Triumph`s Hog-handling Could be Food Quality Issue and Perhaps Legal Matter

Another safety issue for Triumph Foods concerns the livestock. The high heat can be deadly on hogs -- literally stressing them to death. Triumph loses revenue every time a hog doesn`t make it to slaughter, but that`s not the only concern. The handling of the hogs could be a food quality issue, and perhaps a legal matter. Truckloads of hogs ready for slaughter approach Triumph Foods in the dead of the night. It`s the coolest time of day, easing some of the stress put on the hogs. "The stress of course would be heat and then yelling. Anything that stresses us, stresses [the hogs]--terrifies them," Gary Silverglat, a 30-year veteran of the pork processing industry, says. University and veterinarian research shows stress in hogs causes lactic acid to build up, resulting in mediocre meat. "There are hormones in your body that cause the stress condition. In cattle, it`s called `firery carcuses` because when they kill the animal and take the hyde off, the fat would be bloody red, because the blood comes to the surface,similar to when the human body gets excited, your blood goes into stress mode to fight. The same thing happens in hogs, so you want a hog calm when you go to slaughter because the meat will be better," Silverglat says. But it`s not just the heat or the quality of the meat that worries one animal rights group. KQ2 showed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, footage of hogs being off loaded at Triumph Foods. Some of the hogs were dead. Others were yelled at and whipped to move off of the truck. "What we see on this video is cruelty to animals," Bruce Friedrich, vice president of PETA`s international grassroots organization, says. PETA believes the video may be in violation of state and federal laws. "The beating the animals until they squeal appears to violate the American Veterinary Medicine protocol for moving pigs to slaughter. The, by definition, it would not be standard agricultural practice, at least by Missouri state law, and it would be illegal," Friedrich says. But any pig farmer will tell you pigs are sensitive and will squeal at their own shadow or shinny reflections. But PETA points to pigs` intelligence. "The American Veterinary Medical Association says because pigs are bright animals, you don`t need to beat them, and if you hear squealing, that`s a problem," Friedrich says. Pork producers are putting weight behind a voluntary program to certify hog-truck drivers. Triumph Foods spokesperson Patt Lilly says his company requires certified drivers and producers. In fact, two Triumph employees are listed on the pork producers` website as official trainers for the voluntary Quality Truckers Program. Lilly says it`s in the company`s best interest, because losing hogs means losing money. PETA tells KQ2 it is in the process of filing a claim with the USDA requesting it look closely at Triumph`s hog-handling practices. And, on a related note, legislation currently bans cattle that cannot walk to slaughter from being processed off a truck. Some lawmakers want to add fatigued hogs to the list. New agriculture bills that could include hogs are expected to hit the house floor in the next legislative session.