Iowa Ag Secretary Changes Mind … AFTER BRIEF GUIDED TOUR GIVEN BY RUBASHKIN

My suspicions noted in the previous post have been confirmed: Iowa's Ag Secretary saw only three cows slaughtered, apparently by a hand-picked shochet, with Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin standing next to her.

How's that for an impartial inspection by government of a suspect business?

Then we have these quotes from Rubashkin:

Rubashkin noted that muscles on the barely recognizable heads continued to twitch more than an hour after the heads had been separated from their bodies. "Look. It's breathing. It's calling for help," Rubashkin said, referring sarcastically to PETA's claim that videotaped movements of cattle after their throats had been cut constitutes evidence they were conscious and suffering. "You will see head, feet and body movement after the animal has been slaughtered. It is reflexive. It is not evidence of consciousness," Rubashkin said.

The article closes this way:

After consulting with the USDA and the Orthodox Union, a group that certifies kosher products, the company agreed to let rabbis use an air bolt gun on animals that attempt to regain footing after slaughter. Although Agriprocessors denies ever having done so, it also agreed not to remove the esophagus and trachea immediately after the ritual throat-cutting.

Amazing.

Read it all here.

New judge(ment) on Postville plant
By Orlan Love The Gazette Sunday, December 12, 2004, 11:45:27 PM
POSTVILLE -- Animals are slaughtered quickly and humanely at a Postville meat-packing plant accused of cruelty by a leading animal rights group, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge said Sunday after a tour of Agriprocessors Inc. Agriprocessors invited Judge and other public officials to witness the Postville plant's kosher beef and poultry slaughter practices after Judge said last week she was "disturbed" by a videotape released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. After viewing the PETA video, Judge said she would close the plant pending an investigation if she had the authority to do so. "The tape disturbed me. I have no problem with what I saw today," Judge said Sunday. PETA filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates Agriprocessors and other meatpackers engaged in interstate commerce. PETA claims its undercover video shows cattle and other livestock suffering after their throats had been cut as prescribed by kosher law. Judge said she watched three cattle slaughtered by a rabbi who cut their throats with a sharp knife. All appeared to be unconscious when they were released from the mechanical device that held them upside down for the cut, she said. "I'm glad Agriprocessors is trying to clean up its operation, but it still needs to be prosecuted," said PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich. Based on the five hours of Agriprocessors videotape collected by PETA, Friedrich estimates that one in four slaughtered cattle remained conscious for at least a minute after their throats were cut. During Sunday's tour, Agriprocessors Vice President Sholom Rubashkin led about 20 visitors into a room in which workers trimmed the skinned and severed heads of cattle. Rubashkin noted that muscles on the barely recognizable heads continued to twitch more than an hour after the heads had been separated from their bodies. "Look. It's breathing. It's calling for help," Rubashkin said, referring sarcastically to PETA's claim that videotaped movements of cattle after their throats had been cut constitutes evidence they were conscious and suffering. "You will see head, feet and body movement after the animal has been slaughtered. It is reflexive. It is not evidence of consciousness," Rubashkin said. Agriprocessors, which employs about 700 workers, has agreed to two minor operational changes since the tape was made public. After consulting with the USDA and the Orthodox Union, a group that certifies kosher products, the company agreed to let rabbis use an air bolt gun on animals that attempt to regain footing after slaughter. Although Agriprocessors denies ever having done so, it also agreed not to remove the esophagus and trachea immediately after the ritual throat-cutting.