Ashtyn Armon

4A
May 09, 2014
The Problems with Slaughter Houses
Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be. The problem with slaughter houses is that the
workers there think the animals don't feel any pain. Also the people who works there are on the
kill floor go against our own rules and laws, and they continue to brutally kill animals. The fact
that several slaughter houses have been shut down due to them not following the rules that they
have set up to keep things safe and calm have to catch some peoples' attention. Some slaughter
houses have been shut down because they find diseases in the animals meat that have been there
due to stress. Most slaughter houses around the world are cruel to animals and if people knew
how they were being treated we would come together and try to help them out.
Background: A slaughter house is a facility where animals are processed for consumption
as food products. Although they kill the animals we only consume about 40-50% of the animals.
We do not waste the entire animal though, about 15% is waste from the animals and then the
remaining is used for common house hold items. Some examples of these would be soaps,
candles, and leather.[1] Slaughter animals on a large scale pose significant problems in general
for our public health. Not all slaughter houses treat the animals in a human way, some do and
some dont it depends really on the few slaughter houses that are actually good in this world.
In mostly all slaughter houses the people who work there do not medicate the animals
there. Therefore all of the animals feel a lot of pain during the process. If the process was more
humanly, maybe it would be okay. A worker once said These hogs get up to the scolding tank,
hit the water, and just start screaming and kicking. Im not sure whether the hogs burn to death
before drowning. The water is 140 degrees. The people on the kill floor treat the animals with
disrespect. When the workers are supposed to kill an animal no other animal should see what is
going to happen to them as well, but workers are constantly breaking this rule; since they think
that it is a waste of time and money. No matter where the animals are they also will know what is
going to happen to them sooner or later and showing what is going to happen to them will just
cause them to become more stressed out. Also the animals there are supposed to be treated with
respect but instead they are viciously pulled by the horns and kicked around. The animals living
conditions are supposed to be spacious so they don't suffocate from being too close to other
animals. Most slaughter house does not have any windows, causing the rooms to be stuffy and
very cramped. Some cows lose their eyes from being too cramped and if their horns aren't taking
care of they will start to curl towards their face, causing fatality in most cases. The living
conditions for animals are not even close to what they should be; no human would ever allow
these living conditions for their animals and not even themselves.
The workers at the slaughter houses whom work on the kill floor go against our
governments own rules and laws that the companies are supposed to go by. There is an act that
was made up to protect these animals rights. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was
made up in 1940 to protect these animals and to have them not go through all this abuse. These
slaughter houses do not go by any of these rules, they won' let any press members in because
they would get shut down immediately. Linda McCarthy said "If slaughter houses had glass
walls, everyone in the world would be a vegetarian." Not many people know what go on with the
workers and the animals. Some animals do not get a nice quick death; some are clubbed in the
back of the head.[2] Not only do they get abused in that way but the workers also cut a major
artery in the animals neck and then they leave them there to bleed out until they die.[3] Also
most slaughter house companies do not medicate the animals, they think that if the workers do it
fast then the animals do not feel anything but if the workers arent killing the animals fast and
humanly then the animal feels every bit of pain that the workers put them through. In China and
foreign countries believe that the more an animal suffers the better it will taste. Also a slaughter
house in Texas had twenty two violations in just six months of being reopened again. Some
slaughter houses do not even dispose of the parts of waste in the animals, causing homes nearby
to be covered with flies and stench. A log kept by Edward Caves, who has recently passed
away, reported horse parts along the road, green fly infestations in his home and frequently
notes, Had odors for breakfast.
Not only do the workers dont care people think that it is okay even for calves to die but
other people couldnt even care less as well. Kevin Foley said Calves slaughtered at a slaughter
house? About as newsworthy as an abortion at Planned Parenthood. Not that many people care
that veal is actually made out of baby cattle, no one sees the wrong in young cattle dying, no one
sees the horror in ending a young animals life but just as long as they taste good then they will
not care. People could care less about these animals dying as long as they get their food that they
want, we have enough food that already gets wasted, yet people always want more. Mohandas
Gandhi once said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its
animals are treated." By the looks of it all nations do not have any moral progress since we treat
them so poorly all the time. There may be a few slaughters houses that could treat the animals
better than others but in other peoples eyes it is still seen as cruel and inhumane no matter what
slaughter houses do it will still be seen as cruel and unnecessary.
Not only do these animals get treated poorly but because of it the animals sometimes get
sick or even get a disease from their living conditions. For example an outbreak of a brain
disease in swine has uprooted. Not only is this disease affecting the swine it is also getting
workers and people who eat the swine sick as well. Reporters say that it is caused by when the
workers inhale the fumes after killing an animal their bodies antibiotics start attacking the fumes
that enter the immune system and the blood stream, the antibodies start attack the persons own
cells since they were similar to what the swine had put into their bodies.[4] There are many risks
of the meat getting contaminated in slaughter houses. There are some slaughter houses that kill
300-400 cattle and other animals in an hour.[5] Chances are of something getting messy or
contaminated are at high risks. They are not very clean and sufficient with cleaning on a daily
basis. There are many high risks in eating meat that has been processed. Not only because of
how it is taken care of but how the animal is treated and its living conditions. As stated above in
previous paragraphs their living conditions are worse than any jail or prison, these animals have
done no harm to society. Animals and wildlife help us out in life and we treat them poorly and
with no respect.
Slaughter houses around the world are cruel to the animals and if people only knew what
actually happened in there people would try and help out the animals and attempt to help them or
make it seem at least a little better for the animals. The workers and corporations that run
slaughter houses feel that these animals that they are brutally killing dont feel any pain and do
not feel the need to medicate the animals. Also, the workers on the kill floor invalidate certain
rules and laws that these slaughter houses are supposed to go by. Some slaughter houses have
even refused to let outsiders inside of the slaughter house since there would be a chance of it
getting shut down. Slaughter houses may not be the cleanest place or healthiest for an animal to
live in, they have found certain kinds of diseases in animals due to the conditions of these
slaughter houses.














