HFA has focused national and regional attention on the IBP Inc. slaughterhouse in Wallula, Washington. Many workers at IBP's Wallula plant have courageously come forward with evidence of animal abuse in that plant.

HFA formally petitioned the State of Washington to prosecute the company:

Petition for Enforcement of Humane Slaughter and Animal Cruelty Laws

Dear Attorney General Gregoire,

We are writing to bring your attention to well-documented wrongdoings at the IBP, Inc. (formerly Iowa Beef Processors) cattle slaughtering plant in Wallula, Washington (hereinafter "IBP-Wallula"). We have attached affidavits from numerous workers at IBP-Wallula alleging ongoing, systematic violations of the state anti-cruelty and humane slaughter laws, as well as of basic public health and worker safety requirements. We believe that these affidavits, on their face, document a pattern of law-breaking by IBP meriting prosecution.

LEGAL BACKGROUND

Washington's Humane Slaughter Law

More than 30 years ago, Washington's legislature declared that: "...the use of humane methods in the slaughter of livestock prevents needless suffering; results in safer and better working conditions for persons engaged in the slaughtering industry;...and produces other benefits to producers, processors, and consumers which tend to expedite the orderly flow of livestock and their products. It is therefore declared to be the policy of the state of Washington to require that the slaughter of all livestock, and the handling of livestock in connection with slaughter, shall be carried out only by humane methods and to provide that methods of slaughter shall conform generally to those authorized by the Federal Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, and regulations thereunder."

The state implemented that policy with a clear statutory directive requiring all Washington state slaughterhouse operators to ensure that animals are rendered unconscious prior to butchering: "No slaughterer or packer shall bleed or slaughter any livestock except by a humane method...." "Humane method" means: "A method whereby the animal is rendered insensible to pain by mechanical, electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast or cut."

Criminal penalties are imposed upon those who violate this legal mandate. The statute also authorizes the issuance of injunctions against slaughterhouse operators where violations of law are taking place. As authorized by the statute, the state Department of Agriculture has issued regulations which, generally speaking, require slaughterhouse operators to abide by the existing federal regulations on humane slaughter.

The Federal Humane Slaughter Act

The Federal Humane Slaughter Act, 7 U.S.C. 1901-1906 ("HSA"), requires that animals at slaughterhouses be both humanely handled and killed. The most important provision of the HSA requires that animals "be rendered insensible to pain by a single blowthat is rapid and effective before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut."

Regulations promulgated by the state Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the HSA impose extensive requirements on slaughterhouse operators, four of which are relevant here.

First, the regulations require that the stunning process must produce immediate insensibility in animals before the animals proceed down the slaughter line.

Second, the regulations require "that the animals shall be stunned in such a manner that they will be rendered unconscious with a minimum of excitement and discomfort to the animals."

Third, in order to ensure that animals are effectively stunned, the regulations require that "the driving of the animals to the stunning area shall be done with a minimum of excitement and discomfort to the animals. Delivery of calm animals to the stunning areas is essential since accurate placement of stunning equipment is difficult on nervous or injured animals."

Fourth, the regulations specify that, "immediately after the stunning blow is delivered, the animals shall be in a state of complete unconsciousness and remain in this condition throughout shackling, sticking and bleeding."

A 1978 amendment to the HSA grants federal meat inspectors who are customarily stationed inside slaughterhouses to enforce federal food-safety laws with authority to enforce the HSA. HSA regulations require USDA meat inspectors to stop the slaughter process when violations are not immediately corrected. USDA inspectors working in these plants, however, are provided very limited access to areas where violations are most likely to occur.

Washington's Anti-Cruelty Law

In addition to the prohibition on inhumane slaughter of livestock, Washington imposes even greater penalties upon those who are guilty of cruelty to animals:

Animal cruelty in the first degree.

(1) A person is guilty of animal cruelty in the first degree when, except as authorized in law, he or she intentionally (a) inflicts substantial pain on, (b) causes physical injury to, or (c) kills an animal by a means causing undue suffering, or forces a minor to inflict unnecessary pain, injury, or death on an animal.

(2) Animal cruelty in the first degree is a class C felony. The affidavits cited below demonstrate that the willful, inhumane treatment of slaughter animals at IBP-Wallula violates the above laws and regulations.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In the last fifteen years, more than 2,000 small to mid-sized slaughterhouses one-third of the nation's slaughterhouses have been displaced by a small number of large, high-speed facilities, each with the capacity to kill several million animals a year. In 1998, more than one-half of the nation's cattle were killed in 14 plants.

With fewer slaughterhouses killing a growing number of animals, packing companies have instituted dramatic increases in their production "line speeds". In high-speed operations where a minute of "down time" can spell a loss of several hundred dollars, slaughterhouse operators no longer stop the production line for injured workers, contaminated meat, or live animals that are not effectively stunned.

Workers who are required to move thousands of animals per day through the slaughter process are provided only a few seconds to perform their killing and butchering duties. Knowing that they will be disciplined or fired for impeding production, workers often find themselves resorting to brutality to keep the production line running uninterrupted.

When animals are excessively prodded, they arrive at the stun operator in an excited state. Because of this, and because workers do not have adequate time to properly perform the exacting stunning process, stunning is often ineffective. As a result, animals are often hung alive, or may regain consciousness down line, where they proceed through the skinning and dismemberment process fully conscious.

SUMMARY OF ONGOING VIOLATIONS OF LAW AT IBP-WALLULA

IBP, Inc. is the nation's largest meat packer. By achieving unprecedented economies of scale and production speeds in its slaughtering and packing operations, the company has succeeded in dominating the meat industry. The principal change at the company's Wallula plant has been an increase in the plant's production line speed... The problems associated with these line speed increases are three-fold:

1) Ineffective Stunning

Contrary to the requirements that animals be humanely handled and that they be delivered to the stun area in a calm state to ensure effective stunning, workers at IBP-Wallula excessively shock and torment animals in driveways, according to the affidavits. Because of this, and because of increased line speeds, stunning is often unsuccessful. Indeed, the affidavits suggest that roughly 10 to perhaps 30 percent of the animals slaughtered at IBP-Wallula are not rendered insensitive to pain and thus proceed through the skinning and dismemberment process in a fully conscious state

2) Worker Injuries

When workers attempt to skin and dismember live, struggling animals, they are often injured in the process. Workers who are kicked by frantic animals moving along the conveyor have suffered contusions, serious stab wounds, and lost fingers and teeth.

3) Contaminated Meat

As conscious cattle move down the production line, their thrashing causes sterile muscle tissue to become contaminated by feces and other adulterants on the surfaces of hides. Workers' ability to trim contaminants from animals is severely compromised by both animal movements and increased line speeds. As a result, adulterated meat can move freely into the cooler and into U.S. food channels.