Before you grab that pack of burgers from Costco this summer, you may want to reconsider. One of the big-box retailer's major beef suppliers was just exposed for violent animal abuses against terrified, defenseless cows.
Sign the petition and demand that Costco cut ties with Harris Beef in California! The industry giant must use its immense influence to stand up for animal welfare.
An animal rights activist group called Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) sent investigators to the Harris Beef meat processing facility in Selma, California, and what they saw was so vile that they got hidden camera footage to prove to the world what was going on.
Harris Beef boasts about its processing speed, bragging on their website that they murder up to 1,150 cattle on a daily basis. But what they won't tell you is how they're able to go that quickly: by slitting the throats of cows open while they are still conscious and able to fully feel the pain and agony of this type of death. The footage is shocking.
During processing, cows are supposed to be completely and humanely rendered unconscious using a type of stunning device. But the footage from within Harris Beef shows cows awake and moving as they are locked into restraints and their throats slashed. These videos prove that Harris Beef has a complete disregard for industry rules and regulations, not to mention compassion towards animals and guarding of their welfare. All so that they can slaughter more cows, faster, and turn a nice profit.
But that's the design of factory farming. Slaughter at this scale requires executives and workers to prioritize efficiency over the animals' well-being, discouraging employees from holding up the line, bringing up concerns, or disrupting the bloody flow in any way. In fact, human life is quite disregarded in the industry as well -- the footage from DxE also showed employees forced to work in very close proximity to each other even though COVID-19 has run like wildfire through meat processing plants in the U.S.
Obviously, Harris Beef cannot be trusted to do the bare minimum of upholding animal welfare standards and workplace safety. Costco is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef -- it not only can afford to cut ties with Harris Beef and force a higher standard of welfare in the larger industry, but it also has a moral and ethical obligation to do so for the good of cows everywhere.
Sign the petition demanding that Costco cut ties with Harris Beef of Selma, California immediately!
