A humane slaughter, define it.

[GlassOnion]

I see a lot of ya'll are against the way that cattle farms slaughter animals.

This is with a bolt being driven into the back of their neck at the bottom of the cerebral column which paralyzes them instantly. Then they're hung up on racks and the throat is slit. The animal is effectively 'dead' to itself the moment the bolt hits (takes about .2 seconds from the bolt entering the skin to knocking out the cow).

So what is inhumane about that? The .2 seconds of pain that they might feel?

If that's the case, define what IS a humane slaughter. Gassing them in a chamber so they pass out THEN slitting their throat?


I'm curious.

 

[smkie]

according to the man that did that job with the bolt, it doesn't always work the first time and he shook his head and said i didn't want to know. I don't have an answer for what is humane except not eating it to begin with. Since i hate veggies and fruits that makes me a feel awful.

 

[MyIrishWolfie]

When I think of humane slaughter I think of Genocide... thats just awful.

 

[Saje]

Not all slaughter houses use that method and if they do that doesn't mean it is always done properly. Plenty of times the bolt misses and they keep on going through the line. There skin gets pulled off while they are still alive and not paralyzed.

Plus, they can't have medication in their system or be dead on arrival so if an animal is injured (often a reason it is sent to slaughter) it has to suffer a long ride to the slaughter house before it is killed. All the animals wait outside this death house and they know what is happening. They are then herded into the building with electric prods. the market is Canada is very slow after the mad cow cases so sometimes these animals wait for days outside of the slaughterhouse just waiting for their time to die.

Fully grown fetuses are cut out of their dead mothers and thrown done a shoot (alive) where there necks are slid and the blood is drained and stores for medical testing as it is pure, uncontaminated blood.

My boyfriend worked at a slaughterhouse and he had to gut the cows. He'd pull the fetuses out and kill them before sending them down the shoot even though he always got yelled at for slowing down the lines.

I think humane slaughter would be guaranteed instant death and no suffering before. Small, family run farms that take pride in what they do would be the ideal place for this to happen. They don't have to be shipped anywhere first. Organic would be nice too.

 

[RD]

Killing isn't humane, no matter how you look at it . . . It isn't the killing that I have a problem with, though it just makes me shudder to think of what happens to those cattle that aren't paralyzed by the bolt on the first try.

It's the way the animals live before being killed that bothers me. Most are neglected, we have a ranch around here that has about 150 cattle in a SMALL pen, wading around in mixed up urine, feces and dirt. The conditions only get worse when they go to stockyards . . .

We had a few steers slaughtered while we had our ranch, and they died very quickly, if not instantly. I have no idea if they felt pain, but if they did, it was only maybe one second of it before they died. They also lived a good life (well, we thought they did anyway - a small herd on 20 acres of lush grass, with good shelter and grain during the winter) and were treated humanely while they were alive. It doesn't change the fact that they were killed, but they were not neglected or deprived of anything.

 

[MyIrishWolfie]

My boyfriend worked at a slaughterhouse and he had to gut the cows. He'd pull the fetuses out and kill them before sending them down the shoot even though he always got yelled at for slowing down the lines.

Would that be a cow abortion... yack!!

I dont think I could do that... human abortion is bad enough.

 

[CanadianK9]

What bothers me is, its most people think its ok for other animals to do the food chain thing but its not for a human?

Another animal in the food chain killing and eating something is alright to most people, but the second a human does it it becomes barbaric?

Sorry, but I was given the tools by nature to eat meat, and eat meat I will do.

And if you ask me, id rather have the animal have a quick and reletively painless death, than to be slowly riped apart by several wild animals. just my opinion, and before this goes haywire with flaming and controversy, I an an omnivore, and I stand by that, the way nature intended me to be.

 

[Angel Chicken]

Being a person that had raised cows for food, I have to say this..

The bolt trick does in fact work, if done correctly. You have to be precise to be able to get the cow knocked out in the first try.

I understand the concern for slaugther houses. It is very inhumane, for them to just send an animal down the line still alive and kicking.

Isn't there another way, possibly, to kill a cow humanely without involving medication and so much pain?

 

[Saje]

What bothers me is, its most people think its ok for other animals to do the food chain thing but its not for a human?

Another animal in the food chain killing and eating something is alright to most people, but the second a human does it it becomes barbaric?

Sorry, but I was given the tools by nature to eat meat, and eat meat I will do.

And if you ask me, id rather have the animal have a quick and reletively painless death, than to be slowly riped apart by several wild animals. just my opinion, and before this goes haywire with flaming and controversy, I an an omnivore, and I stand by that, the way nature intended me to be.

Don't get defensive. Nobody is saying you shouldn't eat meat. What people are upset about is the mass production of animals and the cruel slaughter. I would much prefer you go out and hunt your own meat. Animals understand prey and predator relationships. It's not like being sent by the hundreds to a slaughterhouse. People who hunted and gathered burned a lot of energy getting their food. Now we go to the store and spend $5 on meat when we usually haven't even burnt enough calories to warrant it. Go, be a man. Hunt away. At least it's more natural.

