The Dreaded Slaughter-House

[MysteriousUser]

Okay, so I'm all for eating meat, as it is done every day in nature, but you know, some times I am really tested by certain situations, most prominently by the dreaded slaughter house. Okay, I know this a family friendly form, but the note does say that some topics may be unsuitable for 13 and under. This is definitely one of them. x_x

 

I was always neutral to veganism, but this video is really pushing me towards vegetarianism. This video is old and I don't know why I haven't seen this before, so I'm sure that some of you have seen it. But if you haven't be warned, it's can be very graphic at times. VERY.

 

is a documentary of some sorts that observes the harsh (understatement) life of animals in a slaughter house. Okay, the name "slaughter house" doesn't sound so good already but you would think that technology would allow for workers to treat animals with the ideal (maybe even paradise-like) life before their life is taken away for consumption. :( Take costs out of the picture, it should be common sense that animals should be treated excellent, as they are bred to be eaten. This doesn't make any sense to me and I almost threw up watching this. :sick01:

 

What are your thoughts on this subject? What are your thoughts on the lesser-animal dependent vegetarian or veganism (animals are still used for harvesting). Would this push you to consider abstaining from meat? Do you still consider it immoral to eat animals even with them living the best life possible? What other questions or thoughts do you guys have. I'm really curious and I hope that someday animals will be treated better due to increased awareness.

 

I just hope that this doesn't offend anyone too much (or at all), or that a big argument sparks from this topic. Sorry for the large post but I'm just astonished that this kind of cruelty even exists when I really shouldn't be. :sad01_anim:

 

P.S. Also try to keep religion to a minimal, but if you must by all means use it. I don't want anyone to feel disrespected, it's just that not everyone agrees upon it.

Edited May 14, 2012 by MysteriousUser

[moni_rawr]

While I've been a member of PETA for a few years now, I still eat meat due to the fact that my body needs it...attempted to go the vegan way and ended up losing too much weight and 'twas too costly to buy the items I would need to help me gain weight and stay full.

I do try to buy all of my groceries (including meat) from organic stores and check where the meat comes from and such because it's quite astonishing on how many brands of meat are cruel to the animals.

Have not seen the documentary and probably will never see it as I've watched the videos about pigs, cows, and chickens and was not able to even get halfway through any of them. And no matter how many laws are passed, people are always going to abuse animals.

[Rebecca~]

I am a vegetarian-- going on 10 years now--, and I actually became one after watching that video. Though, you should watch out for PETA. Some of the advertisements are on the verge on being completely untrue, and they aren't that great of an organisation to begin with (sorry, moni_rawr). They're hugely misogynistic, and their shelters aren't no-kill. :/ I have absolutely no love for them.

 

But yes, I find that kind of treatment of animals to be completely abhorrant. It amazes me endlessly that we dare consider ourselves evolved and civilized when we treat living animals this way-- just because they can't say no, can't say how much pain and misery they are enduring, and because humans are greedy.

I am not going to argue that people shouldn't eat meat at all. A lot of people eat meet for various health reasons- as stated above, moni_rawr had trouble gaining weight while on a vegan diet- a lot of people have the same problems while just changing to a vegetarian one. Other people have trouble getting enough iron without red meat. There are all sorts of reasons why someone may eat meat- and it may just because they like it- which is fine.

My issue is with the slaughterhouses and with the factory farms. I have problems with the lifelong mistreatment of animals, and the horrible ways in which they are then killed.

There are still farms that raise and slaughter their animals in humane ways. They tend to not make much money though- the cramped living areas, mechanised slaughter, etc of factory farms are far more economical.

[Sweet_Jasmine]

I think this is very wrong what they do to those poor animals. But smaller farms don't do that. I have a farm and they are allowed to run around eat and drink a lot. I didn't know they did that to them.

I was also thinking. It takes a matter of seconds to bleed to deat hwhen someone slits your throat. So how can they feel themselves being skinned?

