USDA & Secretary of Agriculture Sued

Animal advocacy groups have sued the Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA over their failure to offer protections to sick and injured pigs in the factory farming industry. The lawsuit claims that sick and injured pigs in the slaughter industry are often subject to repeated abuse because of their inability to move. It also claims that these pigs are susceptible to human transferrable pathogens meaning their meat is likely more dangerous to eat and yet it is served up without regard for the well being of the pigs or the human's who will then consume the meat. 

Over half a million pigs enter slaughterhouse facilities too ill or injured to even walk. These pigs are often kept in holding crates where they are forced to lay in feces and urine, untreated as they await slaughter. As I mentioned earlier, the lawsuit suggests these pigs are especially susceptible to abuse because of their inability to move. Handlers will electroshock, prod, kick, and drag these pigs in an effort to get them to move. 

In 2016, the USDA approved a ban on the slaughter of downed calves. This ban protects injured and sick calves from being slaughtered and this lawsuit claims the USDA owes pigs the same protections. Knowing that these animals are too sick or injured to walk only to end up in squalor as they await potentially being abused or slaughtered is heart wrenching and deserves this call to action,. The government must be held accountable for allowing poor animal welfare standards for sick and injured pigs who deserve better. They are looked at as nothing more than commodities when they should in fact be looked at as living, breathing, and feeling creatures.

You know, when it comes to the meat industry as a whole, if it isn't one thing going wrong it is undoubtedly another. This industry continues to operate despite repeated undercover investigations turning up gruesome facts about the industry. Whether we're talking cows who are beaten, chickens who are strangled or thrown, or pigs who are being electroshocked while injured or sick, these atrocities are happening every day all around us. These investigations are turning up problem after problem with this industry and yet it continues to flourish and operate with little prosecution or accountability. That's why these lawsuits are so very important when it comes to the welfare of these poor animals.

These animals are already unwillingly giving their lives to us and they are repaid by being abused and mistreated. I can almost guarantee that one in every two slaughterhouse facilities is negligent towards their animals just based on the scope of investigations that have already brought this to light. Nearly every single day we are reading about exposed abuse in various animal agriculture industries, these are facts. When you buy meat, you are contributing to the abuse of animals, plain and simple. It's time for these industries to be held accountable for their actions. It's time that these industries adhere to animal welfare standards and work towards better treatment of animals used for meat. There is no excuse for allowing animals to live in squalor. There is no excuse for allowing animals to be beaten, choked, thrown, or electroshocked while already sick or injured. 

I hope this lawsuit brings about new laws to protect sick and injured pigs from being slaughtered. It has been time for change in the meat industry for a long time now and these lawsuits are going to force the industry to take a long, hard look at how they operate and what they can do better to ensure fair treatment of these poor animals.

Meat is murder, plain and simple.

HAPPY VEG