KAJ's Position On Postville

I spoke with Rabbi Kohn of KAJ this evening to clarify KAJ's position on the Postville Scandal. Even though I'm writing a feature article about the scandal for print publication, I'm posting a few points from the interview now as a public service:

1. Rabbi Kohn was troubled by having two slaughtered animals writhing on the floor at the same time. "It's a kashrut problem," he said. "We number the animals and I don't want that they should get mixed up. One might be kosher and another one treife."
2. Rabbi Kohn believes that the video "must have been doctored" because "we do not allow two animals" to writhe on the floor together, so the video "must have been doctored."
3. The throat is not "ripped" immediately after shechita. A non-Jewish employee simply "lifts up the trachea" to see if the "carotid artery and jugular veins" have been properly severed.
4. At that point, the non-Jewish worker makes a cut to ensure the carotid artery is severed.
5. "The purpose for doing this is not to make the animal unconscious faster." "I would never say that it is," Rabbi Kohn said.
6. The purpose for doing so is to make the animal bleed out faster, to prevent blood spots and bruises on the meat.
7. He claims that "the animal feels no pain" and that there are "government studies" to prove this.
8. I asked him if those "government studies" were done using his method of slaughter including the lifting of the trachea and the 'second cut.' He did not answer.
9. He said that, "we believe we are using the most humane form of slaughter. That is what our holy books teach."
10. He has several Halakhic sources that he claims supports the immediate lifting of the trachea and the 'second cut.' More on these later.
11. Rabbi Kohn also claims that the USDA "just recently saw our shechita" and thought the process "better" than they had seen. I asked for the names of the USDA personnel. "I can't give you the names," he said. "Not yet. I will when the time is right."
12. He claimed that the animal felt no pain when the hook was inserted and the second cut made, even though the animal had not yet bled-out. I told him the experts like Dr. Grandin differ with him. He said, "We know the animal feels no pain. We rely on Halakha that says so." He also called Dr. Grandin – arguably the world's expert on animal slaughter and who is widely regarded as a friend of shechita (please see the article about her from Mishpacha Magazine, posted below) – a "self-appointed expert. We have other experts who disagree with her," he said. Rabbi Kohn did not name those "other experts."