WASHINGTON -- The Agriculture Department said Wednesday it would investigate whether sick dairy cows were mistreated at a California slaughterhouse in violation of state and federal laws designed to ensure food safety and prevent animal cruelty.

Newly installed Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said the department was taking the allegations seriously after video footage showed workers at the Hallmark Meat Packing Co. repeatedly kicking cows and ramming them with the blades of a forklift as the animals squealed in pain.

Schafer said "appropriate actions will be taken" if violations are found in the facility but he said there was no evidence that the nation's beef supply was at risk. In the meantime, USDA has barred any use of meat coming from the slaughterhouse in federal food and nutrition programs.

"There is no immediate health risk that we are aware of," Schafer said.

Hallmark, based in Chino, Calif., supplies the Westland Meat Co., which processes the carcasses. The facility is a major supplier to a USDA program that distributes beef to needy families, the elderly and to schools through the National School Lunch Program. Westland was named a USDA "supplier of the year" for 2004-2005 and has delivered beef to schools in 36 states.

The video, released Wednesday by The Humane Society of the United States after a six-week undercover investigation, also showed plant workers jabbing in the eyes and applying electrical shocks to the "downed" dairy cows -- those too sick or injured to walk -- to force them into the federally inspected slaughterhouse.

Animal 'waterboarding'

In one scene, the workers shoot high-intensity water sprays up the cows' noses in what The Humane Society described as a form of animal "waterboarding," or torture that simulates drowning.

USDA regulations and California law generally do not allow mistreatment of disabled animals, such as dragging them by chains or lifting them with forklifts. Federal regulations also call for keeping downer cows out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of E. coli, salmonella contamination or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.

In a statement, Steve Mendell, president of Westland and Hallmark, said the company immediately terminated two employees shown in the video and suspended their supervisor.

"We are shocked, saddened and sickened by what we have seen today," Mendell said. "Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen at our facility."

Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of The Humane Society, called the mistreatment of downer cows alarming to U.S. consumers because 95 percent eat meat.

"We need to know how this food is getting to the table," he said. "Even when downed animals appear otherwise healthy, they may be harboring dangerous pathogens."