PETA Reveals Extreme Cruelty at Kosher Slaughterhouses

Kosher slaughter is intended to minimize animals’ suffering. But undercover PETA investigations have revealed that Agriprocessors, the world’s largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse, has been ignoring both the Jewish commitment to compassion and federal law—and animals endure prolonged suffering and nightmarish deaths as a result.

What Happens in Kosher Slaughter

All slaughter is terrifying for the animals and involves pain and suffering, but kosher slaughter, when performed according to Halacha (Jewish law), is intended to minimize animals’ suffering.

Kosher slaughter, or shechita, is performed by a person known as a shochet, who has received special education and instruction in the requirements of shechita. The shochet kills the animal with a quick, deep stroke across the throat with a sharp knife. When performed properly, shechita appears all but painless and quickly renders the animal unconscious.

When PETA received complaints that this wasn’t the case at Agriprocessors—a massive Iowa slaughterhouse that produces Rubashkin’s, Aaron’s Best, and Iowa’s Best meats—and that both kosher law and federal law were being violated, we took action.

A History of Abuse

PETA wrote to company officials and asked them to take steps to make certain that cruelty was not occurring. Agriprocessors’ attorney, Nathan Lewin, wrote back to us, claiming that “neither Jewish law or ‘common decency’ is being violated in the Agriprocessors plant.” The tone of this letter was not convincing, so we sent an undercover investigator to see for ourselves.

Summer 2004

PETA’s first investigation at Agriprocessors in 2004 revealed almost 300 instances of inhumane slaughter, in which cows’ sensitive faces were shocked with electric prods, fully conscious cattle had their tracheas and esophagi ripped from their throats with meat hooks or knives, and they writhed in pools of their own blood, trying desperately to stand up for up to three minutes as blood poured from their throats.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INVESTIGATOR’S NOTES:

PETA’s investigator witnessed egregiously cruel slaughter methods being used at an Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. Cattle, lambs, chickens, and turkeys suffered through prolonged consciousness after having their throats cut and being dismembered while still fully conscious. Many instances of inhumane slaughter were captured on film. The following are excerpts from the investigator’s notes:

There is no justification for the cruelty I documented in that slaughterhouse. The presence of the USDA didn’t have any effect, nor did the presence of the rabbis. These animals were failed by both religion and regulations.

The cow was loaded into a machine that resembles a large metal tube. His head stuck out of the front, then a metal bar clamped under his neck and forced his head upwards and back, cocked in an awkward and painful-looking position. The entire machine rotated, turning the cow upside-down. This process seemed to terrify him—his eyes were wide with fright—I imagine because he had never been in such a helpless position. The cow’s exposed neck was scrubbed with a hose and brush, then a rabbi came out of a small room and slit the cow’s throat. Another worker followed the rabbi and gouged a chunk of flesh out of the cow’s neck and then pulled his trachea or esophagus (I’m not sure which one) outside of his throat so that it hung down. Then the machine reverted the cow into an upright position. The trap door on the side opened up, and the cow was dumped onto the floor, where another worker attached a chain to the animal’s ankle so that he could be hoisted into the air and sent down the line.

Many cows were still alive and conscious when they came out of the tube and were slammed onto the floor. Their heads often hit the concrete with a sickening crack. I watched as one cow landed on his feet and started scrambling around with a shocked look on his face. The workers simply jumped behind their barricade and waited for him to collapse.

A cow stood up after being dumped on the floor and went into the corner. They managed to kill one or two more cows while he lay there moving around trying to stand up. He continually moved his nearly severed head around as his legs were also making an effort to stand.

Some birds fell after being placed into buckets—these birds flopped around on the ground violently, and once stopped, they were thrown into the garbage.

I took footage of chickens in trailers where the vents/fans were not running. It’s August 11 and really hot. I also took footage of the dumping of chickens onto the conveyor system to be killed. I noticed that one chicken had her foot caught between the conveyor and the wall, and she was unable to pull her foot out.

The auger broke today. That’s the machinery that brings the inedible parts out to the trailer to be dumped. The inedible matter went all over the basement. The maintenance man told me that the inedible matter was sent to be used in pet food and cosmetics.

The USDA inspector, Chad, told me that there is another kosher plant in Waterloo. They use a different method, one recommended by Temple Grandin, where the cows are lowered onto their stomachs instead of being turned upside-down in this horrible machine.

