From ABC News

The Western Exporters Abattoir in Charleville was forced to close earlier this year because it could not find enough workers.

It has now been able to employ more overseas workers under the 457 visa program.

Managing director Neil Duncan says it processed 24,000 goats in the past two weeks for export markets.

“Well mainly to the US, Taiwan, our normal customers,” he said.

“We should have been doing these sort of numbers years ago, we need to do that to keep up with the goat industry.

From Farmed Animal Watch

The US goat farming and slaughter industry is experiencing rapid growth in part based on increased demand from Muslims, Hispanics, Indians, and other ethnic minorities. According to the American Boer Goat Association (ABGA), goat flesh is the “fastest-growing segment in agriculture.” Indeed, total consumption of goat flesh in the US grew by 64% from 1999 to 2003 and is expected to grow by 10% per year in the short term future. The industry changed dramatically in the early 1990s when Boer goats were imported from South Africa, replacing the much smaller goats traditionally raised by US farmers. The US also ceased paying government subsidies to farmers raising goats for mohair or cashmere around the same time, prompting some farmers to switch to raising the animals for meat production.

As of January 1, 2005, nearly 2 million goats were being kept on farms for slaughter; another half-million goats were being kept for angora and milk production. This is according to the first complete annual survey of goat farming conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Despite growing consumption, however, the goat industry’s total size is largely unchanged from 2002 when the same number of goats (just less than 2 million) was kept on farms for slaughter. Because of increased demand but relatively stagnant supply, the US imported 17 million pounds of goat flesh in 2003, an increase of one-third more than 2001. One increasingly popular item, especially among Hispanics, is caproetta, which is the flesh of a “baby goat that was still suckling its mother.” Several high-end restaurants in New York City are reportedly carrying the product.

1. “No Kidding; America’s Booming Goat Industry,” MeatPoultry.com / The Economist, 8/27/05
http://tinyurl.com/8yx7a (meatpoultry.com)
2. “Livestock Reports: Sheep and Goats,” USDA / NASS, 1/28/05
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/livestock/pgg-bb/shep0105.txt

*
22 million turkeys are killed each year in licensed plants with an estimated 10 million being killed at Christmas (based on consumption figures, DEFRA, 23/10/2001).

From the Daily Telegraph

About 90 regulars are set to tuck into Father Chrstmas’s four-legged friends as members of the Humbug Club at The Victory in Walton, near Clacton, Essex.

Russell Bettany, 44, the landlord, said: “Among the over-50s there is such an anti-Christmas feeling and I just thought starting the Humbug Club was a good idea.

“But we do it for charity and it’s very light-hearted.”

Mr Bettany said putting reindeer on the pub’s Christmas menu had gone down well with Humbugs and other customers - 200 people had reserved places at the pub between December 1 and 20.

“First and foremost, for our Christmas menu, we wanted to get away from the traditional and do something with a slight angle or hook to it,” he said.

“So I thought, ‘I know, let’s eat Santa’s little helpers.’

“The Humbug Club members are coming to make sure they can eat the reindeer, which they feel will go some way to spoiling everybody else’s Christmas.”

TattooBlog

In a pointlessly reported argument Paul McCartney has been all over the press having said very little against Gordon Ramsay who has in turn said nothing new about vegetarians but managed to court the controversey required to maintain his elevated profile as this generation’s Fanny Craddock.
 
The meatismurder crew having nothing against cooks. Taking ingredients and turning them into a meal to be enjoyed by loved ones, friends…activists, is a great skill to be admired, but we do believe that for tv chefs and their pornographic love of braising and frying body parts to be so reveared is just plain weird.

It is just a pity that despite all the reported environmental and health risks of animal based diets (see this site!), the future strife over food security (see future articles on this site) to be caused by Western animal based diets, and the love of the British, Americans, Canadians and god knows who else for animals with the right fluff to floppy ear ratio  people are still chowing down on cadavers and vegetarians/vegans are being reported as a fringe voice standing against the mainstream.

Anyway, please see below for the pointless debate
(from the Daily Mail).

Sir Paul McCartney has criticised Gordon Ramsay - calling the TV chef ’stupid’. Ramsay, 41, has angered the ex-Beatle, 66, with his outspoken comments against vegetarians.

