Witnessing the Killing of Animals

Aside from the noise, the release of adrenaline in her body made the cow drool, and caused her nose to run so profusely that she briefly had difficulty breathing. At that moment in the parking lot, I could only sense discomfort in the sound of the cows, but later I discovered that each one awaiting slaughter in the chute leading to the "killing stall" was suffering the same symptoms of terror I witnessed at my uncle's farm The second thing I noticed was also a sound. This is the most time-consuming part of the operation because the cattle are fully aware of what lies ahead, and are determined not to enter the killing stall. The physical symptoms of terror were painfully evident on the faces of each and every animal I saw either in the actual killing stall or in the waiting chute. During the 40 seconds to a minute that each animal had to wait in the killing stall before losing consciousness, the terror became visibly more intense.

The animal could smell the blood, and see his or her former companions in various stages of dismemberment. During the last few seconds of life, the animal thrashes about the stall as much as its confines allow. All four of the cows whose deaths I witnessed strained frantically, futilely, and pathetically towards the ceiling -- the only direction that was not blocked by a steel door.As I walked toward the building, I heard the strange muffled whine that can only come from a saw cutting bone still encased in flesh. At this point I realized that I was not prepared for what I was about to experience. That feeling was intensified to the point of nausea when, as I walked closer, I caught my first whiff of the combination of smells that I would have to endure for the next few hours: the oddly sickening odor of newly slaughtered flesh still so warm from the life so recently removed that steam rises from it; the not so oddly nauseating stench of the sausage and hot dog meat boilers; and the quiet, cold reeking of flesh hanging, carcass af- ter carcass, row upon row, in the freezer storage area.

My imagination had prepared me a little bit for the visual experience, but I was entirely unprepared for the almost unbearable smell that permeated the entire plant. After brief "pleasantries" with Jerry, the production manager of the plant, I was allowed to procede through the building unguided and at my own pace. I began the tour "where it all starts", as Jerry put it, in the "kill shed". I entered the kill shed through a short, tunnel-like hall through which I could see what I soon learned was the third butchering station. The kill shed consisted of one room in which a number of operations are performed by one or two of six butchers at four stations along the length of the room.In the kill shed there is also a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspector who examines parts of every animal who goes through the kill shed. The first station is the killing station. It is worked by one man whose job is to herd the animal into the killing stall, slaughter him or her, and begin the butchering process. This stage of the process takes about ten minutes for each animal, and begins with the opening of a heavy steel door that separates the killing stall from the waiting chute.