Wayne Pacelle (CEO, HSUS) addresses counterattack

[flvegan]

in re the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. exposé that's been the dustup for a couple weeks.

March 10, 2008
Setting the Record Straight

When an investigation packs the kind of force that our Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. exposé has, there are bound to be some counterattacks from the industry and regulators whose conduct has been called into question. For the most part, the counterattacks have been limited to the agribusiness trade press, which has questioned the timing of the release of our investigative results and our motivations. But the mainstream press has generally focused on the problems our investigation exposed, including an important piece in Sunday's Washington Post about the USDA's inconsistent policies with respect to handling downer cattle.

And in terms of editorial opinion, almost all of the major papers in the nation have commented on the case, and almost without exception, they have pointed out that the investigation has uncovered major gaps in the food safety system and animal handling rules. The latest come from the heartland and other rural areas—today's Topeka Capital-Journal and Watertown Daily Times (of upstate New York)—and they are representative of the opinions of editorial boards throughout the nation.

While opinion has been solidly on our side, I do want for the record to address the thoughts of the handful of critics.

Rather than posting the whole thing, I'd rather his blog get the traffic:

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/03/usda-hallmark.html