Progress in "Downer" Abuse Case -- But More is Needed to Prevent Other Cases Like it

[and-justice-for-all]

Last week, our undercover investigation revealed shocking abuses of "downed" dairy cows -- those who are too sick or injured to walk -- at a Southern California slaughter plant. The cows were subjected to terrible pain and fright in attempts to get them to stand up and walk to their deaths.

We also discovered that the meat from these tortured animals gets fed to children through the National School Lunch Program! Please watch our investigative video, and then take action today to stop this cruelty.

So much has happened since we released our investigation last Wednesday:

The USDA suspended its purchases from Hallmark within hours of our release of information on the case.
Millions of people have seen our undercover video of abuse, whether on CBS Evening News, CNN, local television broadcasts, or on humanesociety.org.
More than a dozen U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives have expressed outrage and demanded action to prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.
California, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and other states, responding to letters HSUS sent to them about possible food safety risks, have stopped serving beef from the slaughter plant we exposed.
These responses show that the public will not stand for such cruelty to animals, nor for the health risks that come with using "downed" cows for food. But the outrage has not yet prompted a change in federal policies related to the handling of downer cows.


Urge the USDA to tighten its lax enforcement of the downer rule and to close the rule's loophole -- so that cows who are obviously in no shape to walk are not taken to slaughter in the first place.

Thank you for all you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States