SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A national animal rights group Tuesday petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand enforcement of a federal law governing the humane slaughter and handling of animals bred for food.
Norfolk, Va.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA contends that the USDA illegally limits enforcement of The Humane Slaughter Act to federally inspected slaughterhouses where animals are killed. They want to force the agency also to enforce that law on farms where animals are bred.
PETA argues that the act, which states that it is "the policy of the United States that the slaughtering of livestock and the handling of livestock in connection with slaughter shall be carried out only by humane methods," requires officials to ensure humane treatment during the entire cycle of a food animal's life.
"Animals bred, born, and raised for no other purpose than to ultimately be slaughtered are from the time they are born being 'handled in connection with slaughter' and, therefore, must be protected for their entire lives by humane handling methods as required by the Act," according to PETA court papers. "PETA therefore seeks agency action to designate methods for the humane treatment of livestock handled in connection with slaughter, methods that are applicable from the time the animals are born to the time they are killed."
"The USDA has enacted regulations that only apply when the animals have actually reached the slaughterhouse, which leaves them to suffer a catalogue of abuses (before they are slaughtered)," said Bruce Friedrich, a PETA spokesman.
Friedrich noted that animals on the way to a slaughterhouse are often driven in freezing, sub-zero temperatures. He said PETA would like to see humane standards applied to transport as well.
The group also filed with its petition photographs and video evidence of what it claims are abusive handling practices. PETA officials said that the video had been taken at various locations throughout the country and that some of the photographs had actually been culled from USDA archives. The materials are available on the groups Web site at www.peta.org.
One of the photographs depicts what PETA says is a pig being skinned while still conscious. The video, which Friedrich said was taken "from multiple undercover investigations," showed graphic images of squealing animals being branded and cut while conscious and, the group claims, without anesthetic.
"The USDA has been doing as little as it can get away with. The USDA mandate is to promote U.S. agriculture," said Friedrich. "The agency's failure to comply with the Humane Slaughter Act is unlawful and they are failing to do what the American people want, which is to make sure animals are not grotesquely and gratuitously abused."
The group announced the action at a press conference in Washington, D.C., and simultaneously posted materials on its Web site.
By not enforcing humane treatment standards before their slaughter, PETA claims the USDA leaves animals to the mercy of farming practices such as non-anesthetized branding, dehorning and castrations.
"Every year millions of animals are killed by painful, inhumane methods at the farms themselves," the petition states. "Whether it be because they are diseased, injured, underweight, crippled or simply because, for whatever reason, it is no longer 'cost effective' to keep them alive, livestock are routinely slaughtered at 'farming' operations in horrifically cruel ways."
A spokesperson for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, a division of the USDA, told United Press International that FSIS has jurisdiction over the enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act only while animals are in the slaughterhouse. She said another USDA division, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or APHIS, is charged with overseeing humane handling issues on farms.
But Laura Reiser, an APHIS spokeswoman in Washington, said that while APHIS officials were aware of the PETA petition, they had no comment on the matter.
