Slaughterhouses-A Necessary Evil. Slaughterhouses- A Necessary Evil Maegan Gossett Jennifer Hohle Tarleton State University

Transcription

1 1 Slaughterhouses- A Necessary Evil Maegan Gossett Jennifer Hohle Tarleton State University

2 Abstract The majority of the human population eats meat, and the majority of those who eat meat have an idea of how the meat they consume gets into their homes. I am not talking about picking it up at the local H-E-B, then cooking it at home. I am talking about what happens before that meat reaches the local H-E-B; a slaughterhouse is where the process of making consumable meat comes from. Society has many people in the dark about where everyday items begin; well the sheet is about to be ripped away and the truth be told. The meat production starts at a farm, where the farmer raises his animals: cows, pigs, or chickens; and then sells them to a company. This company then slaughters and processes the meat for human consumption, after it has been inspected of course by the USDA. It is not the process in general that should have attention brought to it, it is the actual slaughtering process that should have light shined on it. Does anyone actually know what happens to an animal before it is slaughtered? Most people would say that it is stunned, shocked, or shot in the head; but do they know if that animal can really not feel anything after that point? At what point does society start thinking about the welfare of an animal? Animal slaughter is part of our society. As humans we need food to survive. One of the staples is beef; to make food like beef readily available we utilize slaughterhouses, they are a necessary evil. According to the article Ten Fast Facts about Farmed Animals, more than 47 billion animals are killed in food production each year around the world-10 billion of those animals are

3 slaughtered in the United States of America alone. There are many welfare issues in the slaughterhouses of many different species but the goal of this paper is to discuss pre-slaughter stunning in cattle. Animal welfare is defined, by the AVMA, as how the animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives in. It goes on to state that an animal s welfare is in a good state when they are not experiencing any pain, fear, or distress. (AVMA) The animal welfare in slaughterhouses is not up to par, and it is not even taken into account for the animal as well. A major welfare concern in slaughterhouses is preslaughter stunning. Methods in which stunning is performed and how they directly affect the slaughter process and the animal s welfare in that process are very important. According to Wikipedia, stunning is the process of rendering an animal unconscious or immobile, without killing the animal, prior to their being slaughtered for food. The World Organization for Health has developed standards that most countries agree on. The World Organization for Health designed five basic standards. One, the percentage of animals stunned on the first attempt. Two, the percentage rendered insensible prior to hoisting. Three, the percentage that vocalize (moo, bellow, or squeal) during movement up the race and in the stunning box. Four, the percentage that fall, and five, the percentage moved with an electric goad.( Grandin 56) A good animal welfare system in a slaughterhouse should deem the five things necessary to provide good welfare and prevent suffering the cattle in their care. Once these audits began taking place

4 the percentages of these practices grew immensely in positive light as far preventing suffering. The most impressive developments were in beef. In 1996, the average first attempt to stun a cow was 89.5 percent relating to the accuracy that the cow was stunned the first time. By 2003, it was up to 98.6 percent. Even vocalization has improved during stunning from 1996 being 10 percent to 2 percent in Many plants were able to improve the welfare of the animals by improving stunner maintenance, installing non-slip floors, and better training of the staff.(grandin 131) Improving methods of stunning decreases the amount of stress prior to the slaughter. Other methods of decreasing stress and increasing welfare include but are not limited to, moving cattle in a single conveyer system. The cattle are used to moving naturally, like decreasing vocalization in turn decreasing their stress from hearing other cattle vocalizing. Also, to improve stunning methods head restraints can be used to improve accuracy. The more quickly and accurately the cattle induced via stunning the less stressed they are improving their welfare. Some slaughterhouses in the United States use poor restraint methods prior to slaughter negatively affecting the welfare of the cattle. These restraint methods fall under poor slaughter house conditions. An example of these methods are hoisting cattle by their leg prior to stunning. Proper restraint devices that hold cattle in upright position help with accuracy of stunning and prevent things like live hoisting. Another to minimize stress prior to stunning is utilizing non-slip floors preventing falls and painful vocalizing prior to stunning.

5 Properly stunning cattle yields better animal welfare amongst the cattle in the slaughterhouse industry. Stunning is used to render an animal unconscious so it can be bled. Some methods of stunning are electric stun and non-penetrating bolt. It is important for a stun to last long enough for an animal to be bled leading the rapid onset of death. Bleeding an animal without stunning is very painful. It takes too long for them to become unconscious causing distress which is why they should be stunned first; properly stunned cattle do not feel pain. Other ways to improve stunning in slaughterhouses, thus improving animal welfare in slaughterhouses, is to make sure employees are properly trained and equipment is properly maintained. Employees should be properly managed to prevent abuse which in the past years has been shown as prevalent in the slaughterhouse industry. There are numerous hidden camera videos on the internet showing slaughterhouse employees kicking, hitting, and partaking in horrifying abuse of these animals. The issue in these videos are most likely due to poor management supervision of these employees. (Grandin 462) These poor management skills can be directly related to poor stunning practice as well. By allowing the abuse, it sets that standard to become a facility that does not care, therefore, becoming complacent about stunning standards. Lastly, the practice of slaughter without stunning from an animal welfare standpoint is very important. This is usually done for religious purposes. Most orthodox Jews require conscious animals to slaughter; this practice is bothersome as far as the welfare of the animal goes. Bleeding

6 conscious animals is very slow and stressful; they feel the pain involved in severing their major arteries, trachea, and esophagus. Furthermore, proving why stunning is so important prior to slaughter. Slaughtering animals for food is one of the steps in making meat useable and readily available for the public. There are regulations and laws in place to protect the welfare of the animal during the slaughter process, but there are some grey areas as well. With better equipment, properly trained employees, proper supervision of the employees, and an easier method to desensitize the animals, animal welfare would not be questioned as high as it is. Educating society on the process of slaughtering and what goes on behind closed doors will also help to eliminate the problem areas involving animal welfare.

7 References: Animal Welfare: What Is It? (2000, October 10). Retrieved October 10, 2014, from Grandin, T. (1996). Animal Welfare in Slaughter Plants Ten Fast Facts about Farmed Animals. (2000, October 10). Retrieved October 10, 2014, from Grandin, T. (2010). Auditing Animal Welfare at Slaughter Plants. Meat Science. Grandin, T. (2006). Applied Animal Behaviour Science (pp ). Fort Collins.