Because there are things,
that you are NOT supposed to see!
The myth of "humane slaughter"
The process of slaughter entails taking an animal's life, most commonly by the slitting of the individual's throat while forcibly held in an upside down position in order to facilitate the draining of the blood prior to skinning and dismemberment.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the definition of "Humane" includes such words as compassionate and merciful.
To have one's throat involuntarily slit may be many things, but few on the receiving end of such an act would be likely to call it merciful, or compassionate. Hence, humane slaughter is an oxymoron.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the definition of "Humane" includes such words as compassionate and merciful.
To have one's throat involuntarily slit may be many things, but few on the receiving end of such an act would be likely to call it merciful, or compassionate. Hence, humane slaughter is an oxymoron.
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"There's no way these animals can bleed out in the few minutes it takes to get up the ramp. By the time they hit the scalding tank, they're still fully conscious and squealing. Happens all the time."
Slaughterhouse workers described fully conscious pigs who were beaten over the head with a lead pipe, stabbed to cause them to bleed out and then dunked (for hair removal) into 140-degree water.
http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/795194/Excerpts_from_Slaughterhouse
According to PETA, a typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour. The sheer number of animals killed makes it impossible for them to be given humane, painless deaths. Because of improper stunning, many pigs are alive when they reach the scalding tank, which is intended to soften their skin and remove their hair.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) documented 14 humane-slaughter violations at one processing plant, where inspectors found hogs who "were walking and squealing after being stunned [with a stun gun] as many as four times."
According to one slaughterhouse worker, "There's no way these animals can bleed out in the few minutes it takes to get up the ramp. By the time they hit the scalding tank, they're still fully conscious and squealing. Happens all the time."
Stunning
Video of Spanish slaughterhouses, part of the Animal Equality investigation about slaughterhouses, started in 2008.
Gruesome cruelty at Israel's biggest abattoir
located in Beit-sheanin
Using hidden cameras, this investigation into the fate of unwanted dairy calves (bobby calves) in Australia reveals what the dairy industry
doesn't want you to see
Slaughterhouse illegality and cruelty
exposed in UK in 2010
UK animal advocacy organization Animal Aid published ”its full investigation into UK slaughterhouses”, describing “the ‘utter horror’ of slaughter in so-called ‘humane’ British abattoirs.”
“The cruelty on show is the worst I have seen,” wrote Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency Tim Smith.
For the study:
Animal Aid visited seven randomly chosen ‘red meat’ slaughterhouses in seven counties over an 18-month period, planting fly-on-the-wall cameras in each for between two and five days. The resulting films revealed widespread cruelty, terrified animals struggling to escape and many serious breaches of animal welfare laws, despite the presence of government-appointed vets whose job is to ensure welfare in slaughterhouses.
Sounds gruesome and I don’t think I want to see the videos.
If you have the stomach for it, here are some of “the many distressing scenes filmed” by Animal Aid:
- Animals being kicked in the face, slapped, stamped on, picked up by fleeces and ears, and forcibly thrown across or into stunning pens
- Animals screaming and struggling to escape
- Animals going to the knife without adequate stunning
- Animals stunned and then allowed to come round again
- Electric tongs used maliciously on the snout, ear, tail, body and open mouth of pigs, resulting in the animals suffering painful electric shocks
- Ewes being stunned while a lamb suckled them
- A sheep too sick to stand – or possibly already dead – being brought to slaughter in a wheelbarrow
- A pig bleeding after being deliberately hit in the face with a shackle hook
- Improperly stunned animals being stood on to keep them still while shackles were attached
- Animals being decapitated before the appropriate statutory time had elapsed, and while the animals may still have been alive
- Long periods elapsing between electrical stunning and ‘sticking’ (throat cutting), which increases the likelihood that animals regain consciousness
- Independent training and regular retraining of slaughterers
- Fixed criteria for what constitutes a ‘fit and proper’ person to slaughter
- Full responsibility for welfare to be moved to the Food Standards Agency
Source
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Campaign group Animal Aid has exposed ill-treatment of animals in slaughterhouses through secret cameras
29th July 2011
Appalling cruelty, including cigarettes being stubbed out on the faces of pigs, has been revealed in secret filming inside a slaughterhouse.
The footage of pigs being burned, punched and smacked across the head with sharp paddles was captured by animal welfare campaigners.
They reveal the shocking truth of the casual brutality inside one of the country’s biggest abattoirs.