 

[MyIrishWolfie]

Is this a humane pain vs animal pain type discussion.. Im a little lost

 

[whatszmatter]

humane not human

 

[CanadianK9]

I think most humans try to slaughter as humanely as possible, of course you cant get it perfect, but thats part of nature

 

[MyIrishWolfie]

humane not human

oh..

 

[Saje]

I think most humans try to slaughter as humanely as possible, of course you cant get it perfect, but thats part of nature

You'd be surprised.

 

[Kase]

Good point Saje. I would much prefer people to go out and hunt their own meat. There is nothing honourable about the mass production of animals for meat, going out and hunting well thats different. The hunter has to work for their food, just as animals do. When animals hunt more often than not the prey will escape, where can the cattle lining up to be slaughtered run too. The predator could also be killed by the prey, it just seems more fair to me. Also animals that are hunted have had a life living free in the wild where they belong, mass produced animals have not.

 

[Muggie'sMum]

Animals that stay in stock yards are not kept in THAT poor of a condition awaiting the abbatoire. Never once did I go with my father when he delivered cattle or pigs when the cows had to stand around waiting for days - always unloaded from the trailer, directly into the building, directly onto the line.

Think about it - this is meat, money, it has to be CLEAN (so not standing around in feces, etc), and HEALTHY so people can consume it. Cattle liners full of cattle to be slaughtered do not go to slaughter houses unless there is a demand for them. Or that's how it works for the Quebec slaughter houses, anyways.

They have put legislation in place for down cows, which is much better than it was before, so they cannot be transported anymore - so basically if a cow is healthy enough to remain standing on the trailer all the way to the abbatoire, it goes, if not, it is shot at the farm.

If it is a man operated captive bolt gun, they hit 'em til they're dead - if they miss, they hit 'em. My veterinarian has told me on several occasions that a bullet or a captive bolt is MUCH more humane than euthanization and I believe him 100%, having seen large animals "put to sleep", twitch and cry out in pain for sometimes ten minutes before they finally die.

 

[Saje]

Animals that stay in stock yards are not kept in THAT poor of a condition awaiting the abbatoire. Never once did I go with my father when he delivered cattle or pigs when the cows had to stand around waiting for days - always unloaded from the trailer, directly into the building, directly onto the line.

Think about it - this is meat, money, it has to be CLEAN (so not standing around in feces, etc), and HEALTHY so people can consume it. Cattle liners full of cattle to be slaughtered do not go to slaughter houses unless there is a demand for them. Or that's how it works for the Quebec slaughter houses, anyways.

They have put legislation in place for down cows, which is much better than it was before, so they cannot be transported anymore - so basically if a cow is healthy enough to remain standing on the trailer all the way to the abbatoire, it goes, if not, it is shot at the farm.

If it is a man operated captive bolt gun, they hit 'em til they're dead - if they miss, they hit 'em. My veterinarian has told me on several occasions that a bullet or a captive bolt is MUCH more humane than euthanization and I believe him 100%, having seen large animals "put to sleep", twitch and cry out in pain for sometimes ten minutes before they finally die.

It sounds like you haven't been to slaughterhouses in recent years. Not since mad cow. Or that you were never inside.

 

[Muggie'sMum]

Or, could it also be possible that things are different on different ends of the country? LOL

My dad hauled livestock for twenty years to slaughterhouses - horses, cows, pigs - It's been probably three or four years since he has done it regularly but he takes the odd load every once in a while and never NEVER in the Quebec slaughterhouse, has he ever EVER dropped a load of cattle into a holding pen, always directly into the building.... to be frank, I don't think the beef cattle industry is as strong here as it is out west so it's quite possible that they get backed up like that, but Breton never has...

Admittedly never been inside - but gotten first hand reports from my father, who wouldn't 'sugarcoat' it to make me feel better. I have seen us butcher our own animals. Have you ever been inside or all first hand reports from the honey?

 

[skyeboxer]

Oddly enough I was reading a very similar topic to this on another dog forum last night. The premise there was if you love and respect animals how can you eat meat? I eat red meat rarely myself mostly because I don't like it more then for the principle.

I have no doubt as was reported on the other forum that some animals are sent down the line sentient. I have also looked into the slaughter of horses for meat. I will occasionally eat beef but never horsemeat and I guess that's hypocritical.

Animals suffer. Researching the horse slaughter thing I looked up the subject on Youtube (among other places) . The vids on there made my blood run cold.

Yes, we are part of the food chain and yes we are genetically pre-disposed to eat meat. I am just so sure that there must be a better way of getting it on the table.

As an aside, I have also recently been exposed to the history of execution. The things people did (and still do) to each other are more horrifying that what we have ever done in the commercialization of animal meat.

 

[~Jessie~]

I don't believe that there is such a thing as "humane" slaughter. I believe that the slaughter of any animal for human consumption is inhumane. The mass killing of animals for human consumption was never what nature intended... this is my opinion though.