CRIMES WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES - gpvec

3. History of U.S. Humane Slaughter Initiatives
The Federal Meat Inspection Act, which requires government oversight of the slaughter
of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, mules and other equines for human consumption,
became U.S. law in 1906, following publication of Upton’s Sinclair’s classic novel, The
Jungle. But while Sinclair voiced concern for the fate of animals in slaughterhouses who
were being mercilessly bludgeoned to death by sledgehammers, the scope of the law was
limited to food safety.
In fact, animal advocates in the United States had been faced with the issue of cruel
slaughterhouse methods since the inception of the humane movement in the late
1800s, as described by this excerpt from a 1960s article on the history of humane
slaughter: “During the early years of the American Humane Association (AHA), many
humanitarians visited abattoirs throughout the country and brought to the annual AHA
meetings reports of blood, filth and pain. But beyond their reports—and indignant
discussions among other delegates at the annual meetings—nothing of any moment was
accomplished toward the elimination of slaughterhouse cruelties.” 25
That changed when AHA and other U.S. animal advocacy groups initiated an intensive
publicity campaign in the 1920s to educate the public about the need for more humane
slaughter methods. In 1929, the AHA and the American Meat Institute (AMI), the trade
association of the slaughter industry, formed a joint committee to work on humane
slaughter methods and devices, and in the 1950s, the AHA introduced its “Seal of
Approval,” which it granted to companies for the humane slaughtering of meat animals.
By this time, the largest slaughter companies had begun to introduce in their plants
methods to render animals insensible to pain before slaughtering or bleeding. 26 Although
the meat packers promised to adopt humane methods voluntarily and the AHA announced
with confidence that the packers are with us, they were not.
In 1955, to promote the adoption of humane stunning technology by the slaughter
industry, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota introduced the first humane
slaughter legislation in the U.S. Senate. The meat packers sought adoption of a study bill,
rather than a legal mandate for humane slaughter, but they did not prevail. The humane
slaughter legislation eventually passed in 1958, following one of the most intensive
lobbying and public relations campaigns ever conducted in congressional history, and it
was signed into law by President Eisenhower, to become effective June 30, 1960.
However, while the original Humane Methods of Slaughter Act required that all U.S.
slaughter plants selling meat to the federal government use humane methods, the law
lacked an enforcement mechanism. This problem was addressed by an amendment
to the Federal Meat Inspection Act sponsored by Senator Robert Dole of Kansas and
25 The campaign for humane slaughter, The National Humane Review, January-February 1962, p. 51.
26 Ibid.
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