I filmed another chicken who was caught in the conveyor system of the poultry line. This time, the chicken’s head and wing were caught between the retaining wall and the conveyor. I did my best to free her, but access to the conveyor itself was blocked.

The first time I saw a cow stagger to his feet and walk around with his trachea dangling outside of his body, I thought to myself, this can’t be happening—but after several days I knew better.

The suffering and cruelty I witnessed didn’t [faze] anyone on that killing floor.

I just wish that people who eat meat could stand where I did for a day and see cows whose eyes are wide with fright have their throats slit and tracheas gouged out.

Rabbis, scholars, animal welfare experts, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors have all spoken out about the extreme cruelty that our undercover investigator was able to capture on tape. The world’s foremost expert on slaughter methods, Dr. Temple Grandin, told Mason City, Iowa’s Globe Gazette, “I thought it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been in at least 30 other kosher slaughter plants, and I had never ever seen that kind of procedure done before. … I’ve seen kosher slaughter really done right, so the problem here is not kosher slaughter. The problem here is a plant that is doing everything wrong they can do wrong.”

The USDA told the plant to immediately stop this procedure and determined that Agriprocessors employees “had engaged in acts of inhumane slaughter.” The Orthodox Union (OU), the agency that certifies Agriprocessors’ products as kosher, also told Agriprocessors to stop removing the cows’ tracheas and to stun any animals who remained conscious after throat-slitting.

May 2007

In light of the cruel conduct at Agriprocessors, PETA also investigated Local Pride, a slaughterhouse in Gordon, Nebraska, that was owned by the Rubashkins (the owners of Agriprocessors) in May 2007. We found that cows were still allowed to remain conscious and in extreme pain for up to two minutes after their throats were slit.

Experts in animal welfare, veterinary medicine, and slaughter systems reviewed the disturbing footage recorded inside the slaughterhouse and noted the following:

  • Cows remained conscious for as long as two minutes after their throats were cut open.
  • A worker ripped into conscious cows’ throats with a metal node hook in order to make the bleeding process go faster.
  • Cows were handled improperly, resulting in fear and stress just prior to slaughter.
  • Workers removed identification tags by mutilating live cows’ ears.

PETA’s footage led several experts to condemn the company’s practices. Dr. Holly Cheever, a large-animal veterinarian, stated, “This method of slaughter as depicted on this tape is brutal and should be amended to provide a humane end for these animals.” The USDA inspected Local Pride, and management agreed to stop using the node hook on conscious cows.

August 2008

PETA returned to Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, in August 2008 and caught workers continuing to make “second cuts” (hacking holes in the open wounds in cows’ necks after the shochet had already cut their throats). Dr. Temple Grandin has stated that these gouging, circular cuts cause the cows pain and suffering.

Just two weeks prior to PETA’s August 2008 undercover investigation, Agriprocessors gave a private tour to selected rabbis, community leaders, and reporters, and video footage from that tour shows slaughter done without a second cut at all. When Dr. Grandin inspected the facility in 2006, the plant showed her slaughter that did not include a second cut at all, and she gave them her approval. It appears that Agriprocessors wanted consumers to believe that the plant had stopped the second cut, but PETA’s new investigation revealed that, behind closed doors, not much had changed. The USDA again cited Agriprocessors for violating the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

In light of this new video exposing the gouging second cuts—and Agriprocessors’ quite different conduct during the tour—Dr. Grandin made a new assessment of Agriprocessors, stating, “The undercover video clearly showed that when they think nobody is looking, they do bad things in this plant.” Dr. Grandin asserted that the plant should install a live video monitor to be reviewed by a third party auditor to prevent further cruelty.

Workers Suffer Too

Cows aren’t the only ones who are being abused by Agriprocessors. The people who work there are often treated like machines, too, and denied health care. The Jewish newspaper The Forward published an article detailing the horrors of working conditions at the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse, including virtually no safety training, severe injuries that required amputations, frequent verbal harassment, and very low wages. OSHA cited Agriprocessors for 39 worker safety violations in March 2008. After a May 2008 federal raid of the plant over immigration violations, 76 percent of the 968 Agriprocessors employees were found to be using false or fraudulent Social Security numbers that were allegedly supplied by plant management. Agriprocessors also pleaded guilty to 83 counts of child-labor violations.

Update:

Agriprocessors declared bankruptcy and former owner Sholom Rubashkin was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for financial fraud. The plant is now under new ownership and operates as Agri Star.

Agriprocessors Photos:

Key Documents:

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