Appalling cruelty, including cigarettes being stubbed out on the faces of pigs, has been revealed in secret filming inside a slaughterhouse.
The footage of pigs being burned, punched and smacked across the head with sharp paddles was captured by animal welfare campaigners.
They reveal the shocking truth of the casual brutality inside one of the country’s biggest abattoirs.
Despite the clear evidence, the Government, through the Food Standards Agency, has refused to prosecute those involved.
The decision has been condemned by Animal Aid, which carried out the secret filming. It says it is evidence that ministers are putting the commercial interests of the meat industry above welfare.
The secret filming took place at an Essex slaughterhouse run by Cheale Meats, where up to 6,000 pigs are slaughtered every week.
In 2001 the outbreak of a disastrous foot and mouth epidemic which swept through the country was first identified among 27 pigs sent to the plant from the north-east of England.
Today, the firm’s website proclaims: ‘Be proud of higher welfare, buy British pork.’
The filming, which took place on secretly installed cameras over four days in March and April, suggests that animal welfare was the last thing on workers’ minds.
Staff were seen stubbing their cigarettes out on the faces of pigs on three occasions, while one of the men landed a punch on the face of a pig which was walking by.
Three seriously injured pigs were forced to crawl through the building to meet their death. Staff were seen pulling the animals by the ears, pushing and kicking them.
Before slaughter, pigs should be stunned using electrified tongs. The tongs should span their brains and render them immediately unconscious.
The filming showed that workers often failed to stun the animals correctly, leaving them screaming in pain. Others were pushed and prodded with electric rods.
All of these are clear breaches of animal welfare laws. However, the food and farming ministry Defra believes it cannot prosecute based on undercover film footage.
Last year Defra had to drop a similar case against an abattoir in Torquay which had been caught out by Animal Aid footage, after its lawyers determined that there was 'not a realistic prospect of conviction' in a case reliant on hidden-camera video.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for investigating breaches of welfare and hygiene laws at slaughterhouses - however, Defra is responsible for prosecutions. In this case, the FSA has not even passed on the footage to Defra for a potential prosecution.
The FSA has written to Animal Aid stating: ‘Defra is not prepared to commence prosecution proceedings where the initial allegation is based on CCTV footage gained without the consent of the relevant Food Business Operator.'
A Defra spokesman added: 'It would be totally irresponsible to prosecute when we know we'd lose,' saying that there were 'very strong legal grounds' not to prosecute hidden-camera cases.
This is rejected by Animal Aid, which points out that the legal principle that allows prosecutions based on secret filming has already been established.
For example, prosecutions are being brought against workers at a care home who were secretly filmed by the BBC’s Panorama program mistreating vulnerable residents.
Head of campaigns for Animal Aid, Kate Fowler, said: ‘Since we first began investigating English slaughterhouses, we have been pressing everyone involved – regulators, industry bodies and the Government – to act decisively to end the cruelty.
‘At first, they appeared contrite and promised action but now their words ring hollow.
‘If Defra won’t prosecute these flagrant breaches of the law; if the vets can’t or won’t act to stop the cruelties; and if the slaughterhouse owners look the other way, who is there to stop animals from being abused at the most vulnerable time of their lives?
‘It seems that all involved are content to keep quiet and to allow these cruelties to continue. So much for the UK having the best welfare standards in the world.’
Source
The decision has been condemned by Animal Aid, which carried out the secret filming. It says it is evidence that ministers are putting the commercial interests of the meat industry above welfare.
The secret filming took place at an Essex slaughterhouse run by Cheale Meats, where up to 6,000 pigs are slaughtered every week.
In 2001 the outbreak of a disastrous foot and mouth epidemic which swept through the country was first identified among 27 pigs sent to the plant from the north-east of England.
Today, the firm’s website proclaims: ‘Be proud of higher welfare, buy British pork.’
The filming, which took place on secretly installed cameras over four days in March and April, suggests that animal welfare was the last thing on workers’ minds.
Staff were seen stubbing their cigarettes out on the faces of pigs on three occasions, while one of the men landed a punch on the face of a pig which was walking by.
Three seriously injured pigs were forced to crawl through the building to meet their death. Staff were seen pulling the animals by the ears, pushing and kicking them.
Before slaughter, pigs should be stunned using electrified tongs. The tongs should span their brains and render them immediately unconscious.
