U.S. to investigate livestock research center over animal abuse reports

By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department's Office of the Inspector General has assembled an audit team and plans to begin field work this month in an inquiry of the government's key livestock study center amid media reports of animal welfare abuse, the agency told Reuters on Monday. OIG officials currently are "determining the scope and objectives of their planned audit inquiry" into the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) facility in Nebraska, the agency said. (Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)