The foul-mouthed chef has annoyed the music legend by saying he could not tolerate it if one of his three daughters came home with a vegetarian boyfriend.

Kitchen Nightmares star Ramsay said recently: ‘If one of my daughters’ boyfriends turns out to be vegetarian I swear to God I’d never forgive them.’
In another tirade, he said: ‘My biggest nightmare would be if the kids ever came up to me and said “Dad, I’m a vegetarian”. Then I would sit them on the fence and electrocute them.’

Sir Paul, who has not eaten meat for 30 years, told Sainsbury’s Magazine: ‘I think it’s a case of live and let live.

‘I will talk to people about the advantages of vegetarianism, and it will upset me if we’ve had a good conversation and they turn around and say something stupid.

‘I just read a quote from Gordon Ramsay… “If my daughter ever grew up and married a vegetarian, I’d never forgive her.”

‘But even that I would forgive because it’s not my affair, it’s not up to me if he talks stupid or not.’

The music legend, whose youngest daughter Beatrice, four, is vegan, said: ‘I’d be happier if everyone was vegetarian. The planet would be better off for it.’
In Ramsay’s Channel 4 show The F Word, the chef persuaded 50 vegetarians to feast on Janet Street-Porter’s recently butchered veal.

In July, outraged animal welfare groups accused Ramsay of employing shock tactics to gain publicity after he was seen on the show killing and eating puffins.

In another outburst against vegetarians, Ramsay told Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole when she appeared on the show: ‘Didn’t you get the message? Vegetarians aren’t welcome here.’

From the bbc

The government has decided against a cull of badgers in England to control TB in cattle, the BBC understands.Its decision goes against former chief scientific adviser Sir David King’s recommendations, made in 2007, that a cull could be an effective measure.
The decision has angered the National Farmers’ Union, which claims cattle TB has already cost the industry millions. In April a “targeted cull” of badgers was announced in Wales as part of a plan to eradicate TB in cattle.

But ministers have instead accepted the scientific arguments of the Independent Scientific Group on TB in Cattle.
NFU president Peter Kendall told BBC News that Westminster had “ducked the issue” and that the union would be organising a protest outside Parliament next week. A policy announcement is due on Monday. The ISG’s analysis - an earlier and much larger study than Sir David’s - concluded that culling badgers would not be economic.

However the imminent remains.

Tofu, the Vegan Zombie

“Tofu” is a friendly zombie, created from a botched experiment in Professor Vost’s laboratory. Monkey # 5, one of Vost’s lab animals, stuffed a block of tofu into the zombie boy’s open skull after accidentally losing the brain. As a result, “Tofu” eats only vegetables and grains and has no taste for human meat. However, if “Tofu” ever loses his “tofu-brain”, he turns into a dangerous zombie creature, craving human flesh.

Professor Vost’s sole mission in life is to find a cure for the menacing zombie epidemic plaguing mankind. Vost believes the zombie pathogen to be viral, caused by the genetic manipulation of meat products. The Evil Mallesteros, owner of the world’s largest meat packing company, wants to shut down Professor Vost’s research because sales from meat are beginning to suffer due to Vost’s conclusive findings.

“Tofu” is able to walk among both the human and zombie world with safety and ease, however, he is never fully trusted or accepted by either group. The professor’s daughter Addie helps “Tofu” blend into the human world by bringing him along with Lab Monkey #5 for fun and adventures. However, Lab Monkey #5’s mischievous, playful nature always gets “Tofu” and Addie into trouble.

Because of his unique ability to intermingle in both worlds, and his harmless vegetarian nature, the professor believes “Tofu” to be the key in solving the Zombie epidemic. The question is; will he have enough time to find a cure?.

The Birth of Tofu…

From news.five.tv

Five News has uncovered more evidence of chickens being kept in horrifying conditions at an RSPCA ‘Freedom Food’ farm, this time in Somerset.
Last week, Five News reported on the appalling conditions chickens were being kept in at a farm in Norfolk. The farm was endorsed by the RSPCA’s ‘Freedom Food’ label and is now facing an investigation into their handling of chickens.In Jason Farrell’s latest investigation he has uncovered another farm failing to meet the relevant standards set by the ‘Freedom Food’ label.
Video Blog Watch how Jason Farrell uncovered this latest investigation.
Click here to watch the video blog.

