Is it not fortunate that this Humane Society undercover investigation was not conducted in Maryland! If so, apparently they would have been sued for exposing this corruption by Maryland.....or would they?
The basics of this investigation and subsequent federal fallout are what one would rationally expect (like a prompt Justice department investigation!) from the current ACORN undercover investigation in the Great United States of America -- appropriate outrage (from those who actually didn't have a clue, and psuedo-outrage from those who kind of had a clue all along). Instead, the quality, the source, of the beef your children eat for their school lunch is of greater importance.
The fallout of the ACORN undercover investigation leaves those youngsters with a Maryland lawsuit for their efforts, malignment and questioning of authenticity by CNN and Network news media, and a much ignored piggy-backed Congressional investigation of these two young people courtesy of the likes of Barney Frank-- Gee, let's all thank BLarney Frank for that, and absolutely hold him accountable.
Recalled Beef
The footage by an undercover Humane Society investigator hired as a pen worker showed downer cows being beaten, shocked, sprayed with high-pressure hoses, dragged with chains and rammed with a forklift, all apparently so they would walk into the "kill box."
A subsequent recall included some 143 million pounds of beef from the plant, though much of the meat had already been eaten by schoolchildren. In April 2008, the Department of Agriculture told owners of Westland/Hallmark that they were financially liable for $67.2 million in costs associated with the recall.
Westland/Hallmark's president Steve Mendell told lawmakers in a congressional hearing that the plant had rules prohibiting the slaughter of downers. Mendell said he was unaware of such activity at Westland/Hallmark until he saw the video footage.
But the federal lawsuit says Westland/Hallmark gained its government contracts by fraud because it knew all along that it had falsely claimed compliance with government regulation (gee, that sounds like ACORN)s that forbid processing downer cattle.