meat is murder

If the media cover a story about live exports they always focus on calves due to the British publics’ horror at veal (despite paying for the trade to continue by buying dairy) but sheep are also passed backwards and forwards between countries like containers of old socks. This debate came to light recently due to a controversial BBC 3 programme about animal slaughter. In future generations we are going to look at this horror like we now view the slave trade and the disregard shown for these victims when placed on ships.

A discussion on BBC 3’s Kill it, Cook it, Eat it programme last night which debated imports of lamb into the UK has left a sour taste in the mouths of those at Meat and Wool New Zealand.

Meat and Wool New Zealand market manager, John Mabb,(pictured) appeared on the programme and was briefly involved in the discussion on imports.

He said the debate was unbalanced because he was not given a chance during the programme to fully explain the reasons why it was necessary to import New Zealand lamb into the UK market.

Mabb said: “I had tried to explain at the time that there is so much production in Britain but loads of it gets exported. So, if imports were not coming in, the market would have very little to sell.”

John said others involved in the discussion had a longer time on camera to give their side of the story, but said he had to sum up his thoughts in “all of 10 seconds.”

He added that he was also interviewed for the programme in London, where he was able to fully explain his reasons.

However, he said none of that footage was broadcast in the final programme.

“I think the issues were a little bit glossed over, and as I was not able to answer in full I think the programme was unbalanced from that perspective,” Mabb said.

The programme followed the slaughtering and butchery of lambs in front of an invited audience, who watched the process behind a glass window at John Mettrick’s abattoir in Glossop.

The lamb was then butchered by John Mettrick, who explained the different lamb cuts and was then cooked by chef, Rachel Green and eaten by audience members.

Apart from the debate on imports, Mabb said he thought the programme was successful, especially in conveying how well the slaughterhouse workers respected the animals during the slaughtering process.

The BBC were unavailable for comment.

Further Information about the Australian/New Zealand sheep export market [from sts]-

Transport Terror

When sheep age and their wool production declines, they are of no use to wool farmers and so are discarded for slaughter. This results in the cruel live export of 6.5 million sheep every year from Australia to the Middle East and North Africa, where sheep are crammed aboard multitiered open-deck ships. Nearly 800,000 sheep enter the live export trade from the U.K. and are slaughtered abroad.

Australian and New Zealand sheep are slaughtered in the Middle East, after enduring a grueling, weeks- or months-long journey on overcrowded, disease-ridden ships with little access to food or water through all weather extremes. Many sheep fall ill, many become stuck in feces and are unable to move, and many are smothered or trampled to death by other sheep trying not to fall or trying to reach water when it is available. Shipboard mortality ranges up to 10 percent. Sick and injured sheep are often ground up in a mincer while fully aware or are thrown overboard to drown or be eaten by sharks.

In 2002, 14,500 sheep reportedly died from heat stress while in transit to the Middle East. Their carcasses were thrown overboard. Between August and October of 2003, more than 50,000 sheep suffered aboard the MV Cormo Express when the Saudi Arabian government refused to accept the sheep because too many of them were believed to be infected with “scabby mouth,” an infectious disease that results in sores and scabs around the animals’ mouths. After nearly two months aboard this ship, with very little food and water, often in temperatures exceeding 100°F, the African nation of Eritrea accepted the sheep for slaughter.

When the survivors arrive at their destination, they are dragged from the ships and thrown into the backs of trucks and cars, eventually to have their throats slit while they are fully conscious. In the Muslim nations of North Africa and the Middle East, ritual slaughter is exempt from humane slaughter regulations. Some sheep are slaughtered en masse in lots, while others are taken home, often in the trunks of cars, and slaughtered individually by the purchasers.

Click here to read news stories about Australia’s live export trade.

Click here for more information on Australia’s cruel live-export trade.

Click here to read PETA’s full report on mulesing and live exports, The Urgent Need for a Permanent Ban on Mulesing and Live Sheep Exports in the Australian Wool Industry Based on Animal Welfare Concerns.

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A Look At Australia’s Live Sheep Export Trade

*Warning* this video contains distressing footage of cruelty to animals and should be viewed with caution, viewer discretion is advised.

This is a video produced by PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) which provide a shocking insight to Australia’s live sheep export trade.

Australia exports sheep annually into countries by livestock ships where the animals already suffering and debilitated from a long argues journey on road trains or transportation trucks; are taken to the ship docks where they are rounded up and loaded onto a livestock ship bound for countries where animal welfare is of a very little priority or virtually non existent.

Many die and become weakened on the harrowing journey on the ship to their place of slaughter where they are often cruelly slaughtered and unacceptably mistreated and abused due to a lack of high animal welfare standards.

As mentioned in this video the practices of mueseling are very controversial ones, but while it’s going on. I think it’s of the up-most importance that alternatives be looked at that could make things better for both the sheep and their handlers.

Sheep as all farm animals are; often thought to be dumb, stupid and gay and if people like them, you’re those things also. But sheep actually have quite remarkable memories and will remember a face if given an opportunity.

While they may not be as cool looking or awesome as a dolphin or an eagle; they’re still an animal and one that is able to feel pain and suffering and one that is the victim of unnecessary and unacceptable abuses in the name of tradition and profit.

So please watch the video and consider adopting a cruelty free lifestyle by making humane shopping choices both in food and clothing and reducing the demand for these unacceptable and disturbing acts to continue.

This video was uploaded with permission from PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

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TV Chefs again not just happy to eat and cook corpses, but getting involved in promoting the meat industry.