I also have friends that work like that and a lot of places arn't all like that.

Also, They only showed the bad stuff (not saying theres a lot of good stuff), so there maybe some good things too.

[moni_rawr]

No worries scoptophobia, I stopped really paying attention to their stuff around my Sophomore year...mainly just checked out their videos along with the news about bills/laws about animal cruelty. Haven't actually been on their site in a while, been following a page on FB calld Fur & Feather Animal Sanctuary that's located in California who posts up random news about animal cruelty around the U.S., but also post up adorable pictures of animals.

[lilshadowdweller]

I've heard that the footage PETA uses are actually from other countries with different standards. In fact, I've heard PETA doesn't upgrade the extremely old footage because the standards normally practiced are far more civil. Remember, PETA has one goal: convert you. They don't care to lie to you if it means you support their views. I don't know personally this is the truth but as I really don't trust PETA I believe it.

 

I wouldn't support or trust PETA. They kill most of the animals they adopt (look up PETAkillsanimals), and they spend a lot more money on ridicules advertising campaigns as opposed to actually helping the animals.

 

The worst? They want pets (aka; companion animals), almost eliminated. They want humans and animals to be separate, and I do not agree with this.

 

Veganism and vegetarism aren't bad concepts. On the contrary, a person's diet is their personal choice and I can totally see how one would not wish to harm an animal or consume meat. I respect this. Sometimes, I've pondered this perspective, too.

 

Just remember; you are a person who probably has no contact with the actual food industry. You don't live on a farm nor have you visited a factory farm. You shouldn't be too quick to base your decision on one totally biased rights groups. However, that being said, they are not always incorrect.

 

If you truly are into animal welfare, I'd recommend looking into your local farms, and seeing if you can purchase "free range" eggs or chickens, ect. Go personally, to be sure you're not being fooled. You'll feel a lot better if you actually can control who you purchase from and how they treat their animals.

 

Regardless of your decision; if you adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet, please ensure you're obtaining the proper nutrients. With a vegetarian diet, you have so much variety - but it's a little more difficult to go fully vegan. So always check with your doctor, read up on some books regarding the best diet for you, and yes. See how it goes. :)

[Rebecca~]

I've heard that the footage PETA uses are actually from other countries with different standards. In fact, I've heard PETA doesn't upgrade the extremely old footage because the standards normally practiced are far more civil. Remember, PETA has one goal: convert you. They don't care to lie to you if it means you support their views. I don't know personally this is the truth but as I really don't trust PETA I believe it.

 

I wouldn't support or trust PETA. They kill most of the animals they adopt (look up PETAkillsanimals), and they spend a lot more money on ridicules advertising campaigns as opposed to actually helping the animals.

 

The worst? They want pets (aka; companion animals), almost eliminated. They want humans and animals to be separate, and I do not agree with this.

 

Veganism and vegetarism aren't bad concepts. On the contrary, a person's diet is their personal choice and I can totally see how one would not wish to harm an animal or consume meat. I respect this. Sometimes, I've pondered this perspective, too.

 

Just remember; you are a person who probably has no contact with the actual food industry. You don't live on a farm nor have you visited a factory farm. You shouldn't be too quick to base your decision on one totally biased rights groups. However, that being said, they are not always incorrect.

 

If you truly are into animal welfare, I'd recommend looking into your local farms, and seeing if you can purchase "free range" eggs or chickens, ect. Go personally, to be sure you're not being fooled. You'll feel a lot better if you actually can control who you purchase from and how they treat their animals.

 

Regardless of your decision; if you adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet, please ensure you're obtaining the proper nutrients. With a vegetarian diet, you have so much variety - but it's a little more difficult to go fully vegan. So always check with your doctor, read up on some books regarding the best diet for you, and yes. See how it goes. :)

I would agree that PETA doesn't update its videos-- like I said, this is the video I watched a decade ago. I don't think that most farms have changed completely, but new laws are constantly coming into being and changing, etc, so to still have a video around from that long ago... but hey, it's PETA!

