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last update:Jul 21, 2008
Truckloads of pigs kept waiting after controls
Approximately 20 trucks full of pigs have been kept
waiting in the boiling sun for hours this week after USDA inspectors temporarily
shut down the killing floor at a hog plant in Worthington,
Minnesota.
The kill floor at JBS-Swift & Co.'s pig plant in Worthington, Minnesota,
was temporarily shut down by inspectors as it was said the animals weren't
slaughtered according to humane slaughter practice rules.
The slaughter
procedures stopped for about 14 hours when a pig passed the kill line but did
not die, according to some media reports, quoting truckers waiting outside the
plant.
Inhumane
"Supposedly a hog went through the kill line and didn't die," one
trucker told the Worthington Daily Globe. "They shot it three times, and
the USDA inspector said it was inhumane and shut them down. That is what a Swift
employee told me."
According to a spokesperson for the USDA's Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the problem was caused by insufficient
stunning of at least one animal.
Fate
As a touch of fate,
about 20 semi-trucks had to wait outside in the boiling sun (about 32ËšC) with
cargoes of hundreds of squealing pigs. They drove around to give the live
animals some air circulation. In addition, Swift employees also sprayed them
with water to try to keep them cool.
"This is more inhumane than whatever
happened last night," one trucker told the newspaper.
Necessary
According to the
FSIS, the 14-hour time period was necessary in order to ensure that the Swift
plant would be taking steps to address the problem.
The newspaper
reported that Swift officials declined to comment on the situation.
Related websites:
• Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS)
• United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
• Swift-JBS
• Worthington Daily Globe
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