Government vets have launched an investigation into Britain’s pig farming industry after disturbing images showing dead and diseased animals were passed to The Independent.

Pork farmers have been conducting a high-profile advertising campaign to encourage consumers to buy more expensive British produce, claiming that standards are higher than they are on the Continent. But the images, taken at farms linked to leaders of the industry, raise serious concerns about the welfare of the majority of the country’s 8 million pigs.

Vets at the Government’s Animal Health agency, which enforces welfare legislation and conducts regular inspections of farm premises, said it would investigate the findings.

Activists from the welfare group Animal Aid entered 10 farms in March and April. Two of the farms were operated by companies run by members of the industry’s governing body the British Pig Executive (BPEX), while others were linked to other senior figures in the industry. 

Animal Aid claimed its investigation showed that farmers were “falling considerably short” of the images it portrayed in its campaigning. Shot in Cornwall, Somerset, Lincolnshire, North and East Yorkshire, the footage shows pigs with sores where they have rubbed against metal bars; farrowing crates that prevent sows from moving; pigs with bite marks; collapsed and convulsing animals; pigs covered in excrement; dirty pens; and routine tail-docking.

remainder of article at the Independent

• More than nine million pigs are slaughtered annually in the UK.
• Around 450,000 sows are currently used for breeding.
• Seventy per cent of British pigmeat comes from animals reared intensively, but even ‘outdoor reared’ and ‘outdoor raised’ pigs spend half or more of their lives indoors.
• Britain’s modest advances in pig welfare have not been made alone, and this country is certainly not in the vanguard. Sweden, for example, banned tethering almost three decades before Britain. And in 1997, Switzerland banned the use of farrowing crates altogether, making nonsense of Britain?s claims that we lead the way. In Sweden, weaning takes place at 5-6 weeks, an improvement on Britain and yet still far short of the17 weeks that pigs suckle and nurse their young in semi-natural conditions. The tethering of sows is now banned across the entire EU. Sow stalls are banned in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, as well as Britain. In 2013 they will be illegal across the whole of the EU. In Sweden, all pigs must be provided with straw or other litter material ? something that British pigs are largely denied. And pigs on Swedish farms may be held in a farrowing crate for a maximum of one week. In Britain, it is four weeks. Norway will enforce a ban on the castration of piglets from 2009 ? something which, although only rarely carried out in the UK, has not been outlawed here.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s decision to shut down all city slaughterhouses during the Jain festival of Paryushan has run into opposition from meat sellers. The Brihanmumbai Hindu Khatik Samaj Sanghatna, an association of meat sellers, has decided to observe a dharna on Wednesday at Azad Maidan.

The Paryushan will be observed between August 27 and September 3 this year. Those participating in the dharna will have their mouths taped and hands tied.

The BMC, at a general body meeting of the elected representatives on April 7, decided shut down all abattoirs during the nine-day Jain festival. According to the protestors, the worst hit will be the owners and the workers of the slaughterhouses.

According to the association, there are around 1,500 BMC-owned and licensed shops selling meat in Mumbai apart from illegal ones in and around suburbs. They employ over 25,000 daily-wage workers who earn a meagre Rs 100-Rs 150 per day. The closing of the slaughterhouses for nine days would mean no income for these workers for those nine days, the association said.

Sixty-five-year-old Maltibai Eknath Kothmere, a widow, earns her livelihood in the form of rent from the slaughter shop her husband had left her. Seated in her tiny one-room house, she complained: “No money means no food. We are somehow managing with the little income that we get as rent, but now with the BMC’s resolution, I do not know how we will survive for those nine days.”

Remainder of article at ExpressIndia.com

A feed supplement for pigs which was found to be contaminated by lead has been withdrawn from sale in Australia.

High levels of lead were first found in the supplement imported from China in February.

Testing revealed pigs in six Western Australian piggeries had high levels of the metal in their systems.

Those piggeries have been put into quarantine and will remain so for at least another month.

Another 60 piggeries which also use the same feedstock are being closely monitored to ensure the pigs have not been affected.

Remainder of article at ABC

People who eat animals killed with lead bullets need to be concerned about lead poisoning, according to a conservation organization working to convince game hunters to switch to copper ammunition.class=”storydetail”>

Opponents, however, argue that the group’s agenda — to get the lead out of commercial ammo — rather than hard science, is the driving force behind the results of a recent study. Participating scientists say it provides proof that lead-based ammunition poses health risks not only for animals, but for people.

