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I lived the biggest part of my life as a meat eater. I went to the butchers and supermarkets and never gave it a second thought when I purchased my cuts of meat for the week. I knew animals were slaughtered to provide me with this meat but I stupidly and ignorantly thought that this would be done in a humane way, without any suffering for the animals. That was until last year when my son gave me some information that shocked me to the core.
I have always been an animal lover, and have always supported the welfare of animals in whatever way I can through other people or through the many animal welfare organizations nationally or internationally.
However, in all my years of learning about cruelty to animals I never gave farm animals in the UK a thought. That was until I was informed of the cruelty that takes place right on our doorstep just to put meat on our plates! My son had seen a TV programme and he instantly announced to me that he was vegetarian! This wasn’t a problem for me as I had just been studying nutrition and learned that this is a very healthy diet when done properly. I was curious though, as to what he had seen to make him take such a drastic lifestyle choice. He told me about the programme and gave me details of websites to visit. I know from studying science that a lot of the media and a lot of websites give us information that is unreliable and sometimes not true fact. You have to look at the source of the information before you can judge for yourself whether the information is reliable or not.
I took a look at the websites and I was sickened to my bones. There it was! Direct evidence to support what my son had been saying. How farm animals in the UK are bred and slaughtered in the most inhumane ways. Whilst the health, safety and hygiene is monitored after the animals are killed the actual methods of stunning and slaughter is hardly looked at!
The way how slaughter men are paid goes on how many animals they have killed. In other words the more they kill the more money they get! Animals are supposed to be stunned correctly before having their throats cut. Most slaughter men are not trained in how to stun the animals properly and whilst they are rushing, the animals are either not stunned properly in the first place or regain consciousness before their throats are cut. If they are not stunned properly they endure immense pain and then they have their throats cut whilst fully conscious. The CIWF organisation believes that “one of the principal problems for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry is the danger of animals regaining consciousness during bleed out” (CIWF Compassion in world farming, report by Peter Stevenson. July, 2001)
Some of the animals are not stunned properly simply because the methods in which they have to be stunned are terrifying for them. Their heads have to go in braces or they have to be walked into a confined space. The animals can’t keep still and the slaughter man misses the correct spot that should be stunned.
The UK slaughter their animals mainly on the assumption that the animal’s heart has to be beating when their throats are slit in order to “pump” out as much blood as possible. This is why they are not killed instantly and are only stunned before being bled to death.
The UK accepts policies whereas worn out dairy cows before being killed can be “practiced” on by workers who are learning how to artificially inseminate cows. The policy is that “If you fail and hurt the cow it doesn’t matter because they are going to be killed anyway that day”!!!!!
Cows, sheep and pigs also suffer in the same ways. They are not only treated badly in the slaughterhouse but the methods of farming in some cases are abusive and cruel and also the way they are transported to the slaughterhouse beggars belief!
“Whether they be exhausted cull ewes that have been forced to breed beyond any capacity that nature intended, or animals badly injured due to careless and rapid loading of terrified sheep on to ill designed transporters. A lucky few have found their way to Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary but the unfortunate majority are left to cope. For as the need for profit increases so mans' compassion lessens and the victims continue to suffer” (Farm animal rescue sanctuary, Warwickshire, UK, 2007)
It’s also the same for fowl. They are small, creatures crammed together in hellish environments. They can not walk, they suffer pain and sickness and most of all fear. “1.7 million birds a year die before they even reach abattoir - from heart failure, dislocation of the hip and having their skulls crushed when the drawers on the transporters are closed” (VIVA, 2007)
For a long time, anglers and fish farmers argued that fish do not feel pain. However, it has been scientifically proven by researchers that fish do feel pain just like humans. The researchers, led by Dr Lynne Sneddon, say the "profound behavioural and physiological changes" shown by the trout after exposure to noxious substances are comparable to those seen in higher mammals. (BBC, Alex Kirby, 2003)
Without this knowledge I would still be eating meat. How on earth could I even think about it now, knowing of what pain and suffering the animal endured whilst being farmed, transported and then slaughtered? I can not tell you to do the same as it is an individual choice. What I can tell you though is that a vegetarian diet does not just consist of salad, fruit and vegetables!! There are lots of alternatives to meat and as long as you vary your diet there is no need to supplement with vitamins at all.
References.