The filming showed that workers often failed to stun the animals correctly, leaving them screaming in pain. Others were pushed and prodded with electric rods.
All of these are clear breaches of animal welfare laws. However, the food and farming ministry Defra believes it cannot prosecute based on undercover film footage.
Last year Defra had to drop a similar case against an abattoir in Torquay which had been caught out by Animal Aid footage, after its lawyers determined that there was 'not a realistic prospect of conviction' in a case reliant on hidden-camera video.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for investigating breaches of welfare and hygiene laws at slaughterhouses - however, Defra is responsible for prosecutions. In this case, the FSA has not even passed on the footage to Defra for a potential prosecution.
The FSA has written to Animal Aid stating: ‘Defra is not prepared to commence prosecution proceedings where the initial allegation is based on CCTV footage gained without the consent of the relevant Food Business Operator.'
A Defra spokesman added: 'It would be totally irresponsible to prosecute when we know we'd lose,' saying that there were 'very strong legal grounds' not to prosecute hidden-camera cases.
This is rejected by Animal Aid, which points out that the legal principle that allows prosecutions based on secret filming has already been established.
For example, prosecutions are being brought against workers at a care home who were secretly filmed by the BBC’s Panorama program mistreating vulnerable residents.
Head of campaigns for Animal Aid, Kate Fowler, said: ‘Since we first began investigating English slaughterhouses, we have been pressing everyone involved – regulators, industry bodies and the Government – to act decisively to end the cruelty.
‘At first, they appeared contrite and promised action but now their words ring hollow.
‘If Defra won’t prosecute these flagrant breaches of the law; if the vets can’t or won’t act to stop the cruelties; and if the slaughterhouse owners look the other way, who is there to stop animals from being abused at the most vulnerable time of their lives?
‘It seems that all involved are content to keep quiet and to allow these cruelties to continue. So much for the UK having the best welfare standards in the world.’
Source
Throwaway Lives:
the massacre of pregnant animals
by Viva!
Calf foetus at the abattoir
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Calf fetuses at the abattoir
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How many pregnant animals are killed?
DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) say that they do not see any justification for recording the number of pregnant animals who are slaughtered. However, a scientific paper published by the British Cattle Veterinary Association* reveals that 150,000 pregnant cows are sent to slaughter each year. At least 40,000 of these cows are in the last stages of their pregnancy and are bearing calves who may be capable of independent life.
Why are pregnant cows being killed?
90% of the cows are dairy cows and the majority of farmers do not even realize that they are pregnant. In the BCVA survey, 50.9% thought the cow wasn't pregnant and 27.3% said they did not know. Infertility was cited as the most common reason for culling an animal, followed by mastitis (a painful swelling of the udders common in dairy cows) and then old age. So some cows are being sent to slaughter because they are assumed to be infertile when they are in fact pregnant. Dairy cows who are over thirty months of age must be slaughtered and incinerated under BSE regulations. The compensation payment structure encourages the killing of pregnant cows. Animals sent through market are weighed liveweight and the farmer is compensated per kilo. If the animal is pregnant, the farmer will receive extra money.
How are the animals killed?
There are no special regulations in place to protect pregnant animals in slaughterhouses. Viva! has filmed in abattoirs and conducted a full investigation of the UK's slaughter industry. We found that stunning techniques are frequently inadequate and that animals routinely regain consciousness whilst bleeding to death.
Each year, 5 million electrically stunned sheep regain consciousness before they die from loss of blood.
1.8 million electrically stunned pigs a year regain consciousness before they die. 244,800 pigs a year are incorrectly stunned and do not lose consciousness at all.
Each year, up to 230,000 cattle are not correctly stunned with the captive bolt pistol. They will have to endure the pain of being shot in the head and will then have to be shot again or knifed whilst conscious.
Do unborn animals suffer as their mothers are slaughtered?
The RSPCA's chief veterinary officer states, "The problem with killing heavily pregnant ewes is that if you shoot them in the head, the foetus does not die instantly with the mother and it is a prolonged and rather horrible death."
After animals have been stunned, they are knifed and left to bleed out for 20 seconds (sheep and pigs) or 30 seconds (cattle). When asked about the slaughter of pregnant cows, Professor Donald Broom (Cambridge university animal welfare specialist) said, "After stunning and bleeding the cow will be dead. The calf will also die but a little later - probably 30-90 seconds" . This means that the foetus would still be living while its mother's front feet, head and possibly hide are removed.