The Peregrine Fund, a Boise, Idaho-based conservation group that works to protect birds of prey, conducted the study in concert with scientists from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in which researchers examined professionally processed meat from hunter-killed deer in Wyoming.

Eighty percent of the deer killed by high-velocity lead-based ammunition produced at least some meat with metal fragments or metal “dust” in it, and 92 percent of the metal found was lead, according to the leaders of the project who presented their findings Tuesday at a conference in Boise. Separately, the North Dakota Health Department and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are planning to test nearly 700 people who eat wild game killed with lead bullets, to determine if there are any health risks.

The suggestion that lead bullets could make venison unsafe for humans has prompted outrage from pro-hunting groups such as Safari Club International of Somerset, N.J., and the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry group, after North Dakota and Minnesota in March and April instructed food banks there to pull hunter-donated venison from their shelves.

“This is one more piece of evidence that points to lead bullets as a source of contamination in our environment,” Rick Watson, vice president of the Peregrine Fund, said in a statement ahead of a presentation of the study.

The study released Tuesday comes after a Peregrine Fund board member, Dr. William Cornatzer, previously did CT scans of about 100 packets of venison that had been donated to food banks by hunters. He found 60 percent had multiple lead fragments.

Lawrence Keane, a National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman, said he hasn’t seen the latest study. But he said initial evidence supplied by Cornatzer, a dermatologist and professor at the University of North Dakota medical school, didn’t justify a policy change or destruction of venison. Groups, including Safari Club, gave nearly 1 million pounds of venison in 2007 to food banks as part of their humanitarian efforts.

“The Peregrine Fund is an advocacy group and has an agenda,” Keane said. “We have serious questions with the so-called science by the dermatologist. It’s my understanding there’s not a single reported case that the CDC is aware of, of anyone having elevated blood lead levels from eating game harvested with lead ammunition.”

Lead poisoning has been linked to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death. There is no safe level of lead in blood.

Remainder of story at Jackson Hole Star Tribune

Now in its sixth year, The Bristol Vegan Fayre remains the largest vegan event anywhere in the world today – and the most fun

A superb site location by the Waterside in the heart of Bristol, plus an excellent organising team, top rate security, some stunning stallholders and sponsors, some supreme entertainers, an awesome line up of talks and demos, and a brilliant team of stewards and helpers ensures that everyone who visits the Bristol Vegan Fayre not only has a memorable day out, but leaves brimful with inspiration, education, some excellent shopping and of course extremely well fed.

It doesn’t matter what your current dietary status is – you’ll be welcome at the Bristol Vegan Fayre. Whether you’re a raw foodie looking for the latest info and products, a committed vegan in search of new cookery ideas and some leather free footwear, a veggie tempted by the idea of going vegan and wanting to know more about it, an ‘omnivore’ who is after reducing their meat intake and in search of a few ideas, recipes and products – or none of these, eats anything but likes a good time, enjoys a decent festival and some good bands, and can put up with a veggieburger and pint without too much issue – you know you’re all welcome – it’s an inclusive show designed to suit all comers.

For 2008 we have several new additions including an expanded Living Raw Area with a Raw Food Prep Class zone as well as Living Raw Talks Area, and we have also a ‘Victorian Circus’ for 2008 with Escapologist David Straitjacket and Contortionist Rubber Ritchie.

And we also have some amazing ‘Show Specials’ this year with some excellent shopping deals available including loads of Half Price and Buy One Get One Free opportunities – see our Show Specials page for all the updates on the most amazing bargains imaginable. Plus – our first 250 visitors each day receive a FREE Goody Bag!

The BVF is renowned for its top notch entertainment ever since the organiser donned a Pink Panther costume at the first show and served all the stallholders champagne, before hosting the world’s first vegan custard pie fight a year later. As the show has grown, so has the level of entertainment, and for 2008 we have an even more staggering line up of bands, musicians, artists and completely mind blowing acts that are guaranteed to thrill. The name of the headline band is currently under wraps at the time of writing and will be announced shortly but it’s safe to say in order to accommodate them the PA will have to be bigger than in 2007, when headliners The Beat rammed the place and took the lid right off!