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/publications/reports/animal_welfare_problems_in_uk_slaughterhouses_2001.pdf
http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.uk/
http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/slaughter/index.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2983045.stm
© Biosciela, 2007.
I have always been an animal lover, and have always supported the welfare of animals in whatever way I can through other people or through the many animal welfare organizations nationally or internationally.
However, in all my years of learning about cruelty to animals I never gave farm animals in the UK a thought. That was until I was informed of the cruelty that takes place right on our doorstep just to put meat on our plates! My son had seen a TV programme and he instantly announced to me that he was vegetarian! This wasn’t a problem for me as I had just been studying nutrition and learned that this is a very healthy diet when done properly. I was curious though, as to what he had seen to make him take such a drastic lifestyle choice. He told me about the programme and gave me details of websites to visit. I know from studying science that a lot of the media and a lot of websites give us information that is unreliable and sometimes not true fact. You have to look at the source of the information before you can judge for yourself whether the information is reliable or not.
I took a look at the websites and I was sickened to my bones. There it was! Direct evidence to support what my son had been saying. How farm animals in the UK are bred and slaughtered in the most inhumane ways. Whilst the health, safety and hygiene is monitored after the animals are killed the actual methods of stunning and slaughter is hardly looked at!
The way how slaughter men are paid goes on how many animals they have killed. In other words the more they kill the more money they get! Animals are supposed to be stunned correctly before having their throats cut. Most slaughter men are not trained in how to stun the animals properly and whilst they are rushing, the animals are either not stunned properly in the first place or regain consciousness before their throats are cut. If they are not stunned properly they endure immense pain and then they have their throats cut whilst fully conscious. The CIWF organisation believes that “one of the principal problems for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry is the danger of animals regaining consciousness during bleed out” (CIWF Compassion in world farming, report by Peter Stevenson. July, 2001)
Some of the animals are not stunned properly simply because the methods in which they have to be stunned are terrifying for them. Their heads have to go in braces or they have to be walked into a confined space. The animals can’t keep still and the slaughter man misses the correct spot that should be stunned.
The UK slaughter their animals mainly on the assumption that the animal’s heart has to be beating when their throats are slit in order to “pump” out as much blood as possible. This is why they are not killed instantly and are only stunned before being bled to death.
The UK accepts policies whereas worn out dairy cows before being killed can be “practiced” on by workers who are learning how to artificially inseminate cows. The policy is that “If you fail and hurt the cow it doesn’t matter because they are going to be killed anyway that day”!!!!!
Cows, sheep and pigs also suffer in the same ways. They are not only treated badly in the slaughterhouse but the methods of farming in some cases are abusive and cruel and also the way they are transported to the slaughterhouse beggars belief!
“Whether they be exhausted cull ewes that have been forced to breed beyond any capacity that nature intended, or animals badly injured due to careless and rapid loading of terrified sheep on to ill designed transporters. A lucky few have found their way to Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary but the unfortunate majority are left to cope. For as the need for profit increases so mans' compassion lessens and the victims continue to suffer” (Farm animal rescue sanctuary, Warwickshire, UK, 2007)
It’s also the same for fowl. They are small, creatures crammed together in hellish environments. They can not walk, they suffer pain and sickness and most of all fear. “1.7 million birds a year die before they even reach abattoir - from heart failure, dislocation of the hip and having their skulls crushed when the drawers on the transporters are closed” (VIVA, 2007)
For a long time, anglers and fish farmers argued that fish do not feel pain. However, it has been scientifically proven by researchers that fish do feel pain just like humans. The researchers, led by Dr Lynne Sneddon, say the "profound behavioural and physiological changes" shown by the trout after exposure to noxious substances are comparable to those seen in higher mammals. (BBC, Alex Kirby, 2003)
Without this knowledge I would still be eating meat. How on earth could I even think about it now, knowing of what pain and suffering the animal endured whilst being farmed, transported and then slaughtered? I can not tell you to do the same as it is an individual choice. What I can tell you though is that a vegetarian diet does not just consist of salad, fruit and vegetables!! There are lots of alternatives to meat and as long as you vary your diet there is no need to supplement with vitamins at all.
References.
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/publications/reports/animal_welfare_problems_in_uk_slaughterhouses_2001.pdf
http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.uk/
http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/slaughter/index.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2983045.stm
© Biosciela, 2007.
