California judge rules "disabled pigs" may still be processed

A federal judge in Fresno, California has declared that pigs that are too stressed to stand up can still be slaughtered and processed for food, reports the Los Angeles Daily News.

US District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill on February 20 ruled that a 102-year-old federal food safety law that allows recumbent pigs to be slaughtered under certain conditions overtakes the California law.

Four animal welfare groups have vowed to appeal the decision groups, saying it endangers the nation's food supply. They vowed to appeal.

In a written statement, Bradley Miller, national director of the Humane Farming Association, said the decision is a "stunning example of the meat industry's utter disregard for animal suffering and public safety".

Representatives of Miller's group, along with The Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said the ruling creates a loophole that could lead to the butchering of sick and injured animals.

The state law banning the slaughter of so-called downer animals was mandated last year in response to an animal rights group's taping of abuse at a Southern California slaughterhouse. Two meat industry groups sued, arguing that the decree would cause good pork to go to waste.