National Beef Packing appeals against mistreatment decision
01/05/2008
US meat company National Beef Packing is set to appeal against a decision by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it mistreated cattle.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service carried out an investigation some months ago into meat that was going into school lunches across the US. It said it had found evidence of overcrowding of livestock in the company's pens in Dodge City, Kansas and National Beef Packing's president, Tim Klein, has conceded that a pen designed for 49 cows had held 53.
But he added: “Still, the cattle were able to move freely, had access to water and were not vocalising. Rather than focus on how the pen looked, the better question to ask is if any cattle were hurt or injured. The unequivocal answer is no. USDA records will show no harm done to the cattle in our plant that day.”
The Food Safety and Inspection Service explained that an earlier appeal against the decision had already been turned down but it acknowledged that the case would come up for consideration again.
National Beef Packing has said that 12 inspectors are on site at its Dodge City plant at all times to monitor compliance with federal law.
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