Far too often, not enough thought goes into the food we consume, particularly when it comes to meat. Typically, we grow up simply eating what is on our plates, never stopping to think about the ethical, political, or environmental consequences of our diets. Why should we? Everyone eats animal products— this is the way things are and always have been and always will be. Social psychologist Melanie Joy perhaps says it best: “Many of us spend long minutes in the aisle of the drugstore mulling over what toothpaste to buy, yet most of us don’t spend any time at all thinking about what species of animal we eat and why. Our choices as consumers drive an industry that kills ten billion animals per year in the United States alone. If we choose to support …show more content…
Although slaughterhouses are legally required to comply with animal welfare requirements, undercover investigations inside slaughterhouses often reveal that animal cruelty is present. In the summer of 2012, members of the animal-rights group Compassion Over Killing released an undercover video taken at Central Valley Meat Co., a slaughterhouse located in Hanford, California. This particular slaughterhouse happens to be a major supplier of beef to the USDA’s National School Lunch Program, In-N-Out Burgers, Costco, and McDonald’s (“Central Valley Meat”). The video uncovered inhumane treatment, improper slaughter methods, and intentional cruelty. Although the video is only four minutes long, it consists of countless jaw-dropping scenes: Downed cows who are unable to walk to the kill floor are shot in the head two three, or even four times, while workers walk away while the animals continue to struggle and kick. The downed cows who are still alive after being shot are suffocated by workers who stand on their mouths and nostrils to prevent them from breathing. Cows are repeatedly hit, jabbed, electrically shocked, and sprayed with hot water, prior to being taken to the kill floor. One cow is electrically shocked 40 times. Sick or injured cows are lifted by their tails by workers in attempt to have them stand in walk. Above all, improper stunning of the animals is present in the video; many cows were clearly breathing after they were shot in the head, yet they were put through the slaughter process, put on a conveyor belt, and hoisted upside-down by one leg (“Central Valley Meat”). Unfortunately, the animal cruelty depicted in this video is not an isolated event. A report that Compassion Over Killing published alongside the video stated that