Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Humane Society, USDA, And 2 Lawsuits Against Perdue

Because of a video obtained by The Humane Society of the United States, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has closed a slaughterhouse of calves:

A New Jersey company involved in the veal and lamb business for more than 65 years was forced to shut down last Friday when USDA inspectors left the building because of alleged inhumane practices going on inside.

At least two egregious violations of federal humane handling requirements documented on a video obtained by the Humane Society of the United States (HBUS) were enough for USDA to shut down the Catelli Brothers, Inc., veal slaughter plant in Shrewsbury, NJ.

-- From “Slaughter Plant Closes After HSUS Video Prompts USDA Inspectors to Leave,” at this January 28, 2014 Global FoodMate site:

http://news.foodmate.com/201401/news_29081.html

The above-mentioned video is posted here:

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/slaughter/#.UufFTHn0DVA

...and here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7suPjXRwVTk

The Humane Society reports that Perdue Farms is being sued twice, over Perdue's alleged false advertising of factory-farmed chicken products as “humane”:

Earlier this year a federal court in New Jersey rejected Perdue’s attempt to have a similar case dismissed, paving the way for that action to proceed. Both lawsuits allege that Perdue’s “humanely raised” labels mislead consumers.

Public records obtained from USDA—which Perdue fought to keep hidden from public view—show that the standards upon which Perdue bases its “Humanely Raised” claim are the voluntary so-called “Animal Welfare Guidelines” of the National Chicken Council—the trade group for the chicken industry. The suit alleges that those guidelines allow for mistreatment that no reasonable consumer would consider humane.

-- From “Second Class Action Lawsuit Filed Challenging Perdue’s ‘Humane’ Claims” at this October 24, 2013 Humane Society of the United States site: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2013/10/perdue-humane-claims-lawsuit-102413.html

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

*Yawn* They won't be happy until the whole world eats nothing but fruits and vegetables. Then what? Guess they'll cease to exist unless they start talking about apples and corn having feelings too! Ha ha.

Anonymous said...

The solution for anyone concerned is to adopt the "know your farmer, know your food" concept and by "know" that means take a walk around yourself and inspect. More often than not the farmers are more than happy to let you, because they are proud of their operations.

Anonymous said...

I know a chicken catcher that works at Purdue, and they are told to kick the birds, but try not to kill them. Kick the birds to move them!

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with not eating meat 10:47. It's about deception. What these big companies have lobbied to do and accomplished is getting the USDA to redefine and water down certain words such as "humanely raised." Organic is another one, free range, natural and on and on. When these companies saw the niche market created with these terms, they wanted in on the act, spending a little money as possible, so hence the watered down definition of the words. Consumers think they are getting something they are not, because most people do not read how terms are defined by the government.

Diet... said...

Don't EAT and that solves the issue...

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:13 that is a lie. Perdue doesn't even have chicken catchers anymore, they work for someone else and are contracted with Perdue. Stop trying to smear Perdue's good name.

Anonymous said...

Did you read the article, 11:35? It's about people buying to eat, what they think are animals humanely raised for consumption. This particular lawsuit isn't about "treating living beings with respect and not abusing them" by anyone's stretch of the imagination but about false advertising and consumers belief that what they purchase is humanely raised.
There is not a thing "classless" about MY statement, but you can be assured that yours is clueless. Now go and click on the links as well as use Google to be able to read more of the court docs related to this class action suit!

Anonymous said...

You are incorrect 11:35. It's about misleading labeling-consumers thinking they are buying something and finding out it's not what it's labeled to be.

Anonymous said...

Like Perdue's cage-free chickens. Those houses are just huge cages