USDA proposes complete ban on downer cattle slaughter
 

Schafer stated, "To maintain consumer confidence in the food supply, eliminate further misunderstanding of the rule and, ultimately, to make a positive impact on the humane handling of cattle, I believe it is sound policy to simplify this matter by initiating a complete ban on the slaughter of downer cattle."

Downer cattle are only allowed to be slaughtered for food if they become non-ambulatory after first being pronounced fit. If an animal becomes ill or injured after that first inspection, a slaughterhouse is supposed to get a second inspection before processing it.

But at the California-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., employees were surreptitiously filmed by the Humane Society mistreating and slaughtering downer cattle without secondary inspections. That led to the largest beef recall in US history. Cattle that can't stand or walk are condemned because those are symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad-cow disease.

Out of about 34 million head of cattle slaughtered in the US last year, about 1,000 were pronounced downed but then allowed through on the exemption after receiving a secondary inspection by a government veterinarian, according to USDA data.