animal welfare

A retired USDA meat inspector "is joining forces with critics who say that a trial high-speed hog processing system piloted by USDA is a food safety nightmare," reports Food Safety News.

A videotape released by an anti-cruelty group raised serious concerns about operations at a large hog slaughter plant and prompted a USDA investigation, says the Washington Post. The footage was filmed by an employee of the nonprofit Compassion over Killing at Quality Pork Processors in Austin, Minn., which is a supplier of Hormel, the maker of SPAM.

The largest U.S. egg industry group says it will "educate the lawmakers, voters and consumers" in Massachusetts about the merits of cages for hens ahead of a potential 2016 referendum on animal-welfare rules, reports Politico.

The Humane Society of the United States and its allies launched a drive for a statewide referendum in the 2016 general election that would require that any animal raised or sold for consumption in Massachusetts be able to lie down, stand up, fully extend its limbs, and turn around freely, says Civil Eats.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled that an Idaho law that bans secret filming of animal abuse on farms is unconstitutional, said the Associated Press.

Foodmaker General Mills announced it will stop buying eggs that come from caged hens, says CNN. The company did not say when it would make the switch.

The Arkansas House passed a bill "that outlaws wine imports from any state that imposes a 'substantial burden' on the Arkansas agriculture industry," says the Associated Press.

The Agriculture Department stopped all new research projects at its Meat Animal Research Center until new protocols are implemented in response to reports of the harsh treatment of animals at the facility in Nebraska, according to Feedstuffs.

Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate their challenge of a California law on housing for egg-laying hens.

USDA's Meat Animal Research Center in the Nebraska plains is re-engineering cattle, pigs and sheep "to fit the needs of the 21st Century...animals that produce more offspring, yield more meat and cost less to raise," says a front-page New York Times story.

A report from the National Academy of Sciences suggest four priorities for research to assure an adequate meat supply for a world population that could reach 10 billion by 2050.

Egg farmers in California are converting their laying houses to comply with a state law taking effect on Jan 1 that mandates more freedom of movement for the hens, notes a Christian Science Monitor story on humane treatment of livestock.

New Jersey Gov Chris Christie vetoed a bill to ban sow crates, "a move that will win favor with Iowa farmers and spark more speculation about Christie's presidential aspirations but cause outrage among animal rights activists who pushed for the ban," says CNN.

A lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenges FDA approval of several ractopamine-based animal drugs. The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the United Farm Workers union says...

Egg farmers in California are altering their laying houses to give hens more room ahead of the Jan 15 deadline to comply with new rules, writes Twilight Greenaway at Civil Eats, which looks into arguments over egg production. One farmer is spending $3 million to revamp his facilities, to "enriched colony" cages from the smaller "battery" cages, but will have 100,000 fewer laying hens in the end.

Nestle, one of the world's largest foodmakers, said it would require higher animal welfare standards at the hundreds of thousands of farms worldwide that supply it with dairy, meat, poultry and eggs.

A study of 20 heifers found "no noticeable detrimental effect on cattle health or well-being" from the feed supplement Zilmax to promote weight gain, says the University of Nebraska. Its researchers joined USDA scientists for the 26-day study. Drug maker Merck withdrew Zilmax from the market last year after reports of cattle appearing lame or having difficulty in standing.

The committees that oversee federal spending agree on a ban on horse slaughter in the United States. House appropriators voted, 28-22, for the ban on as part of their USDA funding bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee added similar language to its USDA bill on a 18-12 vote a week ago. The prohibition was a routine part of the bills since 2006 but was omitted in fiscal 2013.