What is “humane slaughter” ?
“Humane slaughter” is a term that is so often used nowadays. An entirely new market of “humanely slaughtered” meat and “animal welfare certified” products have sprung up all across grocery stores. In an age of growing concern for “animal welfare,” they’re not pushing products that completely avoid animal suffering (plants)…they’re pushing something else…
Humane slaughter.
But is there such a thing?
At its core, “humane slaughter” is a marketing term made up by the industry with the help of the government to assuage the guilt of consumers, and sell more animal products.
When someone chooses to buy meat that is labeled “humanely slaughtered,” the driving motivation is guilt. Whether they are willing to admit it or not, they feel guilty that an animal suffered and a life was taken for their meal. And they want to make themselves feel better by purchasing a label that paints a nice image:
…A nice farmer walks the animal out to the pasture, gives them a kiss, says a prayer, then everything goes black…
Simple. Easy. Painless.
We are purchasing an image. We are purchasing an excuse. We are purchasing a delusion.
We’re not purchasing a different kind of meat. We’re purchasing a justification for choices that we know cause harm to others.
Definition of “Humane Slaughter” in the US
But what is “humane slaughter?” Like, what does it mean - specifically? It’s a term that is thrown around a lot, accompanied by vague language that paints a nice picture in our heads. But what’s the legal definition?
According to the US federal law, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, humane slaughter is defined as, “in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other livestock, all animals are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut.”
Chickens, turkeys, and ducks are specifically excluded from the definition. There is no legal definition for the “humane slaughter” of birds.
Interestingly, exceptions are made for religious ceremonies. You don’t have to slaughter an animal humanely if you’re sacrificing it for religion, “ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument and handling in connection with such slaughtering” are acceptable.
This law is the only federal regulation defining humane slaughter. So humane slaughter doesn’t mean that an animal wasn’t slaughtered in a slaughterhouse. In most cases, “humane slaughter” still occurs inside a slaughterhouse. It just means that they were supposed to be stunned before being killed.
But oftentimes, stunning doesn’t work.
In a recent 2023 study, researchers found that approx. 17% of cows were NOT “adequately stunned” and were conscious when their throats were slit. The study also found that an additional 10% of cows who were “adequately stunned” still displayed consciousness when their throats were slit.
So even though US law requires animals to be stunned unconscious before being killed, this fails almost 30% of the time.
So purely by the LEGAL definition, humane slaughter is a myth.
But what about company standards?
Company Standards
Companies such as Whole Foods proclaim they go above and beyond legal requirements for humane treatment and slaughter. In their Meat Department Quality Standards, they state, “Our baseline requirements for our Meat department are stronger than most anywhere.”
Whole Foods lists such standards as:
“Beef cattle, sheep and goats must spend at least two-thirds of their life on pasture.”
“No crates, cages or tethers permitted.”
“Animal producers must meet our standards for how the animals are raised, transported and slaughtered.”
“Required inspections for animal welfare at slaughter, using criteria and areas of evaluation developed by Dr. Temple Grandin.”
Their standards focus largely on how the animals are raised. There is very little attention given to how the animals are slaughtered. The only time they address slaughter is that last bullet point, “Required inspections for animal welfare at slaughter, using criteria and areas of evaluation developed by Dr. Temple Grandin.”
But they do not elaborate on the specific methods of slaughter, how often facilities are inspected, and to what extent they apply Temple Grandin’s “criteria and areas of evaluation.” Whatever that means!?!?
Whole Foods works with an organization called Global Animal Partnership (GAP) to certify their animal products for “animal welfare.” For each kind of animal product, GAP has six levels of certification. But interestingly, all the levels of certification focus exclusively on the life cycle of the animals. NONE whatsoever mentions methods of slaughter.
For example, for chickens, the six levels range from “no outdoor access” and “minimum space requirements” (level 1) to “pasture maintained with a minimum of 75% cover” (level 6).
The badges of certification for all six levels look almost identical, and all state “Animal Welfare Certified.” From the consumer perspective, there really is no discernable difference between the badges of levels 1 through levels 6.
The badges of levels 1 through 6 display no indication of hierarchy. They all look good to the average consumer!
So animal products at Whole Foods that are “Animal Welfare Certified” could in fact be of the lowest level, requiring no outdoor access and minimum space requirements, yet illicit a “pasture raised” image of a level 6 certification in the consumers’ mind.
It’s a marketing trick.
Furthermore, undercover investigations have found egregious acts of cruelty on farms that supply so-called “Animal Welfare Certified” meat to Whole Foods.
As recently as August 2023, 12 defendants pleaded guilty to 141 charges - including 6 felonies - of cruelty against animals at a Pennsylvania farm that supplies Whole Foods with “Animal Welfare Certified” animal products.
An undercover exposé by PETA revealed “workers kicking and stomping on turkeys, including birds who were sick, injured, and unable to walk. After failing to break their necks, workers left the birds to convulse and die in agony on the shed floor. Workers threw hens at one another like basketballs, one worker pretended to masturbate with a dying bird, and another sat on and pretended to rape a live turkey…A supervisor himself kicked turkeys and berated PETA’s investigator for refusing to take part in the abuse…Workers clubbed turkeys with a heavy iron bar and stood on their heads. They violently shook and choked terrified turkeys.”
THIS is certified humane by Whole Foods.
PETA’s undercover work in this case resulted in the most charges and defendants in any case of cruelty to farmed animals in US history.
And again, all of Whole Foods’ marketing focuses on the life of the animals. Nothing about specific methods of slaughter are ever mentioned on Whole Foods’ website or even the third party regulator, GAP.
They intentionally focus on the methods of raising animals, and intentionally do not mention slaughter of animals, because they want us to think of the animals as alive, happy, living their best life in green pastures. They don’t want us to think about the fact that we are buying a dead animal.
They’re intentionally obscuring our perception of “humane slaughter” by focusing on the life of the animals. They want to equivocate the fact that these animals ultimately end up at the same slaughterhouses as “factory farmed” animals.
And the default regulation for those slaughterhouses is the aforementioned US law Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
So once again, “humane slaughter” is a myth, even from companies like Whole Foods that proclaim to prioritize animal welfare.
But what about the animal perspective?
The Animal Perspective
If you’ve ever seen slaughterhouse footage, you know that the animals understand what is happening. And they desperately try to escape.
Take this story from a slaughterhouse worker: “There’s been instances where hogs come out [of the…stunner] and…they’re fully alive and they’re trying to get out of the trough and they slide out into a giant puddle of blood and then you’re chasing it around trying to shoot it in the head…It did not want to die that day.”
They know what is happening. They are afraid. They desperately try to escape.
Farmed animals don’t want to die. No matter the method that is used.
We would never slaughter a dog, because we understand that dogs are individuals with emotions and feelings, and of course - because we know they want to live!
Farmed animals are just like our companion animals, and in some cases, farmed animals are even smarter than our companion animals.
It’s never humane to kill someone who doesn’t want to die.
Humane slaughter is a total myth from every possible viewpoint: legal, marketing, and moral.
Sources