A Market Spell

A January 2008 news broadcast in Washington showed video from a hidden camera of an animal rights group that revealed a shocking scene of ailing cows at a California slaughterhouse that provides meat for school lunches. The video was obtained after an undercover investigation that lasted for six weeks.

In the video, a sick cow is shown while being dragged by a chain. The cow was then rolled, poked, lifted, and prodded using a forklift.

The treatment of cows shown in the video is a form of abuse and should be prohibited especially since the meat from these cows is used for school lunches, a federally assisted meal program that promotes not only nutritionally balanced meals but also the fact that giving is good. Past findings indicated that Westland Meat Company, the identified slaughterhouse, has delivered beef to schools in 36 states. More than 100,000 schools and childcare facilities nationwide receive meat through the lunch program. The gravity of the event raised issues concerning health and animal abuse. People were quick to react on the thought of the kind of food used to feed the children. Giving is good, but if the act entails inhumane ways, it scores a big negative in the SPCA’s (Society for the Prevention of cruelty to Animals) list. The SPCA aims to increase awareness on the abuse of animals on a global scale, as well as to educate and encourage positive practices in pet parenting, and globally promote spay and neuter programs while keeping in mind the goal of eliminating the need to euthanize animals.