The following story is currently a national story, published by the AP. The attached video was published by The Humane Society of the United States (USUS), and claims that the “Catelli Bros” plant is a “kosher and a non-kosher calf slaughter plant in New Jersey”. YWN spoke with Catelli Bros just prior to publishing this article. They told us that there are no “Catelli Bros.” products labeled as kosher whatsoever. Additionally, their website doesn’t mention anything about the company slaughtering Kosher meats.
The following sentence is part of the the HSUS press release:
“The Catelli Bros. plant conducts both conventional slaughter and kosher slaughter of veal calves”.
It should be noted that the Associated Press article does not mention that the plant produces Kosher meat.
Interestingly, in the video at [0.45], the secret investigator asks the slaughterer “Did you get it?’, to which an alleged rabbi responds “It’s Dead”.
As of this posting, it is unknown who this Rabbi is, or what he would be doing as a “Rabbi” working at a non-kosher slaughterhouse.
Below is the video [WARNING GRAPHIC FOOTAGE]
Below Is The AP Article:
One of the country’s largest veal and lamb companies was temporarily barred from processing meat after federal officials viewed secretly shot video showing animals being treated inhumanely at its New Jersey slaughterhouse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday suspended slaughtering operations at Catelli Brothers Inc. in Shrewsbury. The company promised cooperation with investigators, and said it has already hired an expert on animal care and handling in meat plants to help it prevent future problems.
In one video clip, a cow had its neck slit and was bleeding profusely but was still conscious after being shot several times with a stun gun. In another, a calf that was unable to walk was being dragged.
Both instances violate federal rules which require that animals slaughtered for human consumption be treated humanely leading up to and during slaughter.
“For two generations, Catelli Brothers has recognized our ethical obligation for the well-being of calves that are in our care, and we take our commitment to humane treatment of every calf seriously,” said Tony Catelli, the company’s president and CEO. “Any mistreatment of animals at our facility is unacceptable, and our established practices strictly prohibit the processing of any downed calves.”
He said the company is prepared to do whatever it must to correct problems and resume production.
The Humane Society of the United States, which sent the video to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and posted excerpts on YouTube, said in a statement the video shows “egregious inhumane handling of calves in violation of federal law.”
The Food Safety and Inspection Service, part of the agriculture department, said Monday the length of the suspension will depend on how quickly the company responds to the allegations. It must identify what went wrong and what led to it; describe specific actions taken to eliminate the cause of the problem; and what sort of monitoring activities the company plans to ensure that new violations do not occur.
It determined that Catelli Brothers had violated two regulations: one prohibiting the dragging of conscious disabled animals or animals that are unable to move and a regulation requiring that an animal be rendered unconscious immediately after receiving a stunning blow.
The agency noted in its suspension letter that Catelli Brothers “does have a comprehensive or ‘robust’ systematic approach to its humane handling program,” but said that program was not consistently applied to all animals it handled.
The company’s website says it is one of the largest veal and lamb companies in the nation, employing more than 250 people. It also processes chicken and beef.
(AP)
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14 Responses
Deriding a calf. I imagine the calf really took issue with the derision.
There is nothing wrong with a shochet and rabbi coming to a non-kosher slaughterhouse to slaughter kosher animals. (I’m not saying that this happened here.)
What a crock by people who want to shove their backward agenda on others. Slaughterhouses ARE bloody! They ARE NOT spotless! These jerks MUST be neutralized!
Those calves are not traditional calves – they are specially raised – Provimi veal – or white veal – they should never be shechted – they are raised in ways that are horrible – made anemic in order to be tender- fed poorly – restrained in poorly ventilated areas -as high as 70% will have lungs that are so destroyed that they will note be kosher – there will be tremendous pressure put on the shochet to attempt to turn out as many kosher/glatt as possible – it’s a terrible nisoyon – Yidden should not eat white veal – it’s simply basar taavah!
The only thing that is clear from the video is that the Humane Society alleges that Catelli Bros. purports to engage in kosher slaughter, and this is apparently false. If and when the facts are clear (including the possibility that kosher slaughter was conducted, as Commenter no. 2 mentions), and if it appears that no kosher slaughter is involved, the Humane Society must be called to task for its allegations regarding kosher slaughter.
They told us that there are no “Catelli Bros.” products labeled as kosher whatsoever. – See more at:
however it is possible that a kosher company rents it out for a day or two. Have no idea if that is the case just saying it can be.
They do private-label runs under quite a few Kosher labels. I have been to the plant .
nfgo3 says:
January 27, 2014 at 4:48 pm
The only thing that is clear from the video is that the Humane Society alleges that Catelli Bros. purports to engage in kosher slaughter, and this is apparently false. If and when the facts are clear (including the possibility that kosher slaughter was conducted, as Commenter no. 2 mentions), and if it appears that no kosher slaughter is involved, the Humane Society must be called to task for its allegations regarding kosher slaughter.
And if it comes out that is was a glatt kosher slaughter will you make excuses
Mark Levin says:
January 27, 2014 at 4:08 pm
What a crock by people who want to shove their backward agenda on others. Slaughterhouses ARE bloody! They ARE NOT spotless! These jerks MUST be neutralized!
who mentioned spotless it is people like you who needs to be neutralized. what is the issue? if you can make it less painful for the animal why not do it?
Some halocha here for the uneducated….. Once the animal is properly ge’shuchtin – meaning that the simanim are cut the way they are supposed to be – THE ANIMAL IS CONSIDERED DEAD. There is no shayla whatsoever for a yid. For a ben noach, the bhayma is still considered alive. Thus, the shochet in the video, or the person who seems to be the shochet, is 100% correct that the animal is DEAD.
9. why not ask the animals how painful it was for them and come back to us with a full report.
you sound so neutral!
Mark Levin says:
January 28, 2014 at 12:54 am
9. why not ask the animals how painful it was for them and come back to us with a full report.
you sound so neutral!
wow, you cannot tell when an animal is in pain I feel sorry for you. Again I ask if one can make it less painful what is the problem?
I am a long-time Shochet. Although it is unfortunately true that the calf in this video was still alive after the Shechita and the goy should have immediately completed the cut, I find it most interesting that they could find but only ONE incident the entire day(s) of (I believe) 200+ that are processed each day. Yet the Humane Society/PETA makes it sound that at Catelli this issue is symptomatic as if they are like some ‘Inquisition – Torture Chamber’ where cruel and unusual animal torture persists. I bear wittness, this is FAR,FAR from the truth. Additionally, those in the field know that even when it is done “By-the-Book” per USDA regs (and Humane Society/PETA), shooting an animal is not always successful either and it might take more than one time.
to nfgo3 In order for veal to be kosher it must go through the glatt process. So of course if they are slaughtering kosher it is glatt.