But its not just about the headliners – there’s some excellent up and coming and well established Bristol bands too, and they will be well represented as they were in 2007 when First Degree Burns, Chemical Dub Theory and Se Fire all tore it up. Expect to see some top notch local; talent in the late afternoons and early evening both days.

Whilst most of us love a good dance and a boogie, not all of us do, and the Acoustic Stage caters for more laid back and less noisy tastes, with an eclectic blend of Blues, Jazz, Country, Classical and Opera fused gently into a whole weekend of delightful music designed to suit all tastes.

Meanwhile, for those who are still a bit young to appreciate the bands and musicians, we have a full on Kids Area and Victorian Circus to thrill and inspire kids of all ages, and adults too, combining to make the perfect day out for all the family.

The 3 main areas to watch out for are the Main Stage, the Acoustic Stage and the Kids Area, which for 2008 is incorporating a Victorian Circus!

BristolVeganFayre08

Badgers are set to be killed in an attempt to stamp out tuberculosis in cattle.

They are a protected species in the UK but have a bad reputation with some farmers.

Bovine TB is proving a big problem in Wales with over 8,000 affected cattle having to be killed over the last year

Bovine TB is proving a big problem in Wales with over 8,000 affected cattle having to be killed over the last year.

Farmers are blaming the spread of the disease on badgers and in response the Welsh Assembly has made a controversial decision to test how widespread the problem is by setting up a pilot cull zone.

While many farmers have welcomed the decision, the RSPCA described it as going against sound scientific judgement.

Officials say bovine TB is out of control in Wales, but conservation groups insist a badger cull will not stop it spreading.

The method and a site with suitable natural or man-made boundaries have not be chosen. Other areas could be considered after the pilot is reviewed.

In a statement Wales’s Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said: “This is a difficult decision to take and it has not been taken lightly. I am very aware of the strong views on this issue.”

She made clear that badgers would remain a protected species and said she had given “due consideration to the divergence of scientific and political opinion”, adding “illegal action will not be tolerated.”

Ms Jones said she wanted to reform the compensation system for farmers whose infected cows were slaughtered to “encourage herd owners to comply with legal and best practice requirements”.

Last year, 7,905 cattle were put down in Wales, up from 669 in 1997. A compensation bill for affected farms of £15.2 million in 2007 would grow to more than £30 million by 2012 if it continued at the present “unsustainable” rate, she added.

Source of article above was ITN

Please see stopwaronbadgers and badger-killers for arguments aginst the cull of badgers.
A sample argument is given below.

Badgers are being scapegoated by DEFRA (formerly the Ministry of Agriculture) to placate the farming lobby, whose own intensive production systems are the direct cause of increasing levels of disease in cattle, including bovine TB. There is no plausible evidence to suggest that badgers are transmitting bovine TB to cattle. The reverse is probably the case.

The persistent focus on badgers distracts from the serious health problems faced by intensively managed cattle in Britain. Many other diseases, such as pneumonia, E. coli, coccidiosis (a fatal diarrhoea), salmonella and mastitis, are also increasing in British cattle herds.

Bovine TB is caused by intensive farming methods, >NOT badgers!

Background - In 1973 a dead badger was found on a farm in Gloucestershire that had recently suffered an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) within its cattle herd. Upon post-mortem examination the badger revealed a large number of lesions throughout its body, which tested positive for bTB. MAFF (now DEFRA) first started to kill badgers (using cyanide gas) as a means of ‘controlling’ Bovine TB (bTB) in 1975. But since 1982 badgers have been cage-trapped in Britain where they remain until operatives return to shoot them. In Ireland they are caught in cruel snares.

Since then the badger has become a farming and government scapegoat for what is a bovine disease and over *30,000 badgers have been killed in unfruitful, pointless ‘experiments’. (*Up to 1995) And once again starting in 1998 badgers were killed…

Farmers insist that badgers transmit the disease to cattle, and yet not even farmer-friendly DEFRA has produced any convincing evidence. During the past 28 years, DEFRA (and formerly MAFF) has up to now killed more than 40,000 badgers in a failed effort to halt bovine TB outbreaks. In fact, TB in cattle has been increasing since 1986, including in areas where badgers have been eliminated, or where they have been shown to be free of the disease.

The first case of human-to-human transmission of avian flu in Pakistan has been confirmed.

