To think bad of people that work in slaughterhouses??

[RiverMeadow]

I was reading something earlier and it got me thinking about the members of staff who actually work in slaughterhouses and who see these things first hand.

Regardless of whether you eat meat or not we're all still human and I'd assume it's a job that's a very hard one emotionally... or am I wrong?? Do the colleagues just look at it like a job and not physically killing animals? It would break my heart 😭

[bluebluezoo]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/stories-50986683

[canigooutyet]

It’s a job at the end of the day. They are working to provide for themselves/their families by taking any job rather than claiming benefits because it’s beneath them, will look bad in the cv etc.

I have more respect for these, toilet cleaners, fast food, bar etc than I do For many who would rather do nothing than take any available job.

Many jobs come with the risk of ptsd - emergency staff, medical staff, bank workers, store workers, education, social workers, youth workers, housing officers, benefit agents, armed forces etc.

[HelmutShmacker]

My grandad was an electrician. He did a job in a slaughter house once, it took about 3 days. He said he will never, ever forget the sounds coming from the animals as long as he lives.

[SnackSizeRaisin]

I've worked in slaughterhouses. It's unpleasant but also quite interesting and there is a skill to the work. Despatching an animal humanely is a worthwhile thing to do.
Many of the staff were either immigrants, convicted criminals, or others who would for whatever reason struggle to find other work. To be honest I respect people for doing that work (which is hard and dangerous and not well paid) rather than just going on benefits.

[flossisboss]

"Isn’t it lovely that you have the choice to eat meat and not see how it ends up on your
Plate"

^ this with bells on

[SadSisters]

PTSD is very common among slaughterhouse workers, and they have higher than average rates of suicide. Serious injury is not uncommon. Slaughterhouses and meat production plants have been linked to the spread of Covid-19 in the states.

(Warning - this link contains images of butchered animals) - www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage

Slaughterhouse workers are usually paid minimum wage despite the undesirability of the job and the dangers it involves. They are often migrant workers, and therefore vulnerable in the employment market.

There is a huge human cost to meat production that most people don’t even think about when buying their joints and sausages.

[canigooutyet]

I’ve lived near a farm and a slaughterhouse. Not at the same tine. The noise from both can be equally disturbing. But then so can the sounds of wildlife in their natural habitats.

[RiverMeadow]

@bluebluezoo I've just read that and it's exactly how I'd imagined they would feel 😢

[THisbackwithavengeance]

I've heard stories of men who go into it because they enjoy killing and hurting animals from vegan friends. Probably some people go into it because they have no other choice (low skilled, probably immigrant, poor English language levels etc). I'd like to think they do their work with compassion and mercy but that might be wishful thinking on my part.

A friend of mine had to visit a slaughterhouse as part of a university work experience project. She walked out, was sick and has been a vegan since then.

[Scrowy]

Humans have killed animals for meat forever. It's not innately 'wrong' for humans to do so and it is only in recent decades in western culture where people have become squeamish about it.

I have my reservations about industrial slaughterhouses, my belief being that if we do eat meat we should ensure it has the very best life and death it is within our power to give it. But we are where we are with that.

Supermarkets and disconnect from farming and slaughtering animals has meant we now feel meat should be a basic staple rather than a valuable treat.

Smaller abattoirs still exist and it's very possible to buy high welfare meat in this country.

[RiverMeadow]

I can only imagine what it's like for the people working in there, most of them probably have no choice from reading the replies. There's no judgement from me regarding where people work etc and of course it's great these people are working I just fine the whole 'job' incredibly sad.

[bluebluezoo]

@RiverMeadow. just read that and it's exactly how I'd imagined they would feel 😢

Yes I read it months ago and it really stuck in my head.

[oohnicevase]

@scowry I agree with you and I am a vegan . I'm not opposed to eating meat as such but hate the way we treat the animals before they are slaughtered . I believe meat should be a luxury and it should have a much better life and killed at the farm and transported in chilled lorries not alive and be much more expensive . There is no need to eat meat now but yes it is a choice but I'm sure most people couldn't kill it themselves and should think about that before they buy their cheap supermarket meat !

[1Morewineplease]

I’m pretty sure that people who feel badly about it all wouldn’t choose to work there. However, it pays a wage and staff at these places feel that they can rise above their sentiments in order to provide an income.

I can’t bear to see animals in cages and yet, people choose to work with them, believing that they’re doing a good job too. Yet many of these animals are suffering long term, unlike abattoir beasts.

[RiverMeadow]

@oohnicevase

I completely agree with you!

[Wewearpinkonwednesdays]

Well do you think badly of people who are, say.... lawyers?

[VanillaSpiceCandle]

YABVU, rude and judgemental. I had to visit a large abattoir last year and though I was dreading it, it was actually much ‘better’ than I’d have ever thought. Really there was no mooing (was cows only), no kicking, no screaming from the animals. They couldn’t see what was about to happen and wouldn’t be able to hear much either. It was honestly as humane as it could be, the cow had fallen and rolled by the time I heard the shot.

The vast majority of workers were Eastern European or people who’ve left school with minimal qualifications. They are working very hard, long hours for not a great wage in a deprived area of the country. Just because you don’t eat meat, doesn’t mean the vast majority of people will stop so we need these workers.

I wouldn’t want to do the job so am grateful for those who do.

[Wewearpinkonwednesdays]

Do vegans ever think about the animals slaughtered in crop farming?

[VanillaSpiceCandle]

I can see you’ve backtracked as you’ve now realised how unfair it is to ‘think bad’ of people working there. There are many more unethical jobs out there.

[indemMUND]

@Heko

You just get used to it. No different to cutting open a body in a mortuary or killing a fly or spider.

Hopefully you're speaking from experience having worked in one and what you've written is your way of dealing with it by creating comparisons you think are equal. Given the PTSD aspect, you do you if so.

[pistolknight]

I did work experience In a slaughterhouse prior to an env health degree it was fine. Was more disturbed by the Page 3 calenders and porn mags in the tea room tbh

[Queenoftheashes]

Jesus this is depressing.
I need to go vegan.

[oohnicevase]

You can not compare a lawyer with someone who slaughtered animals day in day out ffs!

[EmeraldShamrock]

I don't think they have a choice I'm sure none of them had a childhood dream of growing up to work in a bloody stinky slaughter house. Most employees are immigrants usually paying extortionate rent in crammed living accommodation it isn't a choice really.

[FairfaxAikman]

My family are a long line of master butchers (able to slaughter their own cattle, rather than just buying in). As a PP said there's a skill to dispatching an animal properly and as painlessly as possible.
I think society is increasing disconnected from how meat is produced, they don't want to know about the death of an animal. They want to have their bacon and eat it.