Dairy farmers fear consumer backlash

23.03.2008 03:06 Home - Source: JS Online

Madison - Less than two months after a videotape was released showing California slaughterhouse workers abusing sick and crippled cattle, Wisconsin dairy farmers and animal rights activists say consumers will lose confidence in the food chain if livestock mistreatment continues.

Tuesday, at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin annual conference, animal rights activist Gene Baur said he wasn't surprised by the undercover video taken at a Chino, Calif., slaughterhouse operated by Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

It showed workers shocking, kicking and shoving debilitated cattle with forklifts, prompting the government to press criminal charges and pull more than 71,000 tons of beef from the market.

"I am sorry to say, but I don't believe the cruelty was a rare incident. What was rare was that it was caught on tape," said Baur, co-founder of an animal rights group based in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and a guest speaker at the conference held at the Alliant Energy Center.

The Chino slaughterhouse processes dairy cows that have outlived their use as milk producers. But USDA rules bar "downer" animals too sick or injured to walk from being brought into the food supply.

"Dairy cows have short lives and are pushed very hard," Baur said. "Sometimes they're so worn out by the end of their productive milking lives that they become 'downers' and are sent to slaughter."

Even some dairies that market their milk as organic treat their cows as production units, and not with the degree of respect that consumers would expect, according to Baur.

"There really is no way of knowing how animals are treated unless you visit the farm yourself," he said. "The conditions that exist in most slaughterhouses and dairy farms are outside of what most people would consider acceptable."

Humane treatment

Following the Chino incident, the American Humane Association urged slaughterhouses to install video cameras.

The real-time video could be monitored by independent authorities, or the public, to ensure humane treatment of animals.

Almost all of the downer cows sent to slaughter come from a few bad farms, said Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University animal science professor and guest speaker at the conference.

"Most people sell their cattle when they are still fit, but there is a significant minority that wait until an animal is really messed up and then bring it to the processing plant," Grandin said in an interview.

"There is a certain irresponsible segment of the industry that will defend this bad practice because they want their $600 for the animal. That's just disgusting," she added.

A few cases of animal abuse, like the one caught on videotape, should not taint the public's perception of the dairy industry, said Deb Reinhardt, a dairy farmer from New Holstein and a member of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin.

"We don't want to lose consumer confidence in any way," she said. "But one of the things that we haven't done effectively is to communicate how hard Wisconsin farmers are working to take care of their animals. They are the backbone of our farms."

Reinhardt and her husband, David, milk 160 Holsteins on their family-owned farm.

"I am a calf feeder, and I am passionate about the care of my small animals and their mothers," Reinhardt said.

A growing disconnect

Common sense, and the enforcement of animal-cruelty regulations, ought to prevent slaughterhouse problems, according to Grandin.

"The USDA needs to step in and stop some of the bad behavior now," she said. "Inspectors in the plants need clear guidelines on what's acceptable and what's bad."

There's a growing disconnect between what consumers want and expect from the food chain, and what the agriculture industry is doing, Baur said.

"I would encourage farmers to think long and hard about some of their practices, and to get them in line with popular values and sentiment," he said. "We are already seeing consumer backlash as more people turn away from cow's milk and are buying soy milk instead."

Farmers should pay more attention to what happens in slaughterhouses and other parts of the food chain because it's their reputation and livelihood that's at stake, said Kevin Murphy, owner of Food Chain Communications, a Missouri marketing firm, and a guest speaker at the conference.

"There's an opportunity for agriculture now to unify and shepherd products through the food chain," Murphy said. "When you look at the high emotion swirling around food, you can't hide certain management practices. The bad practices are going to be exposed."

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