 

And yes, I think that finding a local farm that you like and buying from them directly is the best way to support animals, actually. It sends a message to big factory farms that they can't miss- a monetary one. Eggs are the easiest- a lot of people that have even a smallish amount of land will raise chickens. But finding local, smaller farms that do their own slaughtering, etc, aren't too hard to find in most areas. :)

 

 

No worries scoptophobia, I stopped really paying attention to their stuff around my Sophomore year...mainly just checked out their videos along with the news about bills/laws about animal cruelty. Haven't actually been on their site in a while, been following a page on FB calld Fur & Feather Animal Sanctuary that's located in California who posts up random news about animal cruelty around the U.S., but also post up adorable pictures of animals.

Oh good~ I know some people whom are into PETA and as soon as I say a word against the organisation they look like they're about to attack. -.-

[star_empyre]

Seeing as you are taking costs out of the picture, I totally agree that animals should not be subject to living in unsuitable conditions (but then this also raises the question of: what is an unsuitable condition? Or rather, what are suitable conditions?).

 

In my opinion though, people who are vegan or vegetarian just because they "want to save the animals" are ridiculous (no offence if that is you). Boycotting the meat industry will do nothing as a vast majority of people will continue to consume meat.

 

Reminds me of an interesting picture I once saw, with the words: "Plants get hurt too; eat rocks!"

[Rebecca~]

Seeing as you are taking costs out of the picture, I totally agree that animals should not be subject to living in unsuitable conditions (but then this also raises the question of: what is an unsuitable condition? Or rather, what are suitable conditions?).

 

In my opinion though, people who are vegan or vegetarian just because they "want to save the animals" are ridiculous (no offence if that is you). Boycotting the meat industry will do nothing as a vast majority of people will continue to consume meat.

 

Reminds me of an interesting picture I once saw, with the words: "Plants get hurt too; eat rocks!"

A vast majority of people do still eat meat, but as the meat industry is all about profit... each and every person that doesn't eat meat is a huge loss of profit for the industry. Think, a steak dinner for two... 5$? 10$ or more for a reaaaaally nice cut of meat? (I don't really know, don't eat the stuff, haha). Multiply that by how many times a week the average person eats meat, then over a year. And that's just two people.

[moni_rawr]

They actually showed on the news a few weeks ago about how most restaurants are actually using parts of beef that look like beef stew, then using meat glue to glue it all together and have it look like a steak. The parts that they glue together are cheap pieces of meat, so it's even more profit in their pocket.

[passiflora]

I kind of agree with everyone here, in a way. :P We should most definitely do our part to minimize the suffering of animals, but as others have noted, sometimes those videos are either outdated or skewed - not all plants are so horrific, but of course they're only going to show the worst of the worst in the videos.

 

Meat is expensive so I don't eat much of it when I'm away for university, but I don't have anything against it morally. However, I would highly recommend to anyone to try and find a local alternative where you can. Some small farms still slaughter their own meat, and may even sell it to you directly at a not-half-bad price. Not only will it ease your conscience, it also helps out local farmers (and encouraging others to buy meat the same way keeps this kind of market alive), plus it's better for the environment. Win-win-win. :)

 

They actually showed on the news a few weeks ago about how most restaurants are actually using parts of beef that look like beef stew, then using meat glue to glue it all together and have it look like a steak. The parts that they glue together are cheap pieces of meat, so it's even more profit in their pocket.

I haven't heard of that happen specifically, but food service establishments using cheaper cuts of beef to provide something that is supposed to be more "high quality" isn't surprising. I went to a demonstration once for a type of combi-oven and it's actually amazing what they can do with food in those things, even if the starting ingredients aren't super fancy!

[Navy]

I love meat too much to go vegan/vegetarian.

