Agriculture Secretary OK's Kosher Slaughter

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 / 2 Tevet 5765

“What I saw today was humane," said Iowa's Sec'y of Agriculture, after a tour of a large kosher slaughterhouse on Sunday. She had originally said she was "disturbed" by kosher slaughter practices.

"It was quick and there was absolutely no problem with the way [the cattle] were handled," said Secretary Patty Judge after touring the AgriProcessors plant on Sunday.

Ms. Judge toured the processing plant after PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released a videotape showing animals in distress following slaughter. She had originally said that she was "disturbed" by the video, and called for a possible state investigation. She changed her mind, however, during her visit to the the world's largest supplier of glatt (extra-stringent) kosher meat products.

Officials at the Orthodox Union, the world's largest Kashrut-certifying organization, expressed satisfaction at Secretary Judge’s comments. “We are gratified that a personal inspection tour of AgriProcessors by Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Patty Judge, made it clear that kosher slaughter there is done humanely,” declared Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbinic Administrator of the OU Kosher division. "Clearly, humane slaughter goes on at the AgriProcessors plant, in conformity with the laws of Torah which make it clear that humanity to animals is a religious requirement in Judaism.”

In a statement issued several days earlier, Rabbis Weinreb and Genack declared:
“After carefully studying the [PETA] video, Rabbi Menachem Genack and Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, one of the OU’s distinguished poskim (rabbinic decisors), traveled to Postville, Iowa to review the procedures at the AgriProcessors plant. They found that these procedures meet all OU standards to the highest degree, and that the shochtim (rabbinic slaughters) are all highly proficient, skilled and knowledgeable. Nevertheless, the OU and AgriProcessors, Inc. have worked together to make certain changes, namely that the trachea will no longer be removed following shechita (kosher slaughter), and that any animals that appear to have survived the procedure will be promptly stunned or shot.”

“This was the first time I had an opportunity to see kosher slaughter," Secretary Judge said. "I was glad to see how it works." She said she saw three cattle slaughtered, and that they were rendered insensible and unconscious within “two or three seconds” after the shochet's cut.

“Slaughter is never pleasant, but it was humane, quick, and I have no problem with the way those animals were being treated," Secretary Judge said. "The rabbis slaughtering the chickens were much more gentle than my grandmother was on our farm when I was a child."

"If done correctly under kosher law, the technique ensures quick and painless death," according to officials quoted in the Des Moines Register, an Iowa newspaper.
Information on kosher slaughter can be
found here.

I'm with you on that. A few Americans slowly ripped throats with dull knives and hanged from bridges.

PETA should check into that mental hotel.

If I were W and on Rummy's staf, I'd rip these bastards with so much Air Force ordnance, they'd be screwing all of their 72 virgins.

Am I ranting? If so, too flippin bad. I'd kill these unwashed, unshaven, sheetheads faster than a pig roast. (Sarcasm intended). The bearded wonders are a pathetic expression of filth and vile persons, only worthy of breeding with camels.

I expect that Bic, Schick and Gillette will not market their razor products to the sand-lizzards anytime soon.

A close friend who works for a major kosher food distributor, and knows many people and details involved, told me this:

"I think it is a Hannukah miracle, 12 kashrut agencies agreeing."

http://ou.org/other/5765/shechita2-65.htm

Statement of Rabbis and Certifying Agencies on Recent Publicity on Kosher Slaughter

As rabbis and certifying agencies involved in the supervision of kosher meat slaughter in the United States, we are deeply concerned that the recent publicity surrounding the videotape released by a group called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals may lead to misconceptions about the practices depicted on the videotape and, more generally, about the shechita process itself. We therefore wish to state as follows:

1. Shechita involves the slicing or cutting of the trachea and esophagus with a sharp knife without nicks in a manner which has been established over centuries to be the most humane form of animal slaughter. Shechita typically renders the animal insensible almost instantaneously.

2. After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain, and they do not affect the kosher status of the slaughtered animal's meat. There may be exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and walk around. Cases when animals show such signs of life after the slaughter process are extremely rare, and even such an event would not invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in the shechita cut.

3. With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common practice. We wish to make clear that nothing in any such post-shechita "second cut" or excision in any way undermines the validity of the shechita itself or the kosher status of the slaughtered animal's meat. We further note that regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture explicitly approve a second cut to facilitate bleeding.

4. We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding "tzaar baalei chayim," unnecessary pain to any creature. We reiterate that the shechita process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves to the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with all religious and federal laws governing kosher slaughter.

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Halachic Consultant
Orthodox Union

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane
Kashruth Administrator
Chicago Rabbinical Council

Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrus Division
Orthodox Union

Rabbi Asher Hatchuel
Rabbinic Head
Sephardic Beth Din of America

Rabbi Moshe Heinemann
Rabbinic Administrator
Star-K Certification

Rabbi Emanuel Holzer
Chairman, Kashrus Committee
Rabbinical Council of America

Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
Khal Adas Jeshurun

Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz
Head of Beth Din
Chicago Rabbinical Council

Rabbi Yitzchok Stein
Rabbinic Head
Beth Din of Karlsburg

Rabbi Yechiel Steinmetz
Rabbinic Judge
Monsey, NY

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum
Nirbater Rav
Rabbinic Supervisor
Alle Processing Corporation

Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl
Rabbinic Head
Nitra Beth Din of Monsey

www.ou.org

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