Food Animal Welfare
- 4. Fast-Food Nation Author Eric Schlosser
- 5. "An HSUS Report: The Welfare of Animals in the Meat, Egg, and Dairy Industries"
Humane Treatment of Food Animals
ASPCA Animal Watch - Summer 1998
Conquering fear
Two extraordinary women look the death of food animals straight in the eye.
Since consumers hold the fate of food animals squarely between their mandibles, many animal advocates say it is only fair that the public know about the suffering involved. Largely, these advocates have concentrated on publicizing the unnatural lives that pigs, cows and chickens lead in factory, or intensive, farms on the way to America’s dining rooms. The trick has been to make the truth, uh, palatable. Go too far, and a reviled public shuts down; the message gets ignored.
While the complicated debates — ethical, economic and political — surrounding mass food animal production continue to be waged, supermarket and fast food registers continue to log sales that equal the U.S. production of 8 billion to 9 billion animals a year. Not to be deterred, some outspoken, courageous individuals grapple with perhaps the most difficult aspect of this business — the end these animals face at the slaughterhouse.
About the only positive thing one can say about the life of factory farmed animals is that it is short, relative to the natural life span of other members of their species. And surely, since collectively we fail battery-caged poultry, machine-milked cows and gestation stall pigs in life, we can offer these sentient animals a quick and painless death. In fact, the U.S. Humane Slaughter Act of 1978 calls for just such an end.
However, chickens, which account for a huge and climbing percent of animal consumption, still are exempt from HSA protection. And, as production lines speed up to meet industry consolidation and consumer demand, more animals are mishandled and not rendered senseless before slaughter, as the Act mandates.
Humane by design
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., with the department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University, runs a successful company that in the last 20 years has designed one-third of the nation’s slaughter facilities. She has built a reputation as a tireless advocate for the humane slaughter of food animals. Grandin, who is autistic, explains in detail in her 1995 book “Thinking in Pictures” her ability to think like an animal, to see things from “A Cow’s Eye View,” as she names a chapter. Grandin’s highly visual, rather than verbal, mode of thinking is akin to the mental processing animals perform. Some of the same triggers apply to both; fear as a primary motivator, sudden movements and high-pitched noises that jangle the nerves. Grandin is able to “put herself” in a cow’s body, for example, and realize that chutes with sides that rise above eye level block out disturbing information. “Over the years...I have learned that the use of behavioral principles will keep both cattle and pigs calm,” she explains. For example, most people imagine that animals would balk at the sight of blood, but it is a coffee cup or another object out of place on the floor that would cause more distress. Slow, steady motion of a restraint device is calming, while sudden jerky motion alarms. In fact, humane restraint is something of a Grandin specialty; early on she recognized the benefits — to both autistic humans and animals — of gentle pressure along the sides of the body, resulting in reassuring calm and great improvement in restraint devices.
Grandin, as powerful an advocate for others with autism as for animals, early last year submitted a report for the U. S. Department of Agriculture after visiting 24 plants in 10 states. The ASPCA supports many of Grandin’s recommendations in the report, including:
- zero tolerance for transporting downed animals
- zero tolerance for shackling and hoisting any animal who is even partially conscious (which occurs when stunning devices are used or work improperly)
- insuring that new “leaner” pigs, or any breeds manipulated to be lower in fat, are able to withstand the rigors of the trip to and through slaughter. (Grandin and others have noted increased stress in these animals.)
- non-slip flooring and proper cleaning of slick areas.
Into the McFuture
Crisscrossing the country often to consult for feedlots and slaughterhouses, Grandin recently began work with one of her biggest clients when she became a consultant to the McDonald’s Corporation. Bob Langert, McDonald’s Director of Environmental Affairs, who also confirms that a new Director of Animal Welfare position was created late last year, says, “Grandin is quite an awesome individual.” He adds, “We want to be a leader, and the goal is to take animal welfare issues to the next level, to suppliers.” The new directive to enhance food animal welfare must be weighed against the global expansion plans of the mega burger producer. But, animal advocates also will be interested in the results of a test of “veggie-burger” offerings by two Manhattan franchisees.
Humane alternatives — such as more meatless meals during the course of a week and more organic products from small family farms — are important steps for caring consumers to make as other reforms, hopefully, are given attention.
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INSIDE STORY Courage and tenacity are two adjectives you’ll come away with after reading “Slaughterhouse,” a fast-moving, gripping and gritty account that speaks volumes of the tenacity and investigative savvy of author Gail Eisnitz. This long-time staff member of San Rafael, CA-based Humane Farming Association (HFA) offers a personal account that may do for factory-farmed animals what horror tales of factory farming alone could not. Eisnitz worked undercover and interviewed slaughterhouse workers around the country. She heard about bosses’ demands that production speeds be maintained no matter what, production line workers were hurt by falling or terrified animals; sanitation was forgotten; and there were minimal pay scales and repetitive motion injuries. Eisnitz repeatedly was told that some USDA inspectors just looked the other way. Equally powerful in “Slaughterhouse” are accounts of families testifying before Congress about the devastating effects E. coli and salmonella poisoning had on children in their families. Is it any wonder, readers may ask, that the European Union has banned the importation of U.S. poultry due not to humane concerns but to our reliance on decontamination after contamination during processing. The author also fought disappointment when “60 Minutes” backed away from the issue. Through it all, Eisnitz (who a few years ago was instrumental in prosecuting veal calf industry executives’ illegal use of clenbuterol, which speeds weight gain and lightens flesh color) fought her own health battle, which, in the end gave her renewed strength and self-love. One clearly recognizes the selflessness with which she persevered in the face of so raw a mission. Not only can this book serve as a clarion call to consumers, it also can remind us that workers are misused filling the food animal pipeline. The question becomes one of human nature: if consumers and workers would rather have a humane and healthy product, will industry and government reform to meet this standard? |
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Summer reading list
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© 1998 ASPCA
Animal Watch - Summer 1998
Courtesy of
ASPCA
424 East 92nd St.
New York, NY 10128-6804
(212) 876-7700
www.aspca.org
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How You Can Help Pets: Food Animal Welfare:
Treatment of Food Animals