But I do disagree with how large slaughter houses treat their animals.

 

I buy my meat locally, from a small farm that I know cares for their animals very well.

 

There is a certain kind of vegetarian that annoys me.

 

Right:

 

I hate how the food industry treats their animals, so I will not buy or eat meat!

 

 

Wrong:

 

Omg.. like.. I totally think it's wrong to like.. eat animals.. I mean like.. what are we like.. cavemen or something?

[Rynarok]

I have to eat meat because my family has hereditary anemia, I can't say that I didn't see this when it came out because I remember when it did everybody was making a big deal about it (even if it was majorly exaggerated by PETA.)

 

I would love to buy from a family owned farm, but the cost of gas and not being centrally located near farms I don't see this happening.

 

I have no problem with PETA or any Vegans/Vegetarians but I also don't like people that try to convert OTHER people, it's the same with religion for me. I don't like being forced to anything I don't want to do by third parties.

[Rebecca~]

I have to eat meat because my family has hereditary anemia, I can't say that I didn't see this when it came out because I remember when it did everybody was making a big deal about it (even if it was majorly exaggerated by PETA.)

 

I would love to buy from a family owned farm, but the cost of gas and not being centrally located near farms I don't see this happening.

 

I have no problem with PETA or any Vegans/Vegetarians but I also don't like people that try to convert OTHER people, it's the same with religion for me. I don't like being forced to anything I don't want to do by third parties.

Ugh, that sucks. :( It's too bad that you're not ale to buy from a smaller farm, but ce la vie, yeah? Maybe one day it'll be more do-able. :) I live in the middle of a city at the moment, and on my street alone there are two shops that specialise in local or organic meats and stuff. Maybe something like that will open up near you. :)

 

And yes, I agree-- harrassing people isn't cool, ever. I talk about my vegetarianism and my reasons for being so only when asked/they come up in conversation- the same as my spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof, usually). Both are personal, and while impacted by society, they have to do with me and me alone. I tend to go with the golden rule- I don't like it when people tell me that I'm wrong and a terrible person for doing things differently, so I try to avoid doing that to others. :)

[MysteriousUser]

They actually showed on the news a few weeks ago about how most restaurants are actually using parts of beef that look like beef stew, then using meat glue to glue it all together and have it look like a steak. The parts that they glue together are cheap pieces of meat, so it's even more profit in their pocket.

 

Ack, I'm not certain where this is occuring but the thought of meat gluing cheap meat for serving is something that might make me lose my appetite.

 

I would love to buy from a family owned farm, but the cost of gas and not being centrally located near farms I don't see this happening.

 

I have the same problem too - I can't buy from a local farm or an organic market so that option is thrown out the window. :/

 

I'm glad this is bringing a good discussion, everyone has good points. I just hope in the future people can find a way to get enough money to look past expenses for a nice enclosure, one that mimics their natural habitat, save for predators and competition for resources.

 

I still like meat, it's only natural to. I just don't want to bear the burden of knowing I'm eating a "tendered" animal.

 

Reminds me of an interesting picture I once saw, with the words: "Plants get hurt too; eat rocks!"

 

I always thought of the scenario "what if plants could feel too???" but it would be hard to torture plants because they would require specific conditions anyway that they would just wither away on their own.

[moni_rawr]

I saw it on 20/20 I believe, and they had said it's a quite common use in restaurants because it's non-harmful or something. It is not allowed to be used in meat that's sold at grocery stores and stuff though. They had a chef show how the meat glue was used to take random pieces of beef to make a filet mignon, and no one could tell the difference between the real one and the fake one.

[Ravenlovesneopets]

I try to buy from more local places (small farms, ect). They usually aren't as rude to all the animals.

[Hidden Oracle]

I don't see any reason to. Like others have stated, PETA doesn't care about the facts--PETA cares about conversion. It's more of a religion than any actual reputable society. Furthermore, the government doesn't even have regulations on what constitutes as "organic" or not. You can ask anyone that works for the FDA. Any farmer can slap the "Organic" sticker on his products--it doesn't mean it's true.