Tests carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that bird flu killed some members of a family in north-west Pakistan late last year.

The WHO says steps were taken to prevent future fatalities in the area.

Pakistan’s north-west and southern regions were hit by bird flu last year. Thousands of birds were culled to control the spread of the disease.

Remainder of article at the BBC

Push for more dog meat on menus

THE Seoul city government is seeking to classify man’s best friend as livestock in order to set food safety standards for South Korean lovers of dogmeat.

Somewhere between two and four million dogs are estimated to be consumed in South Korea every year, but the slaughtering and processing is carried out in dirty environments and poses a risks to diners’ health.

Since dogs are not currently classed as livestock there are no hygiene regulations on their slaughter, officials said.

“Dogs are consumed in their millions in this country every year. That’s a fact. We have to take care of this situation,'’ said Lee Hae-Woo, head of the city government’s department of food safety.

“We plan to recommend to the central government that dogs are classified as livestock,'’ he said.

“This is like a hot potato, but we don’t pretend the issue does not exist.'’

South Korea’s capital has always been ambivalent about dogmeat. To avoid adverse publicity before the 1988 Olympics, the city banned dogmeat and snakemeat as “abhorrent food”.

The order is now largely ignored and an estimated 500 dogmeat restaurants operate in Seoul alone.

Remainder of article at news.com.au
Animal Freedom Korea

A London council wants to encourage its staff to help the environment by going vegetarian.

Cutting meat and dairy products from canteen menus will reduce carbon emissions, according to Camden’s climate change group.

Councillors will vote on the proposal at the end of May after examining a report setting out a raft of measures designed to reduce the borough’s environmental impact.

Camden’s “eco champion” Alexis Rowell said the idea of taking meat off the menu was based on United Nations data showing that the livestock industry is responsible for 18 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions.

He said: “At some point we have to get to grips with the Western diet, which contains so much meat and dairy and is part of the carbon problem and the obesity problem.

“We are not talking about turning everyone into vegetarians but about eating more vegetables and fewer pieces of meat, especially beef which is the most intensive. We are growing grain and manufacturing fertilisers using a lot of fossil fuel and water, which is a scarce resource, to feed cows to then feed humans.

“It would be better to grow vegetables and feed them straight to humans.”

According to the Vegetarian Society, 70 per cent of the world’s agricultural land is used for rearing farm animals, either as grazing land or to grow fodder. Far less land is used to grow crops to feed directly to humans.

The animals themselves are said to emit more damaging gases than the world’s entire transport system. Camden also wants to cut the amount of food flown in from abroad or driven across the country in lorries.

Read more at the Evening Standard

WASHINGTON — The president of a slaughterhouse at the heart of the largest meat recall denied under oath on Wednesday, but then grudgingly admitted, that his company had apparently introduced sick cows into the hamburger supply.

He then tried to minimize the significance.

The executive, Steve Mendell of the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company of Chino, Calif., said, “I was shocked. I was horrified. I was sickened,” by video that showed employees kicking or using electric prods on “downer” cattle that were too sick to walk, jabbing one in the eye with a baton and using forklifts to push animals around.

The video was taken by an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States. One tape showed a worker using a garden hose to try to squirt water up the nose of a downed cow, a technique that Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who conducted the hearing where Mr. Mendell testified, referred to as waterboarding.

Testifying before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Mendell, who appeared only after being subpoenaed, assured lawmakers that despite his lack of knowledge about conditions at the plant, sick animals were not slaughtered for food, so no safety issue existed.

But Mr. Mendell retracted the statement when shown a second video in which a “downer” cow was shocked and abused by workers trying to move it to the “kill box,” then finally shot with a bolt gun and dragged by a chain to the processing area.

When Mr. Mendell told the committee he was unaware of the abuses, Mr. Stupak asked him, “What’s your curiosity, as president and C.E.O. of the company you’re responsible for?”

Mr. Mendell replied that after he had seen the first video, he concluded that “it was a regulatory violation, for sure, it was inhumane treatment, for sure,” but that he did not believe it was a food safety issue until he saw the second video on Wednesday.

Mr. Stupak asked if one could conclude from the video that the cow dragged into the killing area had gone into the food supply.

“That would be logical, sir,” Mr. Mendell replied.

Article continues at nytimes.com