Lawmakers Probe Lax Enforcement of Animal Rules

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A report by the federal Government Accountability Office has found that while stringent animal
protections may be on the books, the federal government is doing a lax job of enforcing them.

Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich has held hearings on the issue and says animal treatment is key to food safety.

In a written response to the GAO, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it planned to use auditors' findings and
recommendations to improve efforts to enforce humane slaughtering laws.

The GAO report found that the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service still has no standardized method for
determining how many times a sick animal can be stunned before it constitutes "egregious" abuse.

-AP