Monday, August 23, 2010

More From Foer

"At typical slaughter facility, cattle are led through a chute into a knocking box - usually a large cylindrical hold through which the head pokes. The stun operator, or 'knocker', presses a large pneumatic gun between the cow's eyes. A steel bolt shoots into the cow's skull and then retracts into the gun, usually rendering the animal unconscious or causing death. Sometimes the bolt only dazes the animal, which either remains conscious or later wakes up as it is being 'processed'. The effectiveness of the knocking gun depends on its manufacturer and maintenance, and the skill of its application - a small hose leak or firing the gun before pressure sufficiently builds up again can reduce the force with which the bolt is released and leave the animals grotesquely punctured but painfully conscious..........................................................................................................The effectiveness of knocking is also reduced because some plant managers believe that animals can become 'too dead' and therefore, because their hearts are not pumping, bleed out too slowly or inefficiently......As a result, some plants deliberately choose less-effective knocking methods. The side effect is that a higher percentage of animals require multiple knocks, remain unconscious, or wake up in processing..........................................................................................................No jokes here, and no turning away. Let's say what we mean: animals are bled, skinned, and dismembered while conscious. It happens all the time, and the industry and the government know it.".............................................................................................................What is it, folks, that all of those French people say? Oh yeah, bon appetit!

15 comments:

Rusty Shackleford said...

Emmm....sounds like a nice thick Rib Eye to me.Rare of course.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

They say, Russ, that you can tell a lot about a society by the way that it treats its animals. Given that as a criteria, we definitely have a ways to go.

Oso said...

Nothing funny about this.Nothing.It's awful,Will.

I'm not 100% vegetarian, occasionally I eat meat but not often.

I've read some accounts of the horror in the slaughterhouses. I share the horror.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

"They say, Russ, that you can tell a lot about a society by the way that it treats its animals."

Well, we put 'em in charge of the country AND the media. What more do they want?

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Being serious for a moment, if I had to kill whatever I ate I would probably be a vegetarian. That said, I'm sure glad SOMEBODY can do it.

Cows is tasty!

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

You sure took the fun out of the burger and french fries I got from McDonalds Will.

I gave up hunting if that means anything to you.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Like Oso says in the previous post, Volt, there are better and far more humane ways to produce this meat. Granted, we'd have to pay a little bit more for it but, still, it's gotta be better than subsidizing these houses of horrors......Oh, I agree with your analogy, btw. Washington absolutely IS chock full of beasts.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The truthster!! Actually, my friend, hunting is probably the most humane way to kill an animal these days. And, plus, venison stew is extremely tasty, no?

Oso said...

I'm down with Will. Better for so many reasons to pay a little more for more humane killing. If nothing else, it's safer for all concerned.

Rusty Shackleford said...

Will,we all know you're a vegan but some of us do enjoy a steak on occasion.As an animal and horse lover I toatally agree with you.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I like my meat processed.

Everyone around here hunts and grows freaking tomatos. I don't like game meat. It'a tough and tastes like shit. I hate tomatos unless they're processed into ketchup or sauce.

Sure enough. We're getting to the time of year when every Ton Dick and Harry is trying to shove bags of tomatos or deer jerky down my throat.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I apologize, gentlemen, if I'm getting obnoxious here. It's just the more that I read about this, the more disgusted that I get. On the one hand, you have the poultry industry getting us sick a) through contamination and b) via the over-utilization of antibiotics. On the other hand, you have the pork industry contaminating our water supply (football field-sized pools of pig shit all over states like Iowa and North Carolina). And, yes, add to that the wanton cruelty. I don't know. I guess that this is becoming my one big liberal issue in which I can torment/bug you all with.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Actually, Russ, I'm not a total vegan. I put cream in my coffee/tea (I do drink soy milk but don't particularly care for it in caffeinated beverages) and a little low-fat cheddar in my salad. So, yeah, close, but not a total vegan.

Mordechai said...

I don't kill my beef/pork anymore, but i did with my family when I was a kid, grew up on a farm. I helped clean and dress the meat.

But almost all fish I eat I catch, clean and try to cook within one hour of catching. It just tastes better that way.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Unfortunately, anonymous, the days of family farming are over. Now we have these frigging houses of horror where sadism and environmental damage reside. It's a very sad contrast, in my opinion.