AgriProcessors
12/01/04
Updated 12/27/04
(See Jewish Vegetarians of North America Newsletter)
Following a seven-week undercover investigation conducted between July 22
and September 12, 2004, PETA has released shocking video footage of
horribly mistreated cows at Postville, Iowa-based AgriProcessors, Inc., the
largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world.Full story: Slaughterhouse
Campaign updates: GoVeg.org
Please write to: the Orthodox Union and others
Please read this 12/16/03 article by Kosher Slaughter Expert Temple Grandin:
Kosher slaughter, when done correctly, should minimize stress and pain to the animals.
AgriProcessors' horrific acts of brutality are in direct violation of the holy teachings:
A personal note: My grandfather, who was an ultra-orthodox Jewish kosher butcher loved people and animals. In fact, he would bring home stray cats, dogs, and even injured birds and try to nurse them back to health. Interestingly, a year before his death, he finally made the connection and became vegetarian. I am quite certain that if he were alive today, he would have been horrified to witness the barbarity of these practices and think it obscene that anyone could consider meat from animals slaughtered in this fashion "kosher." The brutality and overt cruelty of the practice is in direct violation of the holy books.
Please visit:
Latest Jewish Vegetarians of North America Newsletter
12/24/04
The response of the O.U. (Orthodox Union) to the obscene practices taking place at AgriProcessors has been inadequate. The revisions they are proposing are minimal and were only invented to subdue/placate the public.
I urge everyone who gets a solicitation from any charitable Jewish organization including B'nai B'rith, Hadassah, United Jewish Appeal, et al, to return their donation card with this message:
I will not consider donating to your organization until it comes forward with a formal statement addressed to the OU (Orthodox Union) and the USDA protesting the horrific crimes taking place at AgriProcessors, the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the world, and demanding a more in-depth investigation and more aggressive action.
Please please see: http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/
Please write to and continue to put pressure on: the Orthodox Union and others
12/24/04
addendum
(for original story and update see 12/21 and 12/24 postings below)
From GoVeg.com:
(for those of you who think the AgriProcessors issue has nothing to do with you)
Eating Meat Supports Cruelty
Every day, hundreds of animals endure unimaginable cruelty at this AgriProcessors slaughterhouse. Maybe after seeing the fear and pain on the faces of the animals we captured on videotape, you will go vegetarian and persuade family and friends to join you. If you are already vegetarian or vegan, there's still a lot you can do to help. Please don't think that if you don't eat kosher meat, this doesn't apply to you: Kosher slaughter is more than twice as well regulated as conventional slaughter and is supposed to be more humane. Also, most meat from kosher slaughterhouses is sold as conventional, not kosher meat.
As PETA's previous investigations have shown, cruel treatment of animals is routine—from standard procedures like cutting horns, testicles, and beaks off without painkillers to sadism in which workers mutilate, throw, stomp on, and torture animals for kicks. At Belcross Farm in North Carolina, we videotapeda pig having her leg sawed off and her skin peeled off while she was still fully conscious. At Seaboard Farms