BBC2's Slaughterhouse

[BigDogsWang]

OK, who managed to sit through the whole of this comfortably? Award yourself a Pork Pie if you did.

[sneezer]

BigDogsWang I was just about to put a question about this on here, I wanted to see what other people thought about it. I managed to sit through the whole thing though some of it was pretty sickening especially the way Arran carried on with the animals, he took such glee in killing them. I suppose someone has to do this job but I don't know how they do it day in day out. Did it put you off eating meat?

[butter1]

I turned over on accident and caught a bit of them killing a piggy and then one was hanging up and it's leg was still moving!!!  I quickly turned over...it really upset me.  I know it happens but I think I might become a veggie after seeing that. :(

[BigDogsWang]

It hasn't put me off eating meat, as I always knew how abattoir's operate, and it's ignorant to not know how meat ends up in the supermarket. But at the same time, and for the first time, seeing live animals having their throats slit in front of your eyes was VERY harrowing.

The one uplifting part of the program for me was the piggy's bid for freedom at the end.

[sneezer]

I was a vegetarian for years and now only eat meat occasionally but I have to say it didn't put me off.But what is important to me is how the animals are reared and killed both procedures should be of a high standard and humane. I agree with you about knowing where your meat comes so in that way the show was insightful if gruesome.

I hope the piggy at the end did get away although I wouldn't bet on its chances.

[londondave]

The thing that got me was the thick neanderthal attitude of the people that worked there! The fact they put sun glasses and a cigarette in a decapitated cows head.

I have tried to go veggie but am a natural carnivoure.

[PaulnCarole]

The flippant attitude towards the animals' suffering appalled me. I am not naive, we live quite near to a slaughterhouse, and one day in the local pub we heard a group of the workers laughing and joking about ............. well, I will put it as manhandling the animals (that's putting it mildly), but it was disgusting to hear about it and it certainly put me off the meal I was eating at the time. You can't expect the workers to treat the animals with kid gloves, afterall, they wouldn't do a job like that if they were animal lovers, but I think it is disgusting that they have no compassion. I watched some of this programme because I hoped it would show that the conversation I overheard was not typical of a slaughterhouse worker . Sadly, it only confirmed it. To witness people seemingly enjoying suffering and killing was a very disturbing sight for me.

[Eeeek]

I only managed to watch about 10/15mins but had to quickly flick over when the Jewish guy was about to kill the cow! What bothered me was the fact that none of these young guys seemed to have any real feelings or respect for life. Was it coincidence that most of them came from broken homes??

[jenstar]

It wasn't really very gory at all. If anything it was rather boring - I wanted to know more about the process and instead we got those dull people blathering about their childhood.

[sparks_]

"It wasn't really very gory at all" ? I think we may have been watching different programs.. If watching several animals having their throats slit while still moving, then having their internal organs etc. ripped out isn't gory then sure.... It's a job I certainly couldn't do. Theres a question... Anyone think they could handle the job?

[luckyboy]

''Not gory at all''..crikey how gory did you want it....

After watching it, i can understand where veggies have been coming from all these years..

[luckyboy]

btw.. no i couldn't do the job in a month of sundays.

[jamesy boy]

There are jobs in society that a lot of people could not do for either ethical/moral reasons, or for reasons of squeamishness.Slaughtering animals is one.Fighting wars is another.I couldn't do either of these things, but am glad others can.If the slaughtermen had compassion for animals, they would not be slaughtermen.It's that simple.

Now, who's for a bacon sarnie?

[brachiopod]

The programme turned into more of a socialogical analysis of the people doing a particular job, and was still very interesting for that.

I don't know if anyone else felt it (those that stayed with the documentary in its entirety), but by the end of the programme, you become desensitised by the continual imagery of animals (mostly) being stunned, throats slit, flayed, de-haired or whatever.
With that in mind, you can understand how these workers have the attitudes they do - despatching beasts day in, day out. I don't think their 'lack of respect' is symptomatic of a 'broken home' or any reason, other than the drudgery of the job.

I too, have been to an abbatoir, and also a chicken packing factory (which, in many ways, is even more appalling in terms of the cruelty inflicted), so I can't really say I was squemish about the programme, despite the 'ever-so-cute' pictures of sheep faces and pigs snoozing in the pens outside. It's a reality that evryone should face, or at least be aware of.

Oh, I have also been a vegetarian for the past 25 years.

[dog&duck]

That program has TOTALLY made me veggie.

I hav'nt eaten meat since and i don't have any cravings.

I know its been like 2 days? But i'm still proud of myself and plan to keep it up.

I havn't seen anything so disturbing since that bit on the anti-mc donalds program a few weeksa go with the chicks

<3

[PaulnCarole]

I've just read on the CIWF website, one of that slaughterhouse's employees has been dismissed since the programme was filmed (although it didn't say exactly what he had been dismissed for) and that particular abattoir is facing court proceedings for infringement of the law. I think you need a certain "mentality" to do the job, and it would seem that most of the people who can do it, are not concerned about despatching the animals with the minimum of stress/pain. I think this is very sad, as it (to me) is the least consideration we can show to creatures that are losing their lives for us. In fact, I think that some of those workers have a sadistic streak, and actually enjoy inflicting pain and suffering on the animals. I disagree with a comment made on this site earlier, where someone said that people with compassion for animals would not do this job. My husband (a very kind and caring man) says that he could do it if he could get no other job, and it meant being able to keep on paying our mortgage and keeping a roof above our head. Personally, I think that he could cope with the actual physical aspect of it, what he couldn't cope with would be the brutality/sadistic nature of some of the other workers.