A Chino, California slaughterhouse that supplied meat to school lunch programs and supermarkets was found out to abuse and to use ailing cattle despite the fact that the regulations say that only healthy cows must be taken to the slaughterhouse.

In order to find out what happened in the Chino butchery, an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States applied for a job there. It was not hard at all to get in because he gave his real name and his true social security number. The anonymous animal lover was infiltrated in the slaughterhouse for a period of six weeks.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the investigator refuses to reveal his identity. While working at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino he used a tiny, hidden camera to film how employees brutalized the weak animals.

In a telephone interview for the Times, the mysterious person revealed horrible details disclosing what happened to the cattle. According to him, the animals were taken, no matter their health condition, and driven from trucks into a chute that led to the room where they were killed.

His impression regarding this treatment was: “It was so blatant, so commonplace, it was so in-your-face . . . they were pushing animals we felt never should have qualified for human consumption.”

After working from early morning until late at night, the investigator went to his room in an Ontario motel where he verified whether his camera functioned properly. In his interview he also said that three cameras were broken because of the heat and the hard work.

In addition to his discovery, the investigator for the Human Society of the United States sent his proof to a San Bernardino County district attorney that filed criminal charges against two of the workers at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. The plant was closed and the workers, Daniel Navarro, 49 along with Luis Sanchez, 32, were arrested.

Despite the fact that the recall of 143 million pounds of beef was announced, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says there is not much to do because most of the beef has been consumed. The risk to the public is minimal, the department ensures.

“Downer” cows, those that are not able to stand up, are more likely to produce beef contaminated with foodborne illnesses such as mad cow disease, E. coli and salmonella.

In a news conference, Michael Ramos, the San Bernardino County district attorney, said: “The facts of this case are horrendous; it makes your stomach turn to see what they did to these cows.”