Act Now: Help Stop Cruel High-Speed Slaughter

TAKE ACTION: Submit a quick comment to the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) today to oppose cruel high-speed slaughter of pigs! Use our sample comment below or your own polite words. Public comments deadline: May 2, 2018.

The USDA has issued a proposal to expand nationwide its dangerous high-speed slaughter program, called the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS). Proposed in a rule misleadingly titled “Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection,” the program would, in reality, rollback progress and threaten the welfare of millions of animals, consumers, and workers nationwide.

Compassion Over Killing exposed egregious cruelty in its investigation of Quality Pork Processors, a Hormel supplier and, under the pilot program for NSIS, one of the nation’s fastest slaughter plants.

We need your help to stop this dangerous proposal! Submit a comment (sample provided below) urging the USDA to scrap, rather than expand its high-speed slaughter program now!

SAMPLE COMMENT:
I’m writing as a concerned American consumer in opposition to the proposed Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule, which would roll back progress for animals, consumers, and workers. Under this rule, the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS) would place key food safety inspection duties into the hands of slaughter plants themselves, while these facilities operate at dangerously high line speeds, and many problems will likely go unnoticed. Compassion Over Killing’s investigation of a plant under the pilot high-speed slaughter program, HIMP, revealed pigs covered in feces and pus-filled abscesses being processed for human consumption with a USDA seal of approval. The investigation also showed pigs being dragged, kicked, excessively shocked, and improperly stunned as workers struggled to keep up with the facility’s high line speeds. There is widespread opposition to the high-speed slaughter program within the federal government, including by USDA whistleblowers and members of Congress. The USDA’s own Office of the Inspector General stated that the “HIMP program has shown no measurable improvement to the inspection process.” I urge you to protect workers, consumers, and animals and end, rather than expand, this program.