Got a tip that Dani linked to the OU’s response to the Rubashkins/PETA controversy. For what it’s worth, I think they did a good job of responding to that which required a response.

STATEMENT OF RABBIS AND CERTIFYING AGENCIES
ON RECENT PUBLICITY ON KOSHER SLAUGHTER
As rabbis and certifying agencies involved in the supervision of kosher
meat slaughter in the United States, we are deeply concerned that the recent
publicity surrounding the videotape released by a group called People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals may lead to misconceptions about the practices
depicted on the videotape and, more generally, about the shechita process
itself. We therefore wish to state as follows:
1. Shechita involves the slicing or cutting of the trachea and esophagus
with a sharp knife without nicks in a manner which has been established
over centuries to be the most humane form of animal slaughter.
Shechita typically renders the animal insensible almost
instantaneously.
2. After the animal has been rendered insensible, it is entirely possible
that it may still display certain reflexive actions, including those
shown in images portrayed in the video. These reflexive actions should
not be mistaken for signs of consciousness or pain, and they do not
affect the kosher status of the slaughtered animal’s meat. There may be
exceptional circumstances when, due to the closing of jugular veins or
a carotid artery after the shechita cut, or due to the non-complete
severance of an artery or vein, the animal may rise up on its legs and
walk around. Cases when animals show such signs of life after the
slaughter process are extremely rare, and even such an event would not
invalidate the shechita if the trachea and esophagus were severed in
the shechita cut.
3. With the act of shechita, it is common to cut the carotid arteries, a
practice designed to facilitate bleeding and accelerate
unconsciousness. Excision of the trachea, however, is not common
practice. We wish to make clear that nothing in any such post-shechita
“second cut” or excision in any way undermines the validity of the
shechita itself or the kosher status of the slaughtered animal’s meat.
We further note that regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
explicitly approve a second cut to facilitate bleeding.
4. We reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish mandate of avoiding “tzaar
baalei chayim,” unnecessary pain to any creature. We reiterate that the
shechita process embodies this very mandate. We rededicate ourselves to
the ongoing responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with all
religious and federal laws governing kosher slaughter.
Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Halachic Consultant
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Rabbi Sholem Fishbane
Kashruth Administrator
Chicago Rabbinical Council
Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbinic Administrator
Kashrus Division
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Rabbi Asher Hatchuel
Rabbinic Head
Sephardic Beth Din of America
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann
Rabbinic Administrator
Star-K Certification
Rabbi Emanuel Holzer
Chairman, Kashrus Committee
Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbi Chaim Kohn
Rabbinic Administrator
Khal Adas Jeshurun
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz
Head of Beth Din
Chicago Rabbinical Council
Rabbi Yitzchok Stein
Rabbinic Head
Beth Din of Karlsburg
Rabbi Yechiel Steinmetz
Rabbinic Judge
Monsey, NY
Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum
Nirbater Rav
Rabbinic Supervisor
Alle Processing Corporation
Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl
Rabbinic Head
Nitra Beth Din of Monsey