Israel’s largest food distributor Tnuva Food Industries Ltd., which was recently bought by Chinese food giant Bright Food, will turn over $1 million in a combination of direct payment to animal welfare organizations and food donations to the poor, to avoid a class action suit for the conditions at one of its slaughtering facility, Globes reported.
The suit, filed against the Tnuva subsidiary Adom Adom (the name means “really red, ” referring to the freshness of the meat) abattoir by animal welfare activists, charged abuse of lambs and calves at the plant. This followed a television Exposé of conditions at the plant two and a half years ago, which shocked the Israel public.
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The compromise was reached through the mediation of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Meir Shamgar. Tnuva will also pay the animal lovers’ legal fees of about $125 thousand.
The two parties informed the Jerusalem District Court that the compromise settlement “does not completely satisfy the wishes of the parties requesting approval, but it promotes the main public goal they sought and the public welfare.”
Globes noted that, following the December 2012 broadcast, Tnuva fired the plant manager and other employees, and invested in improving conditions for the animals.
Israeli journalist Ronen Bar, who is also an Anonymous for Animal Rights activist, took a job at the Adom Adom plant, and documented the systematic abuse of calves and lambs out in the open, including the use of electric cattle prods to guide the animals, beatings, and abuse using a forklift, against the law, public health regulations, and any sense of decency.