 

I'd rather just buy from places that I know the animals are treated well. When I buy meat, I usually buy it imported from farms where I know how the animals are treated. (Really good farms will videotape their farms and animals to let you know how they're treated. That's not something most American farmers would be brave enough to do. These people are confident in their product and confident in how they treat their livestock.) Yes, it's more expensive, but I don't eat meat that often anyway, aside from eggs. Ten bucks for a steak is worth it, if I know the cow actually saw the sunlight everyday and ate grass rather than mushy gray stuff.

[Rebeka]

I just cried while watching this video :( I'm not sure what's the situation in my country, as we don't have slaughter houses this big, but...

I was never against vegetarianism, I was a vegetarian for 3 years or so (had to stop, because of health issues) neither did I encourage it or ever said to anyone that he doesn't love the animals, because he ate meat. But now..

 

I only eat chicken meat and I'm just so thankful right now, to our local farmers, for their meat and eggs.

[Haliaetus]

I'm a huge animal advocate, and I hate how animals are treated in slaughter houses. I was vegetarian for a while, but I had to stop because I'm quite a picky eater and I was lacking a lot of the things I needed to remain healthy, so I had to start eating it again. I really only eat white meat these days every now and then. The only thing I use PETA for is the good list of companies they have that do and do not use animal testing, I refuse to buy any products that have been tested on animals. Luckily over the past couple of months a couple of fast food chains have been changing the way they treat their animals that they use for their food, (living arrangements, feeding, etc), which actually is a huge and great step. It's a tough fight, but I feel like if people keep pushing and get their voices heard, hopefully animals one day will get the lives they deserve before they're killed for consumption.

[Rebecca~]

I'm a huge animal advocate, and I hate how animals are treated in slaughter houses. I was vegetarian for a while, but I had to stop because I'm quite a picky eater and I was lacking a lot of the things I needed to remain healthy, so I had to start eating it again. I really only eat white meat these days every now and then. The only thing I use PETA for is the good list of companies they have that do and do not use animal testing, I refuse to buy any products that have been tested on animals. Luckily over the past couple of months a couple of fast food chains have been changing the way they treat their animals that they use for their food, (living arrangements, feeding, etc), which actually is a huge and great step. It's a tough fight, but I feel like if people keep pushing and get their voices heard, hopefully animals one day will get the lives they deserve before they're killed for consumption.

Wow, that's fantastic news! :D Do you know off hand which fast food chains those are? I rarely eat fast food, but I would like to support the companies that are making a difference. :)

[Haliaetus]

Wow, that's fantastic news! :D Do you know off hand which fast food chains those are? I rarely eat fast food, but I would like to support the companies that are making a difference. :)

I know that back in April, Burger King had vowed that all of their chickens and pigs will be cage free by 2017. And I know that Wendy's has a whole thing on their website about their Animal Welfare Policy (http://www.aboutwend...elfare-Program/). Hopefully more fast food chains will be able to follow in the footsteps of them.

[Rebecca~]

I know that back in April, Burger King had vowed that all of their chickens and pigs will be cage free by 2017. And I know that Wendy's has a whole thing on their website about their Animal Welfare Policy (http://www.aboutwend...elfare-Program/). Hopefully more fast food chains will be able to follow in the footsteps of them.

Awesome! Well, it is a start for sure. :)

[Haliaetus]

Awesome! Well, it is a start for sure. :)

Definitely! And it's nice that Burger King has been one of the first to show some improvement, since it's one of the more better known fast food chains. Gives some hope that a lot of other chains, even not such well known ones, will start making improvements as well.

[candy_pals_134]

I've been a vegetarian for almost 4 years now. I don't mind if people eat meat, but the unesscesarily cruel treatment that some cruel animals experience is apalling and sickening to me.