Midweek
News serving DeKalb County, Illinois
For
the week of October 22, 2003
Cavel
says humane procedures are followed
By Diane Strand
The MidWeek
Jim
Tucker is project manager at Cavel International’s horse
slaughtering plant in DeKalb.
He said critics often are ignorant of procedures used in the
meat-processing industry.
With regard to the transportation of horses, he said, “There is
a concern about the double-deck trailers. Some people feel it’s
uncomfortable, but it depends on the size of the horse.”
He said there are a couple of higher areas in the trailer for
larger horses.
“Also, government legislation has been passed on transportation
of horses and for the slaughter of horses for human
consumption,” Tucker said. “The double-decker trailers were to
be phased out in five years. (A few years remain.)
“Limits have been set for the amount of time they can be in the
trailer before they are rested—it’s something like being in
the trailer for six hours and then rested for two hours. It would
be something like 300 miles.”
He said the animal is killed at the plant with a captive bolt gun.
“It is a killing device which releases a bolt to the brain, and
it causes immediate death.
“(Critics) imply that it has to be done several times, but that
is not true. It is not difficult to administer, and almost always
it takes one hit and the animal is dead. All of those details are
foreign to most people. Otherwise, they don’t understand.”
Use of the captive bolt gun is widely accepted as a humane
slaughtering method approved by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and it has been used for 100 years, Tucker said.
Regarding purchase of horses at auctions, Tucker said any seller
can designate that his or her horse not be sold for slaughter.”
He said, though critics argue that there aren’t enough
inspectors hired by the USDA, “an inspector veterinarian is on
the premises at Cavel at all times.” |
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