Nobody is sure of the exact moment when foetuses die. It is possible that they may still be living when the mother is disembowelled.
Gabriele Meurer MRCVS, a former official veterinary surgeon in UK abattoirs, says, "What is happening right now in British slaughterhouses is quite simply a scandal. Sometimes when these creatures are hanging on the line bleeding to death, you can see the unborn calves kicking inside their mothers' wombs. I, as a vet, am not supposed to do anything about this. Unborn calves do not exist according to the regulations. I just had to watch, do nothing and keep quiet. It broke my heart. I felt like a criminal. I left the Meat Hygiene Service and the country - completely disillusioned and full of disgust."
Is there legislation in place to protect pregnant animals and unborn babies?
Animals are not supposed to be transported if they are likely to give birth during transport. However, Viva! campaigners have filmed animals giving birth at market when they were about to be loaded up for the slaughterhouse. The BCVA paper also shows that pregnant cows are frequently slaughtered in the third trimester of their pregnancy.
There is no legislation to protect unborn animals in abattoirs - even if they are days away from being born.
Christopher Day MRCVS says, "The routine slaughter of known pregnant animals in the UK should be made illegal forthwith, on humane grounds. In this country we make pretensions to be compassionate to animals. This practice is wholly inconsistent with such pretensions."
What happens to the foetus?
DEFRA says that, " The uterus and dead foetus is sent with the green offal from the slaughterhouse for disposal by rendering from any pregnant animals which are under thirty months when slaughtered. All material from animals over thirty months (which is the majority of cows slaughtered) has to be separated, stained yellow and destroyed by rendering and incineration."
Is the government doing anything to stop the slaughter?
When Viva! asked what the government planned to do to prevent so many pregnant cows from being sent to slaughter, DEFRA replied, "We do not believe that the slaughter of pregnant cows presents a specific welfare concern... We do not believe further legal measures are necessary to protect the welfare of pregnant cows or unborn calves."
However, they say that, "Effective pregnancy detection lessens the risk of inadvertently sending pregnant animals for slaughter". The department is currently consulting on proposals to change the law to allow 'per rectum' ultrasound scanning in cattle to be carried out by, "trained and competent non-veterinarians as well as by veterinary surgeons."
DEFRA has been consulting on these proposals for over three years. Consultation papers reveal that, "Concern has been expressed by the veterinary profession and some animal protection societies that use of this procedure by untrained non-veterinarians to detect pregnancy in cattle could cause welfare problems. Invasive techniques of this nature have the potential to cause serious injury, such as perforation of the rectal wall."
Source: Viva!
DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) say that they do not see any justification for recording the number of pregnant animals who are slaughtered. However, a scientific paper published by the British Cattle Veterinary Association* reveals that 150,000 pregnant cows are sent to slaughter each year. At least 40,000 of these cows are in the last stages of their pregnancy and are bearing calves who may be capable of independent life.
Why are pregnant cows being killed?
90% of the cows are dairy cows and the majority of farmers do not even realize that they are pregnant. In the BCVA survey, 50.9% thought the cow wasn't pregnant and 27.3% said they did not know. Infertility was cited as the most common reason for culling an animal, followed by mastitis (a painful swelling of the udders common in dairy cows) and then old age. So some cows are being sent to slaughter because they are assumed to be infertile when they are in fact pregnant. Dairy cows who are over thirty months of age must be slaughtered and incinerated under BSE regulations. The compensation payment structure encourages the killing of pregnant cows. Animals sent through market are weighed liveweight and the farmer is compensated per kilo. If the animal is pregnant, the farmer will receive extra money.
How are the animals killed?
There are no special regulations in place to protect pregnant animals in slaughterhouses. Viva! has filmed in abattoirs and conducted a full investigation of the UK's slaughter industry. We found that stunning techniques are frequently inadequate and that animals routinely regain consciousness whilst bleeding to death.
Each year, 5 million electrically stunned sheep regain consciousness before they die from loss of blood.
1.8 million electrically stunned pigs a year regain consciousness before they die. 244,800 pigs a year are incorrectly stunned and do not lose consciousness at all.
Each year, up to 230,000 cattle are not correctly stunned with the captive bolt pistol. They will have to endure the pain of being shot in the head and will then have to be shot again or knifed whilst conscious.
Do unborn animals suffer as their mothers are slaughtered?
