Haven Larrabee-Davis

Environmental Ethics
Research Paper
2 November 2015

Animal Slaughter Research

In 2007, it was recorded that an average grown person, in the United

States, consumed around 270 pounds of meat a year. Now imagine about 300
million people eating that much yearly. Granted, the meat intake has slightly
dropped in the last few years, but we are still one of the highest meat consuming
countries on this planet. Cattle, pigs, chicken, sheep and lambs are all consumed
by Americans, on a daily basis. Thousands of animals will be bred and raised
specifically for meat, dairy, and egg industries. In 2008, 8.13 billion chickens died
for meat and eggs, 117.6 million pigs died, and 40.8 millions cows died.
To make just one quarter-pound hamburger takes a lot of resources. It
takes 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water for drinking and irrigating feeding
crops, 74.5 square feet for growing feed crops and grazing and 1,036 Btus
(British Thermal Unit, a measure of heat energy) for feed production and
transport. Thats enough to power an average microwave for 18 minutes. And
thats not including cow waste or the methane emissions from its digestion. A lot
is put into producing just a small amount of meat for just one person.

Billions of animals are used yearly for slaughter. 50 billion eggs are
produced each year in the United States alone. One hen produces as much as
325 eggs a year. And at 20 weeks old they can start to lay eggs. 8 billion
chickens are consumed yearly, as well as over 300 thousand pigs. But, the
number of cows is dropping. In 1970 there was almost 45 million cows, and in
2012 there was roughly 30 million. At the same time, though, farmers and
scientists have found ways to get more meat out of every cow. Even though the
numbers of cows are lower, we are still producing more meat than in the 1970s.
Meat and eggs are a very important source of food for us. Meat is
rich in protein, and high levels of iron and Vitamin B-12. Eggs are also incredibly
nutritious for us. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. One
eggs contains Vitamin A, Folate, Vitamin 5B, Phosphorus, Calcium, and many
more. Eggs are essential to a daily diet. Meat, pork and eggs are an important
and valuable part of our diet. And the meat and poultry industry is beneficial to
our economy. The industries produce about $834 billion dollars annually to the
U.S. economy.
Although meat and eggs are healthy for us, we have cruel slaughter
practices that are completely unnecessary. Cows and pigs face hellish trips to the
slaughter house. They are crammed onto trucks without any food, water, or rest
for the duration of the trip, which can last for days. Sometimes it will be 90-95
degree weather with the trucks crammed with 40 to 45 head in there, and the
cows and pigs collapse in the hot weather. And in the winter months, being in the
back of the open truck, vulnerable to windchill of sometimes -50 degrees going

60 to 70 mph. The animals are urinating and defecating, and after awhile its
going to freeze. And then they would lay down for a trip that can last 10 hours,
being frozen into a growing pile. When its cold out they can also become frozen
to the truck walls until workers pry them off. By the time the truck finally arrives at
the slaughterhouse many cows and pigs are too sick or injured to walk. These
animals often need ropes and/or chains tied around their feet and dragged off the
truck. And if the animals are healthy enough to walk, they are often too scared
and refuse to leave the truck. They will then be shocked with electric prods and
beaten until they are off the truck.
When animals finally reach the slaughterhouse, they are often forced
through a chute and shot in the head with captive-bolt gun meant to stun them.
But sometime animals are moving too fast, and the shot can be done incorrectly
and fails to render the animals insensible to the upcoming pain. Legs have been
cut off fully conscious cows, pigs and sheep. Some slaughterhouses are worse
than others. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) went undercover
into a Kosher slaughterhouse because of reports of immense cruelty towards the
animals. PETAs first investigation divulged over 300 instances of cruel and
inhumane slaughter. Cows sensitive faces were shocked with electric prods, fully
conscious cows had their esophagi and trachea ripped from their throats with
knives or meat hooks, and left to writhe helplessly in their own pools of blood
trying desperately to stand up and run away. PETA cited the management there
and the whole plant, to better their methods of the slaughtering of the animals.

All animals feel pain. Every animal life is valuable, whether it is the loved
family dog, or a young cow that is next in line to be slaughtered for our food.
Meat, pork, and chicken are important for our diets and it shouldnt necessarily
be cut from our food plates, but in the slaughterhouses they need to take more
humane and careful methods and acts into action. The animals should have
rights if they are going to give their lives to us to keep us alive. As of now, there
are no federal laws protecting the conditions in which farmed animals are raised;
and a majority of farmed animal suffering is exempt from state criminal anticruelty laws. The only federal law of treatment is for transportation and slaughter.
The 28 Hour Law requires vehicles transporting animals for slaughter to stop
every 28 hours to allow animals exercise, food, and water. This law is rarely
acted on, or enforced. Im not saying that we need to stop all production and
consumption of meat, but we need to take a step back and look at how these
animals are being killed cruelly and unmercifully, and change our ways on how
we handle the animals that are unwillingly giving their lives for us.