Bibliography
Aora, Namit. "On Eating Animals." Humanist 73.4 (2013): 26-31. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
"Bad Beef?" Current Events 107.19 (2008): 4-5. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23
Apr. 2014.
Welch, Bryan. "What Does It Mean to 'Kill Humanley?'" Mother Earth News
Oct.-Nov. 2011: 103-06.
"Letter Calls Out Groups Opposed To Slaughter Ban." DVM: The Newsmagazine Of
Veterinary Medicine 34.12 (2003): 8E. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr.
2014.
Scully, Matthew. "Material Vs. Moral Good." Nutrition Health Review: The
Consumer's Medical Journal 87 (2003): 7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21
Apr. 2014.
Motavalli, Jim. "The High-Stakes Battle over Horse Slaughter." E: The
Enviromental Magazine May-June 2006: 38.


Footnotes

[1] Fernandes Fernandes, M. H. M. R., et al. "Macromineral Requirements For The Maintenance
And Growth Of Boer Crossbred Kids." Journal Of Animal Science 90.12 (2012):
4458-4466. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 May 2014.

[2] Namit Aora, Namit. "On Eating Animals." Humanist 73.4 (2013): 26-31. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

[3] Raj, A.B.M., et al. "Effect Of Electrical Stun/Kill Method, Interval Between
Killing And Neck Cutting And Blood Vessels Cut On Blood Loss And Meat
Quality In Broilers." British Poultry Science 42.1 (2001): 51-56.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 May 2014.

[4] Bad Beef "Bad Beef?." Current Events 107.19 (2008): 4-5. Academic Search Premier. Web.
23 Apr. 2014.

[5] Harkinson, Josh. "The Killing Floor." E: The Environmental Magazine 17.3 (2006):
32-39. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 May 2014.
















Works Cited
Fernandes, M. H. M. R., et al. "Macromineral Requirements For The Maintenance
And Growth Of Boer Crossbred Kids." Journal Of Animal Science 90.12 (2012):
4458-4466. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 May 2014.
Harkinson, Josh. "The Killing Floor." E: The Environmental Magazine 17.3 (2006):
32-39. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 May 2014.
Peskoe, Ashley. "Shrewsbury Slaughterhouse Temporarily Shut down after Claims of
Inhumane Animal Handling." N.J. News. Star Ledger, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 May
2014.