KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) has established an Animal Care Review Panel to review and assess the footage depicted in the growing number of undercover video investigations at livestock farms.

Made up of animal-welfare experts, the panel will examine video footage and communicate their findings to the public. Although this process has been established initially for the pork industry, CFI is prepared to work with other animal protein segments.

Regarding the recent release of video footage from an Iowa hog operation by Compassion Over Killing, a panel consisting of animal-handling expert Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State Univ.; Dr. Candace Croney, Purdue Univ.; and Dr. Tom Burkgren, American Association of Swine Veterinarians reviewed the video. They concluded that most of what was depicted was not considered abusive and was part of normally accepted production practices. Certain scenes would have required more footage for the panel to draw accurate conclusions.

Attempts to secure longer video segments of the Iowa facility from Compassion Over Killing were unsuccessful, according to CFI.

Operating independently, the Animal Care Review Panel’s reviews, assessments, recommendations and reports will not be submitted to the pork industry for review or approval. CFI’s only role is to facilitate the review process and release the panel’s findings.