Superior Farms, a unit of the country’s largest lamb producer, agreed to change its slaughter practices after an undercover investigation appeared to show inhumane animal treatment at one of its slaughterhouses. The Department of Agriculture entered into a consent decree with Superior Farms as a result of litigation brought by several animal welfare and environmental organizations under the False Claims Act.
The False Claims Act is the primary law used to protect the government from fraud, and allows non-government entities to file suits on behalf of the government. The law is rarely used in the food sector, said David Muraskin, an attorney with Public Justice who worked on the lawsuit. But it was relevant in this case because Superior Farms sells lamb to the USDA for use in the school lunch program and to the Department of Defense for sale on military bases.
USDA suppliers must comply with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that slaughter is carried out according to USDA requirements or complies with certain religious slaughter practices. Superior Farms was marketing its meat as halal, which would mean it was slaughtered and prepared in accordance with Muslim law. But the undercover investigator filmed video suggesting that the plant’s workers were not meeting halal standards.
Meat that is certified halal must conform to specific religious and slaughter requirements. For instance, a prayer must be said before killing the animal, and the animal should be killed with a single slash to the neck. During the investigation, conducted in 2016 by animal welfare group Compassion Over Killing, Scott David, an undercover investigator, filmed plant workers allegedly slaughtering lambs with multiple cuts and without saying a prayer beforehand.
The consent decree requires Superior Farms to, within 30 days, create and hire for a new position that will oversee humane slaughter at the plant, conduct training for employees, and ensure compliance with slaughter regulations.
The groups the brought the case celebrated the consent decree, noting that it represents an important partnership between advocacy organizations and the government.
“This case represents a milestone for animal advocates, where a public advocacy organization teamed up with the federal government to set a standard for oversight and enforcement and to promote reform,” said Cheryl Leahy, general counsel at Compassion Over Killing, in a statement.
Muraskin emphasized the significance of the USDA choosing to take up this case. “This is an example of the government really fulfilling its obligations,” he said. “This is a rarity. There’s lots of violations — the government has to express interest” in enforcing regulations.
Plus, Muraskin said, this consent decree has consequences beyond the lamb industry. “Anyone who’s asserting compliance with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act should be on notice that USDA has said if you sell meat to the government, this is a condition of our contract that we are going to enforce.”
Superior Farms is a subsidiary of the largest lamb producer in the country, Transhumance Holdings, and sells meat to customers including Walmart and Kroger. Lamb is a small part of overall U.S. meat consumption; the USDA reports that since the 1960s, per capita lamb consumption has dropped from five pounds annually to just one pound. But many consumers seek out lamb specifically because of its halal certification or because it is perceived to be more humanely treated and slaughtered than other animals raised in confinement operations.