Document type: Report from the Animal Welfare Institute
TheUSDA's response to bird mistreatment has been inadequate.
The USDA's response to the mistreatment of birds has been inadequate.
One measure of the USDA's oversight of the treatment of birds at slaughter is the number of GCP records (Noncompliance Records and Memorandums of Interview, discussed below) the USDA issues to slaughter plants. By this measure, oversight has fluctuated-but gradually increased overall-since 2006, when the USDA began regularly reviewing compliance with GCP. However, between 2020 and 2022, nearly one-half (45%) of federal poultry plants were issued no records whatsoever by the USDA for noncompliance with GCP-despite the fact that these plants annually handle and slaughter many millions of birds. The USDA did issue records for 979 incidents in other plants during this period, but inspectors took action to stop the abuse of birds in only 119 (12%) of such incidents. Given these facts, AWI has concluded that the USDA is not serious about preventing mistreatment of birds at slaughter, and appears to have created the GCP oversight program mainly to dampen public and congressional concerns. The USDA's own records document the need for regulation. The records document incidents in which hundreds-sometimes thousands-of birds suffered greatly due to violations of industry GCP. Examples of intentional cruelty abound. On numerous occasions, slaughter plant workers have been observed throwing, kicking, and punching birds.
USDA records also demonstrate that its strategy of voluntary compliance has been ineffective.
The records show that some poultry plants have been cited repeatedly for the same or similar violations of industry GCP. Further, as noted above, nearly half of federally inspected poultry plants were issued no records from 2020 through 2022, despite handling many millions of birds over this period. </p
Undercover investigations by animal protection organizations document incidents of bird mistreatment and the need for regulation.
Animal protection groups have continued to conduct undercover investigations that document the same types of abuse uncovered nearly two decades before, demonstrating that the USDA strategy of allowing the poultry industry to police itself has failed. Video captured during the investigations suggests that abuse of birds is common practice, at least at some slaughter establishments.
Slaughter establishments and their workers rarely experience consequences for bird neglect and cruelty.
USDA internal directives require federal inspectors to take regulatory control actions-such as stopping the slaughter line-only when there are repeated occurrences of GCP violations and a loss of control of the slaughter process. When egregious instances of abuse occur, federal personnel are instructed to send a Letter of Concern (LOC) to establishment management and to "appropriate" state officials; however, between 2020 and 2022, only five LOCs were issued, and none were sent to local law enforcement. Of the more than 40 incidents of abuse described in Table 1 of the Appendix, none resulted in animal cruelty charges brought by law enforcement. The USDA has taken no action in response to AWI's repeated efforts to convince the department to adopt regulations or revise its directives in order to reduce incidents of cruelty and hold slaughter plants.
