USDA Deems AgriProcessors' Practices "Inhumane Slaughter"

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's investigation into AgriProcessors, the world's largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse, has finally been made public. The investigation confirmed what many rabbis, veterinarians, and animal welfare/rights advocates have been saying for quite some time: Ripping out animals' treacheas and esophagi while they're still conscious and writhing in pain for more than a minute constitutes "inhumane slaughter." The USDA report also said that federal inspectors ignored the inhumane practices and inappropriately accepted gifts from AgriProcessors. You can read the USDA's report here.

Shechita is a time-honored system of inflicting a quick, painless blow for a humane death--or at least that's what it's intended to be. What went on at AgriProcessors is a disgrace to Jewish ritual slaughter. The notion that animals can be factory-farmed and tortured and still deemed kosher should make all Jews reconsider their meat intake. I'll be exploring this topic in much greater depth in an article in the April/May issue of New Voices.

In the meantime, I highly recommend an article about the USDA's investigation from today's New York Times. For complete information about the AgriProcessors case, check out http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/.