The RSPCA's chief veterinary officer states, "The problem with killing heavily pregnant ewes is that if you shoot them in the head, the foetus does not die instantly with the mother and it is a prolonged and rather horrible death."
After animals have been stunned, they are knifed and left to bleed out for 20 seconds (sheep and pigs) or 30 seconds (cattle). When asked about the slaughter of pregnant cows, Professor Donald Broom (Cambridge university animal welfare specialist) said, "After stunning and bleeding the cow will be dead. The calf will also die but a little later - probably 30-90 seconds" . This means that the foetus would still be living while its mother's front feet, head and possibly hide are removed.
Nobody is sure of the exact moment when foetuses die. It is possible that they may still be living when the mother is disembowelled.
Gabriele Meurer MRCVS, a former official veterinary surgeon in UK abattoirs, says, "What is happening right now in British slaughterhouses is quite simply a scandal. Sometimes when these creatures are hanging on the line bleeding to death, you can see the unborn calves kicking inside their mothers' wombs. I, as a vet, am not supposed to do anything about this. Unborn calves do not exist according to the regulations. I just had to watch, do nothing and keep quiet. It broke my heart. I felt like a criminal. I left the Meat Hygiene Service and the country - completely disillusioned and full of disgust."
Is there legislation in place to protect pregnant animals and unborn babies?
Animals are not supposed to be transported if they are likely to give birth during transport. However, Viva! campaigners have filmed animals giving birth at market when they were about to be loaded up for the slaughterhouse. The BCVA paper also shows that pregnant cows are frequently slaughtered in the third trimester of their pregnancy.
There is no legislation to protect unborn animals in abattoirs - even if they are days away from being born.
Christopher Day MRCVS says, "The routine slaughter of known pregnant animals in the UK should be made illegal forthwith, on humane grounds. In this country we make pretensions to be compassionate to animals. This practice is wholly inconsistent with such pretensions."
What happens to the foetus?
DEFRA says that, " The uterus and dead foetus is sent with the green offal from the slaughterhouse for disposal by rendering from any pregnant animals which are under thirty months when slaughtered. All material from animals over thirty months (which is the majority of cows slaughtered) has to be separated, stained yellow and destroyed by rendering and incineration."
Is the government doing anything to stop the slaughter?
When Viva! asked what the government planned to do to prevent so many pregnant cows from being sent to slaughter, DEFRA replied, "We do not believe that the slaughter of pregnant cows presents a specific welfare concern... We do not believe further legal measures are necessary to protect the welfare of pregnant cows or unborn calves."
However, they say that, "Effective pregnancy detection lessens the risk of inadvertently sending pregnant animals for slaughter". The department is currently consulting on proposals to change the law to allow 'per rectum' ultrasound scanning in cattle to be carried out by, "trained and competent non-veterinarians as well as by veterinary surgeons."
DEFRA has been consulting on these proposals for over three years. Consultation papers reveal that, "Concern has been expressed by the veterinary profession and some animal protection societies that use of this procedure by untrained non-veterinarians to detect pregnancy in cattle could cause welfare problems. Invasive techniques of this nature have the potential to cause serious injury, such as perforation of the rectal wall."
Source: Viva!
Calf foetus at the abattoir
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alf heads. Unborn calves cut out of mother's tummy at the kill floor
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Calf fetuses at the abattoir. Many cows are pregnant at their time of slaughter. This is the bin where unborn calves are discarded when they are cut out while the mother is butchered. They lay wet with their hooves still soft and are still attached to their placentas.
In addition to the trauma of still being alive inside their mothers during the latter's death, fetal calves may also be cut from their mother's womb while still alive--so that their blood can be drained for use in science, without anesthesia (fetal bovine serum or fetal calf serum) - the calf's skin is used to make 'high quality' leather.
Slaughter of a pregnant cow (Turkey)
HORRIBLE CRUELTY
filmed in
different slaughterhouses
The footage from 'Compassion in World Farming' below documents farm animal slaughter and transportation. It is some of the worst we have ever seen. It shows profoundly disturbing treatment of animals. The majority of the footage is from Egypt. But, sadly we know this is not an isolated case.
Please act now: go to this link to send an email to the Egyptian Ambassador in the UK. Egypt is a member of the OIE and has signed up to its guidelines on slaughter. Everything in the footage is in breach of those guidelines. The email calls on Egypt to live up to their commitment and ensure their slaughter practices do meet the OIE guidelines.
Thank you in advance!
Thank you in advance!
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