Cattle Video Stirs Kosher Meat Debate

[Moloch]

The beef is produced according to ancient Jewish law: A trained rabbi makes a swift cut across each animal's neck with a long, sharp knife. The blood drains quickly from the meat. Orthodox rabbis supervise the process and certify the beef as kosher.

But when an animal rights activist went undercover at one of the nation's top kosher slaughterhouses, he found practices that had raised deep concerns among some observant Jews.

The activist, from the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was assigned to the sausage line at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville, Iowa. Whenever he could, however, he slipped over to the kill floor with a hidden camera. There, he filmed cattle struggling to stand minutes after they should have been dead. Some even staggered about after their throats had been slit and their windpipes ripped out.

The Orthodox Union, the largest kosher certification authority in the world, has declared that the procedures at Agriprocessors "meet all standards to the highest degree." Meat from the plant — sold under the brand names Aaron's Best and Rubashkin — is certified not only as kosher, but as glatt kosher, which means it's deemed of the highest quality.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=1&u=/latimests/20041228/ts_latimes/cattlevideostirskoshermeatdebate

[Spinzonner]

1. This sort of thing wouldn't happen if

the bovines had some participatory role on the Orthodox Union.

No slaughter without representation !

[Elise]

2. Have you ever

visited any meat-packing plant?

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Mandatory reading with respect to the meat-packing industry then and now:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlossler

[Elise]

5. I have read

The Jungle (wonderful!) and, thanks to you, will go ahead and pick up Fast Food Nation.

[truthseeker1]

7. "Diet For a New America" is another good one

by John Robbins - Turned me into a vegetarian!

[FreeCajun]

8. Fast Food Nation is excellent,

and this story should cause quite a stir; kosher certifications mean that not only are religious guidelines followed closely but that the animal should lose conciousness almost immediately after having the throat cut because of the arteries severed... it is a much more merciful way of killing an animal than the tasers and bolt guns normally used. This is bad on a number of levels, for the animals first and the people second. I'm sure there will be some rabbis making some signifigant and surprising appearances at these slaughterhouses. Thank you PETA!

[Tinoire]

4. Excellent

A debate about following the spirit of the law is most welcome!

Meanwhile, two big Agriprocessors customers, supermarket chains Albertsons and Safeway, have asked the slaughterhouse to accept surprise inspections from independent animal welfare experts. And some Jewish leaders intend to push for a rethinking of kosher certification laws across the industry. Calling for rabbinical inspections on farms and ranches, they argue that "kosher" should mean an animal has been treated humanely while alive, not just at the moment of death.

Once that's accomplished, I'll go back to buying Kosher meat but until this issue is resolved the only meat I'm buying is halal meat because of the emphasis on allowing the animals a normal life before a merciful slaughter.

I'm so glad Peta brought this to people's attention and I'm grateful decent people were receptive enough to demand change.

GO PETA! :yourock:

[saigon68]

6. Now we need equal protection

Wouldn't it be nice to treat Iraqi "Rag-Head" women and children with some respect-- Before we "Slaughter" them?? </biting sarcasm>