USDA inspector Jill Mauer works inside a pig slaughterhouse that operated under a USDA pilot program allowing for faster line speeds and reduced government inspectors. Last week, a powerful statement she wrote condemning this program, highlighting filthy and alarmingly cruel conditions, was filed in federal court in support of our ongoing lawsuit against USDA.

Mauer is an inspector at Quality Pork Processors (QPP), the same facility we investigated — and raised red flags about — in 2015. QPP served as a model for the USDA's controversial high-speed, reduced inspection slaughter program, which is now expanding to other facilities despite known dangers to workers, animals, and food safety, all now compounded by widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout US slaughterhouses.

Read more about our lawsuit and Mauer’s statement as well as watch an interview with Will Lowrey, AO’s lead counsel on this case, as he talks about it with Jane Velez Mitchell.

Last week, AO’s former undercover investigator and current investigations associate Scott David hosted a live Q&A on Facebook talking about his experiences in the field. Going undercover, Scott worked inside three different slaughterhouses, including Quality Pork Processors (see story above). Watch this video on Facebook.

Also last week, another brave AO investigator hosted a Q&A on Reddit’s Ask Me Anything where she anonymously answered questions about factory farming, the isolation of being undercover in a strange place, life in the field and more.  

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