize downed farm animals who are too sick or injured to stand or walk, or place them in the care of a licensed veterinarian at the close of a sale. Westminster appears to have failed to abide by the law, and left the cow to suffer through the night.

The HSUS contacted the Humane Society of Carroll County, whose officer found the cow in such dire straits that he euthanized her and issued a citation to the cow's owner. These are the sad facts of a case now being investigated by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

It is time for auction owners to treat animals humanely, and to act accordingly, both in terms of ethics and the law.

Miyun Park, vice president Farm Animal Welfare

Humane Society of the United States

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20080521 Westminster Eagle: Letters to the editor in response to my May 14^th 2008 Westminster Eagle column – “Pictures are worth a thousand words, but not the whole picture”

20080515 Westminster Eagle: Pictures are worth a thousand words but not the whole picture by Kevin Dayhoff

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but not the whole picture

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=978&NewsID=902610&CategoryID=18317&show=localnews&om=1

05/15/08 By Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last Wednesday, the Humane Society of the United States released videotape of an "undercover investigation" which claimed to show the "shocking abuse of 'downer' cows occurs not just at slaughter plants but É at livestock auctions and stockyards around the country," according to the humane society press release.

One of the stockyards "investigated" was the Westminster Livestock Auction.

In a carefully choreographed press conference, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle played the video shot at the WLA and said: "This is just pitiful. É This poor creature, too weak to move, just left there to languish and to die."

In the first seconds of the video, a cow that is unable to walk is shown in the unloading gate at the livestock auction.

In an interview last Thursday, Jim Horak Sr., owner of the livestock auction since 2004, said a hired trucker unloaded the cow at a busy moment that evening; just as "the man who handles the gate was (away) moving other cattle that had just been unloaded."

When the gatekeeper returned minutes later, just after the cow was unloaded; he found the cow down. Horak said that upon being told that the auction did not accept livestock that cannot walk, the driver refused to take the cow back and quickly left.

The cow was immediately, "carefully," moved outside of the gate and offered alfalfa hay, according to Horak. Meanwhile, the owner of the cow was called and told the WLA would not accept delivery of the cow and that the owner had to come back and pick up the animal. The owner refused, Horak said.

Horak said he has handled thousands of animals and no one -- until the Humane Society of the United States -- questioned him before about how the yard handles animals.

Indeed, one of the immediate mysteries about this incident is how a Humane Society undercover investigator happened to be there for the brief period when this particular cow, out of thousands of animals, was still in the unloading chute.

The fact that the cow was humanely moved is obvious. One critical advocacy of the humane society is that diseased and sick cows are being inhumanely "dragged and prodded with inhumane handling methods, and increasing the threat of carrying and passing disease."

I can imagine that if the cow had been handled inhumanely it would have appeared on the "undercover" video.

Later in the week, Fox 5 television reported that the Humane Society of the United States knew the cow was not sick or diseased and in fact knew the cow had just had an operation for a twisted stomach.

One has to wonder -- how the Humane Society knew that piece of information?

The day following the auction, the Humane Society said the cow "was filmed by ... investigators in an advanced state of physical distress. Her breathing was labored and she flailed helplessly on the ground. She had no protection from the elements and was without food or water for almost a day."

However, Horak said that in spite of the fact that it could not stand (because of the surgery), the cow was not in distress.

As far as the cow staying outside overnight; that's what cows do. They rarely, if ever, come into the farmhouse to watch TV at night.

Furthermore, Horak said an employee checked on the cow at daybreak the next morning and gave it water and hay.

The cow died. Hours after the video was shot, the Humane Society of the United States called the local humane society which came out and euthanized the cow. The national Humane Society branch then put a picture of the dead cow on its press release.

If I ever have stomach surgery, please don't take a video of me not being able to walk; then claim that I've been abused and have me euthanized by the Humane Society.

Also, just FYI, I'd prefer not to have a picture of my dead body on a press release.

In a statement last Wednesday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture said it is investigating. That's fine. Perhaps they'll include in their review the Humane Society of the United States' "undercover investigation."

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at: kdayhoff at carr.org.

20080507 Statement By USDA Secretary Ed Schafer On HSUS Animal Cruelty Video

Statement By USDA Secretary Ed Schafer On HSUS Animal Cruelty Video

WASHINGTON, D.C. May 7, 2008 "Late last week, the Humane Society of the United States notified me that they were in the early stages of an investigation into the mistreatment of farm animals transported to livestock auctions and stockyards. The dairy cattle shown in the video were non-ambulatory and were abandoned in parking lots of these auctions and yards. These animals were not in slaughter facilities. However, even though this is not a food safety issue, these actions of animal cruelty are not acceptable.

