FSIS Suspends Idaho Beef Packer
USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) has suspended inspection at an Idaho beef packing facility. The suspension is the result of alleged inhumane slaughter of dairy cows.
Ida-Beef, Burley, ID, was notified May 29 that due to “inhumane noncompliance,” inspectors would be suspended from the facility until Ida-Beef provides FSIS “adequate written corrective actions and preventative measures to ensure that livestock” are handled and slaughtered humanely.
In January employees at Ida-Beef allegedly botched the slaughter of two dairy cows, and the latest incidence was the result of an unsuccessful attempt to stun a dairy cow. The cow remained conscious and began crawling away when a second stun attempt was successful.
News of the FSIS report has resulted in PETA requesting criminal cruelty-to-animals charged be filed by the Cassia County prosecutor against Ida-Beef. PETA claims the beef packer “has repeatedly and inexcusably violated the law.”
The plant opened just over a year ago, and at the time said it had 48 employees and harvested just over 100 cows per day. The plant was designed to process 350 to 400 cows per day.
Prior to the opening of Ida-Beef, cull cows from Idaho’s bustling dairy industry were trucked to California for slaughter. With 600,000 dairy cows, Idaho is America’s third largest dairy producing state.
