A coalition of animal activist groups submitted a rulemaking petition to the USDA on May 16, less than a week after the Supreme Court’s decision on Proposition 12, to require pig slaughter plants to install cameras inside gondola cages used in carbon dioxide (CO2) stunning systems.
The petitioners include the Animal Welfare Institute, Compassion in World Farming, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association and World Animal Protection.
According to the petitioners, U.S. government inspectors are unable to determine whether pork-producing slaughter plants using CO2 gas are complying with the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) because — unlike with pre-slaughter stunning by electric current or captive bolt — inspectors are unable to observe animals after they are lowered into the CO2 chamber.
In addition, the petitioners say the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) mandates that inspectors make “an examination and inspection of the method” by which livestock are slaughtered.
The coalition’s petition argues that requiring cameras is not optional for the USDA, as the department is unable to meet its legal obligation to administer the HMSA and FMIA without a way to observe animals within all stunning systems.
“Over the past two decades, the pork industry worldwide has transitioned from pre-slaughter stunning by electric current to stunning or killing with CO2 gas; electrocution is still used by many small pig slaughter establishments, along with captive bolt guns and firearms,” the release said. “At least 32 pig slaughter facilities across the country — most classified as large — use CO2, according to USDA enforcement records. Iowa ranks first in the number of slaughter plants using CO2 stunning (at least eight), followed by Minnesota (at least four), and California and Illinois (at least three each).”
Most large meat slaughter plants have already installed cameras in many areas of their establishments, the petitioners argue, and videos from these cameras are sometimes shared with inspection personnel to determine if a humane violation has occurred.
Several countries require video monitoring of CO2 gas slaughter systems, including England, Scotland, Spain and Israel.