"USDA's authority to regulate the treatment of animals includes the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the Animal Welfare Act. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act protects animals when they are presented for slaughter at federally inspected establishments. The Animal Welfare Act allows us to ensure the proper care of live animals when used in biomedical research, testing, and exhibition. When animals fall within our authorities, USDA has acted to prevent animal cruelty such as this.

Policies for humane handling of animals, however, consist of a combined effort of federal, state, and local authorities, as well as private industry. Since learning about this investigation, we are reaching out to states and industry groups to address this issue.

"In my conversation with the Humane Society last week, I expressed my sincere desire to work with them to resolve these atrocities, and I trust USDA was given all the information HSUS has on this issue so we can thoroughly address it. It is essential that we work together in good faith to address these issues, and ensure that animals are treated with care and dignity."

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=219717

20080507 TSCRA Responds To HSUS Criticism Of Auction Market Cattle Handling

TSCRA Responds To HSUS Criticism Of Auction Market Cattle Handling

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 7, 2008—At noon today, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a long-time critic of animal agriculture in this country, released a video and news release calling attention to the alleged mishandling of downer cattle at livestock auction markets in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Texas.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), responded to the report on the incidents in the four auction markets, putting these cases into the larger national perspective.

LMA President Jim Santomaso points out, “America’s 1,200 livestock marketing businesses annually handle an astounding number of livestock. In 2006, according to government figures, 35.6 million head of cattle and calves moved through those markets. The overwhelming majority of those markets practice appropriate handling of all livestock moving through their businesses – because proper handling is both a humane and economic necessity.”

In Texas alone, TSCRA market inspectors check the brands and ownership of 4 to 6 million head of cattle sold through auction markets each year. TSCRA First Vice President Dave Scott, who is affiliated with livestock auction markets in Sealy and Brenham, says, “We have more than 80 men and women working in more than 100 livestock auction markets each week in Texas. It is regrettable that four isolated incidents have been highlighted by HSUS, but our experience tells us that with upwards of 4 million head marketed each year in Texas, mishandling of cattle at auction markets is not a widespread problem.”

TSCRA, working with the Texas Beef Council and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, offers free training in livestock handling procedures to all interested parties in Texas through the Texas Beef Quality Producer (TBQP) program.

Ashby Green, DVM, vice president of producer education, NCBA, says, “To date, in cooperation with the nation’s livestock markets, we have distributed more than 2,000 cattle care and handling training videos to the nation’s 1,250 livestock markets and other cattle sales locations, as well as veterinarians who work with these operations. Additionally, we are in the process of conducting hands-on staff training sessions at livestock markets led by cattle handling experts.”

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 131-year-old trade organization whose 15,000 members manage approximately 3.7 million cattle on 96.5 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. TSCRA provides law enforcement services, livestock inspection, legislative and regulatory advocacy and education opportunities for its members.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=219716

20080507 MDA Investigates Animal Treatment at Westminster Livestock Auction Market

MDA Investigates Animal Treatment at Westminster Livestock Auction Market

MDA CONTACT: Sue duPont, 410-841-5889 or Julie Oberg, 410-841-5888

ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 7, 2008) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) is investigating a report of inhumane treatment of a non-ambulatory cow at the Westminster Livestock Auction in Westminster, Maryland on the evening of April 22 following a complaint by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

“MDA will not tolerate violations of its animal welfare laws and regulations and has been working to update and make them more stringent,” said Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson. “The report at the Westminster livestock auction is under investigation and we expect to have a determination with proposed regulatory action within two weeks.”

MDA licenses and regulates livestock auctions in the state and has an inspector on-site when an auction is taking place. The MDA inspector on duty at the Westminster auction was advised that the animal was down but was not aware of any mistreatment. The inspector responded the next day when notified of the HSUS complaint.

MDA has clear regulations governing the humane treatment of livestock at auction markets (COMAR 15.11.17) and each licensed market is provided a copy of the rules and protocols that they are required to follow. MDA has taken action to strengthen its penalties against anyone who violates state animal health laws and regulations.

House Bill 227, proposed by MDA and passed by the 2008 General Assembly, gives the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to issue administrative penalties (fines) of up to $10,000 in cases where these laws and regulations are broken. In addition, MDA is currently reviewing its livestock market and dealer regulations to determine what actions are needed to strengthen them.

Specifically in response to the Westminster Livestock Auction Market situation, MDA has reviewed and revised its protocols for inspectors at livestock auctions to include: reporting and tracking downed animals; officially informing the livestock auction management of action that must be taken; and following up the day after a sale to make sure that the appropriate disposition of any downed animals has taken place.

“We have been in the process of revamping our laws, regulations, and protocols that safeguard the health and welfare of the livestock under our jurisdiction for a number of years,” said State Veterinarian Guy Hohenhaus. “Livestock auction markets have a legal and ethical responsibility to treat animals humanely and if they don’t, they will be penalized.”

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Attachment: Q & A: Westminster Livestock Auction

http://www.mda.state.md.us/