LOS ANGELES – Sometimes, government inspectors responsible for examining slaughterhouse cattle for mad cow disease and other ills are so short-staffed that they find themselves peering down from catwalks at hundreds of animals at once, looking for such te
The ranks of inspectors are so thin that slaughterhouse workers often figure out when "surprise" visits are about to take place, and make sure they are on their best behavior. These allegations were raised by former and current U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors in the wake of the biggest beef recall in history – 143 million pounds from a California meatpacker accused of sending lame "downer" cows to slaughter.
The inspectors told The Associated Press that they fear chronic staff shortages in their ranks are allowing sick cows to get into the nation’s food supply, endangering the public. According to USDA’s own figures, the inspector ranks nationwide had vacancy rates of 10 percent or more in 2006-07.
"They’re not covering all their bases. There’s a possibility that something could go through because you don’t have the manpower to check everything," said Lester Friedlander, a former USDA veterinary inspector at a plant in Wyalusing, Pa. Amanda Eamich, a spokes-woman for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, acknowledged that the department has been struggling to fill vacancies but denied the food supply is at risk.
"Every single animal must past antemortem inspection before it’s presented for slaughter, so only healthy animals are going to pass," she said. "We do have continuous inspection at slaughter facilities." Similarly, Janet Riley, a spokeswoman for the American Meat Institute, defended the meatpacking industry’s safety record. "It is interesting to keep in mind how heavily regulated we are," she said. "Nobody has this level of inspection."
The current and former inspectors and other industry critics charged that the staff shortages are also resulting in the mistreatment of animals on the way to slaughter, and may have contributed to the recall announced earlier this week.
The USDA recalled the beef after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video that showed slaughterhouse workers at the Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. kicking and shoving sick and crippled cows and forcing them to stand with electric prods, forklifts and water hoses.
Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society’s president and chief executive, said the video was filmed over a six-week period last fall and all the abuse happened when USDA inspectors were not present. "The inspection system obviously has enormous gaps if these routine abuses could happen," he said.
"The inspector would show up and if there were downed animals, the workers would try to get them up before the inspectors got there." USDA numbers show anywhere between 10 and 12 percent of inspector and veterinarian posi-tions at poultry, beef and pork slaughterhouses nationwide were vacant between October 2006 and September 2007.
In some regions, including Colorado and Texas, a major beef-producing state, the rate hovered around 15 percent.
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