PETITION CLOSED
PETITION TARGET: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
UPDATE (2/15/2022): The USDA in May 2021 nixxed a request for faster slaughter speeds of pigs from the pork industry, saying it will enforce an earlier ruling from a Minnesota judge, in March, that found that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had neglected to adequately consider worker safety in rolling back a maximum slaughter speed of 1,106 pigs per hour, according to ABC News. Thank you to the more than 37,700 people who signed our petition advocating for animal and worker safety and public health! —Lady Freethinker Staff
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At high-speed slaughter plants, terrified pigs are beaten, dragged, and electrically prodded to the kill floor, where workers slaughter them at the breakneck pace of 21 pigs per minute, according to The Guardian.
Due to the speed of slaughter, some already abused pigs are dunked into tanks of boiling liquid while fully alive and conscious.
In 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) adopted a rule — the Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection — to allow for limitless high-speed slaughter, removing the previously maximum slaughter speed of 1,106 pigs per hour. This decision must be overturned.
Pigs aren’t the only ones in danger; high-speed slaughter is dangerous to workers and food safety, too. Faster slaughter speeds mean workers are more likely to suffer severe injuries. And the number of employees needed for high-speed slaughter also makes it difficult to keep appropriate distances, increasing their risk of spreading illness throughout the facility.
It also makes food inspection very difficult, as fewer inspectors are required for online inspection.
We must take action now. Animal welfare and human health are more important than profit.
Sign this petition urging the USDA to end high-speed slaughter for helpless pigs by reinstating slaughter line speeds, for the sake animals, workers, and public health.
