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Post Info TOPIC: topic slaughtering of animals


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topic slaughtering of animals


how comfortable are you with this process?

Is it a part of your job?

Do you find measures are taken to be humane as possible?

personally ive never slaughtered animals to be eaten but back in 70s n 80s i had to put down litters of cats and dogs in a country place due to people then not neutering pets not pleasant i broke their necks with a spanner then put them in a basin of water i prob was aged 9-11 later on i had to do it every now and again . not so much these days that  happens im sure it does. So ethically im against killing animals unless it needs to be. Im for hunting for food but against hunting for trophies.Though i have hunted with greyhounds for rabbits and dogs ate them. Same with fishing im against catch and release and pro eat it if you catch it. Im pro humane slaughter anti ritual slaughter for religious reasons.

Whats your ethics on slaughter and humane husbandry?

 

 

 



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topic slaughtering of animals


I have slaughtered animals for 30 years. The first one is hard, then the second one is easier....and so on. I find that now, i just see the animals as food. That is their only purpose. I have only seen humane plants in my life. All plant really want to take care of the animals and make it stress and pain-free. I have also seen lousy workers who don't like working and abuse the animals. Anytime I saw that at my plant, I told them that I would call the authorities and have them charged. That always stops it. There is always a few bad apples. The killing of the animals becomes systematic, and I enjoy the whole process. I just came back from a plant that we sell to. They kill 550 pigs per hour, 16 hours a day. It is quite the operation. This is a small place believe it or not. I don't mind seeing pigs, cattle, lambs, chicken but for some reason rabbitts bothered me a bit. The other one I heard that is hard to see is a horse plant, as well as bison.

Hope this sheds a little bit of light on the topic.

I do know one thing, processors find it hard to be slaughterers and slaughtered find it hard to be processors. It's a mindset.

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RE: topic slaughtering of animals


Well now Dude, you ask a very pointed question and let me give you a short thumb-nail sketch!

 There is no doubt that we meat cutters in our desire to feed our families and make a decent living often totally forget that the boneless chuck roll we cut and merchandise was once a living breathing animal. Like wise with a smoked ham or pork shoulder or poultry item. We totally loose sight of that for sure.

It didn't hit me hard until I left the retail business and entered the meat packing world. Sure, sometimes on national T.V. or the Internet we will see videos of the sadistic-side of the slaughter business. Generally, this nasty business is created by very small packers that are hanging on to survive and do unscrupulous things to animals for profit. I have never seen this at the medium to large size packers.

In most successful beef slaughter facilities their HACCP programs beings in the barn. If not HACCP then Q.A. monitoring to make sure animals are taken care of as soon as they depart the trailers. They are given fresh water and confined in clean stalls. In extremely cold weather, packers have to install heaters on the water troughs  so the water doesn't freeze.

Cattle come in on trailers, and it is very important to rest them and keep them calm, many barns play music to settle them down. Cattle groups go into pens and when it is time to release them there is no poking or hitting. Barn crews have learned that its best to let them move on their own accord up to the slaughter shoots. In hot weather a fine mist of water is sprayed on cattle to keep the dust down and also to help to chase away flies that are constantly bothering them.

Packers have learned over the years that excited cattle create profit losses though bruising or dark cutting meat so they take their time with the cattle. They also know that its the cattle that pay the bills. Even in the stunning area, cattle are dispatched using the most humane equipment possible. And stunner employees are rotated regularly.

But when you look at the big picture there are different stages in the getting cattle to the stunning platform. The barn in any packing house have their own chain of command, with a knowledgeable supervisor and his staff. Their job is what I have mentioned already, and any man or women acting cruel to the animals will be written up first as a warning, and if it continues that person is gone.  Maintenance plays a vital roll in a barn operation as there can never be any sharp points anywhere in the barn. Floors must have slots in the cement to prevent cattle from slipping and falling. Tons of saw-dust is used so cattle have some traction. Fans are in place for the hot months, and in extremely cold weather drop-down plastic wind-breakers are affixed where they are most needed. Most larger packer barns are equipped with overhead walking platforms for employees to monitor cattle from above as well.

 Manure must be constantly cleaned up using a bob-cat and for finer cleaning push-brooms and shovels. Cattle will sometimes lay down in the pens and packers don't want anymore fecal contamination on the hides so it is extremely important to keep the pens clean.

Over a long holiday weekend feed is provided for cattle as well.

The other stage is cattle hauling. Much of the beef cattle come from feedlots and don't have to travel long distances however, dairy cattle can travel up to 500 miles before slaughter. There is another set of rules that the packers have no control over and that is the handling of cattle going into the cattle trucks. A lot of bruising takes place in transportation also shrinkage due to a lack of fresh water depending on how far cattle will travel. There are no rest rooms on these trailers so need I say more.

Packers know who are the best cattle hauler companies and constantly give the necessary feedback to below average haulers. The cattle drivers are of a different breed than most over the road consumer-goods drivers. These men and women know and understand cattle as well as their driving experience. They know they have 40 to 50 thousands of pounds on their load that are alive and active. It isn't like hauling a load of dead weight like consumer goods. There is much more that goes on to take care of the animals, but I don't have enough room here to share with you.



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Phil ( coalcracker ) Verduce

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Veteran Member

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topic slaughtering of animals


coalcracker animals do get looked after more than we think.

here is a bad example of people thinking animals should be "free" with no consideration of welfare its more of a homestead show

www.youtube.com/watch

here they wouldnt be allowed to keep pigs unless they were registered and could show they could provide adequate shelter and a water source.
Theyd probably be banned based on that show even keeping animals for a period i know its edited for tv but they were stubborn on not accepting best practices.



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