I just saw the video on the most recent beef recall and I want to know if this taped abuse?!
Answers: is the norm or the exception and if it is the norm how do you know that and are these facilities (I understand there are 900 or so around the USA) all videotaped? I am an avowed carnivore and love meat but I have to tell you the treatment of the cows make me nauseous, reminiscent of the chicken stomping video I saw a while back.
I live in the midwest where there are tons of "CAFO"s or factory farms. I have known several people who work at the factory farms and from how they have described it--it's the norm.
There is not enough space for the animals, there is certainly not enough (if any) veterinary care, there is no excuse for the cruelty and inhumane treatment of the animals.
Who knows if it's the exception or the norm. The fact is, is that if it happens once it happens too much.
to tell you the truth almost all factory farms and slaughterhouses are cruel , go to chooseveg.com and watch the video "meet your meat" that video is real and was taped a while back and ever since that video was taped the cruelty has got worse.
OMG
That video is so sad! :( Poor cows
its the norm, it happens all the time, thats why people are vegetarian.
go to http://www.meat.org
Cruelty all the time, sick animals all the time, and makes us sick for eating them.
It's hard to know if this is normal or not. If you notice the size of the spaces the animals are kept in, that's bad enough. These animals spend their lives in a space smaller than the surface of most of our beds at home. That's something we know for sure is true. It's difficult to know if all the workers become so exasperated and violent, or if all of the animals endure blows at the hands of humans. If there is one mean man in each facility, it's like child abuse: it's rarely an isolate event. I assume animal abuse happens all the time behind closed doors and is not documented. I also assume many animals go through the system un-beaten, but is it not still cruel to keep them in those tiny pens and cram them onto trucks and kill them very early in life? It's pretty gross. It's all about economics. These practices are very recent, as our world population has exploded and capitalism has gained momentum. When you consider that people eat more meat now than ever, and that there are more people now than ever, it makes sense that these animals are given growth hormones and made to age quickly. Commercially, pigs are killed around 3 months of age when they are around 100 pounds. Watch TheMeatrix.com to learn about what happened over the years. It's animated, so it won't freak you out like the video footage.
I'd say it's closer to being the norm when we're talking about factory farms. I know most people refuse to give up meat, but it is for sure something that can be eaten in moderation and if you're willing to eat a little less to save money or pay a little more, you can buy meat from organically raised, free-range, and humanely raised and slaughtered meat. That way, as long as your issue is only with cruelty, not the killing in general, you can take a little bit if a load of your conscience.
This is not the first time that videotape or first person accounts have surfaced, meaning it's not the exception. Whether or not it's the norm, it happens and it happens far too frequently. It *should* make you sick, along with much of the rest of what goes into animal foods production (hormones, antibiotics, steroids, rape racks, debeaking, etc.)
This extensive abuse is probably not the norm, but animal abuse on farms and slaughterhouses are definitely in the norm. And there are slaughterhouses that don't go out of their way to cause abuse or misery for the animals but in processing and slaughtering them it is inevitable that the animal will suffer. We are raised to think eating me is normally, healthy, and good tasting. We can be more healthy without eating meat and dairy, and veg*an food taste great (better!) There are many slaughterhouses in the US alone, 27 billion animals per year get slaughtered! Less if more people become vegetarian or vegan!
I think you're asking the wrong question here.
You're basically saying that if other people have decided that this is acceptable, then you're willing to go along with it too.......?
I'm glad your someone who takes the time to think.
You're able to decide yourself.
What you saw included;
Footage of a living feeling thing, that was in too much pain to move. The animal was ill, but was being continuously electrocuted by men in an effort to make it stand, but it was in too much pain.
Humans feel pain in the same physical way as any animal.
Imagine the facial expression a human would have made in this situation..it's almost too frightening, but the animal felt the same pain.
You also saw men trying to move a cow with a forklift, and then thoughtlessly driving over it's face & leg...the cow was alive & felt every second of that pain. Imaging the crys of a human if this happened to them.
People working there have been numbed to this cruelty, which I view as cruelty towards those men working there.
I think you have to make the decision based on your own views of right and wrong.
(just a side note, related to the economics of raising animals fast & profit etc; Growth hormones used in the rearing of animals are leading to early puberty, girls as young as three years of age are hitting puberty as a result.)
It's easy to leave meat in the past....
abuse is everywhere.. to goveg.com its got them meet your meat. and articles..
this is one of the times im glad im a veggie :)
I agree with you totally. I live in CA and will not be eating any beef at all until they get this cleared up. I eat meat, and don't think there's anything wrong with it, but animal cruelty is not necessary. I think that someone that worked on those ranches felt the same way as we do and got tired of the abuse that they were seeing, and got their camera phone ready and started taping and sent the video to CNN or some other news place. Thank God they did because we would never have known how bad it has been for those animals.
In and Out burger will be the only place I might go because they get their beef from a special ranch that they closely watch for things like this (read Fastfood Nation) and their beef is free range.
IMO, this is more common than most will admit. If you want to avoid this, purchasing meat from mistreated animals, then find a local grower to buy from. You can see how the animals are raised. You have to buy at least a quarter of beef (some places at least a half), and will pay a little more than in the store, but in the long run you will get more nutritious meat. And you'll know the animals were treated better. Just get yourself a nice freezer!
i cannot even finish watching this video.... it brings me to tears....
One is not supposed to see such videos. The killing and slaughter of animal is definately not worthy to see.Once you see
it , you could not eat. Any amount of advocating for the cleaniness, or better treatment to the animals, but finally they are sluaghtered for their flush, which is being used by the human being. Close eyes and think over that , you are lost in jungle and the wild animals are hunting you for their food , cathch hold of you from the neck to break your wind pipe and wait till you . Then start eating , from the thigh (flushy) portion and leave the bones. Or the canibals , hunting you , and eat the fulush . If one is so touch about it , better to switch over to Vegetarian . There are maximum varieties of the food articles and various recipies to enjoy . Atleast our soul and instinct will not curse us
I believe in the humane treatment of animals. I don't mean that we need to treat them as we wouild treat humans. They are animals, but I'm saying we need to treat them like WE are humans, not like we are animals, too.
The little bit of the video I saw was disturbing. I could see a kid in junior high being teased that grew up to abuse the helpless. Somebody had issues. But, maybe he was just having a bad day. We should be humane in our treatment of that man, not behave like animals, as a lot of you are implying.
Not a big fan of meat here...love fish....but now that you mentioned have you notice dark spots in the meat and broken bones when you buy chicken pieces or whole chicken...that's a broken bone trauma....I don't want to buy chicken or red meat ever again !
Since I don't work in the meat packing/slaughter industry, I cannot 100% say that this is an exception to the rule or the norm.
But from undercover videos I've seen and material I've read, I would say that this cruelty is more common that not. If it's not the poor cattle being forklifted to their death, then it's the cattle being strung up by their back legs and having their throat slashed while they're still conscious. Or it's dipping the pig in a scalding hot chemical bath (to burn the hair off) while they're still alive. Or it's throwing male baby chicks in a dumpster when they're moments old....
If the saying is true that you are what you eat, then you are ingesting the pain, the fear, terror, torture and sadness that the animals must feel moments before their death.
I don't care how "tasty" people think meat is - I am NEVER going to be apart of that again.
+peace love and light+
I work in the Poultry processing business. Our chickens are raised in the finest of conditions with good food, good housing that's climate controlled, vet care, and they are slaughtered in the most humane way. It's not the norm to poke and prod sick animals. That video made me cry. I would never be a part of something so cruel. I love animals and hate to see any living creature brutalized.