SACRAMENTO -- Cali fornia lawmakers advanced legislation that would slap slaughterhouses with criminal penalties if they process meat from cattle and other livestock that are too sick to stand.
The 6-1 vote by the Assembly Public Safety Committee was in response to the illegal processing of sick cattle at a Southern Cali fornia slaughterhouse, which in March resulted in the country's largest beef recall.
Although the federal government oversees slaughterhouse operations, the legislation by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, would levy fines on packaging plants that sell meat in California from so-called "nonambulatory" cattle, swine, sheep or goats.
"This is an issue that every one of us, every person who eats meat, has a stake in," Wayne Pacelle, president of Humane Society of the United States, told the committee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of beef on Feb. 17 after the Humane Society released undercover video showing workers at Chino-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. forcing sick cows to stand with forklifts, electric prods and high-pressure water hoses.
The plant was closed, and San Bernardino County prosecutors filed animal cruelty charges against the two workers shown in the video. One of them, Rafael Sanchez Her rera, has since pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal.
Cattle too sick to stand are referred to as downer cattle by federal inspectors and are banned from the food supply because they carry a higher risk of BSE disease.
But human rights advocates say a loophole in federal regulations allows slaughterhouses to process sick cattle as long as the animal is standing when federal inspectors are present. Those animals are classified as nonambulatory and are sometimes prodded to stand for inspections.
Michael A. Ramos, San Bernardino County District Attorney, urged lawmakers to create the new criminal penalties in California law.
"At minimum, we need to hold these people responsible," he said.
Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. President Steve Mendell acknowledged in March that cows too sick to stand at his plant were allowed into the nation's food supply in violation of federal law. He made the admission after a congressional panel forced him to watch the undercover video of the abuses at his slaughterhouse.
Agriculture officials have said most of the recalled meat has been eaten. About 50 million pounds of the beef were sold to federal nutrition programs, mostly school lunches.
No illnesses have been linked to the recalled meat, and authorities have said the health threat is small.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation in April to stiffen federal penalties against slaughterhouses that illegally process cows too sick to stand. Slaughterhouses that violate the law would be fined for a first violation, suspended for a year on the second offense and shut down for a third violation.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shuts down plants that violate the law. They are allowed to reopen after they correct the violation or submit a plan specifying how they will do so.
Krekorian's bill would impose a $20,000 fine and up to a year in county jail for selling meat processed from sick livestock. It must pass several more legislative levels before being sent to the governor.
"While we're waiting for Congress to act, I want to make sure we don't expose California citizens to the risks that come from these actions," Krekorian said.
The California Cattlemen's Association has asked lawmakers to expand the bill. It wants to ban stockyards, auction yards, marketing agencies and dealers from buying, selling or receiving nonambulatory animals.
The group also wants to prohibit ranchers, dairymen and other cattle providers from transporting or delivering downed animals, spokeswoman Stevie Ipsen said.
Assemblyman Joel Ander son, R-La Mesa, was the sole lawmaker to vote against the measure. His chief of staff said Anderson will likely support the bill on the Assembly floor if it were expanded to accommodate the cattle association's requests.
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