USDA Probing Animal-Abuse Allegations at Beef Plant

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating allegations of animal abuse at Bushways Packing Inc., a Grand Isle, Vermont, beef plant. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he has called on the USDA’s Inspector General to conduct a criminal probe of the alleged abuse captured on video by the Humane Society of the United States. The scenes depict apparent violations of USDA animal-handling regulations, Vilsack said today in an e-mailed statement. “The deplorable scenes recorded in the video” are “unequivocally unacceptable,” he said. The plant is closed pending the investigation, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said...read more