TV chef Phil Vickery has launched a national recipe challenge on behalf of the British turkey industry. The campaign is set to encourage people to eat more turkey and to try different cooking methods, such as barbecuing.

Vickery, a regular on BBC2’s Ready Steady Cook and ITV’s This Morning, said: “Not many people think about turkey at this time of year – and they certainly don’t think about barbecuing. But hopefully we will get the message across that British turkey is not just for Christmas. It is extremely versatile and is a great, healthy choice for the family all year round.”

By the way, here is a previous quote from the fellow [source];

ITV’s This Morning chef, Phil Vickery said: “Although turkey is served on Christmas day I also like to roast a joint of beef in case some guests prefer beef (a lot of my family do, my father especially). If you roast a forerib of beef on Christmas day, then slices of cold beef are perfect for Boxing Day lunch. Failing that, a good old-fashioned roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Boxing Day is a perfect way to entertain. The sight and cooking smells of a joint of beef when people arrive is a real joy, and one I love personally.”

The campaign brings together three sporting celebrities - rugby hero Matt Dawson, champion jockey Frankie Dettori and tennis star and TV presenter Annabel Croft – plus three TV chefs - Lesley Waters, Paul Rankin and Nick Nairn – and invites consumers to vote on which of them has created the best British turkey recipe.

British Turkey spokesperson, Kim Burgess, said: “We are also challenging consumers who think they can do better to send in their own original British turkey recipes.

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Humane Slaughter?

A Farm Sanctuary documentary on poultry slaughter.

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“The campaign will give us exposure all through the year and we are planning to compile the best recipes into a book with profits going to the children’s charity SPARKS.

“We have raised almost £25,000 for SPARKS over the last four years and we are hoping this will provide another boost to this wonderful charity.”

The recipe challenge will centre on turkey’s status as one of the 14 original “superfoods” identified by Dr Steven Pratt.

Burgess said: “Turkey is the only meat in the line-up and earns its place as one of the healthiest forms of protein on the planet.

“We will also be hammering home the message that British turkey is extremely versatile, easy to cook and, of course, tasty.

“Turkey manufacturers are developing a fast-growing range of portioned and convenience products with al fresco and barbecue eating in mind.

“And thanks to the great support from retailers and butchers, these are now widely available for consumers under our all-important Quality British Turkey mark. This guarantees the turkey from British producers is of the highest standard – which is a vital consideration for a growing number of consumers.”

Introduction

Turkeys are intensively reared for their meat. Traditionally, turkeys were mainly reared for the Christmas market but today they are produced throughout the year. Nearly 35 million turkeys were slaughtered in the UK in 1992, about 16½ million of which are for Christmas.

Given the opportunity, turkeys will range widely eating vegetation, seeds and grains. Wild turkeys can fly strongly and roost high in trees. They are more closely related to game birds such as pheasants and partridges than to chickens.

Turkey Production

Turkeys are generally kept either in large, windowless broiler sheds or in pole barns which are netted on one side and have natural light and ventilation. A small number of turkeys are produced free-range.

Broiler sheds contain flocks of around 10,000 birds housed on litter (usually wood shavings). Stocking density is high at around 260cm² per kg of bird and as the birds grow and approach slaughter age they become increasingly tightly packed. The litter is not changed during the turkeys time in the shed and so becomes increasingly covered in the birds faeces. Turkeys do not scratch around in the litter in the way that chickens will and this means the condition of the litter deteriorates more quickly. Artificial lighting and ventilation is carefully controlled. Lighting intensity is low to minimise aggression between birds.

Turkeys reared in pole barns are less densely stocked, stocking density being recommended as around 410cm² per kg of bird. Natural lighting combined with a large flock size and overcrowding encourages aggression and cannibalism and this can result in considerable losses. Because of this debeaking is widely regarded as essential and it is likely that all turkeys reared in pole barns are debeaked.

Pole barns are often not purpose built for rearing birds and bad ventilation, draughts, exposure and heat stress can all cause problems.

Turkeys are slaughtered at between 12 and 26 weeks, depending on the size of bird being produced. The natural lifespan of a turkey is around 10 years.

Welfare and Disease

Estimates for the numbers of turkeys which suffer debeaking vary between 20% and 80% and it is likely that the true figure lies somewhere between these. Debeaking is more common for turkeys kept in pole barns than those reared in broiler sheds where aggression can be minimised by dim lighting.

Debeaking involves slicing off about one-third of the beak with a red hot blade when the turkey is around five days old (breeders may be debeaked again at 14 to 18 weeks). This can be extremely painful for the bird and studies on debeaked chickens have shown pain to be prolonged and perhaps indefinite.

Even following debeaking intensively stocked turkeys may peck at one another. Eye injuries are a particular problem and can lead to infection and blindness.

Male turkeys may sometimes also be desnooded soon after hatching. The snood is the part of the turkey’s wattle arising from the forehead and lying over the upper beak. Desnooding may occur to reduce the risk of cannibalism in intensively stocked turkeys.

>Selective breeding for rapid weight gain and the use of high nutrient feed has meant that many turkeys, especially males, are unable to support their own weight. This can lead to problems of lameness and infections of leg and hip joints.

Lameness may also be the result of foot ulceration caused by turkeys having to stand on wet, dirty litter.

Other common diseases affecting intensively reared turkeys include colisepticaemia, blackhead (which damages the liver), turkey rhinotracheitis (TRT) and pasteurella infection which causes a commonly fatal respiratory disease. Turkeys are also often infected with salmonella which has implications for public health.

Mortality for turkeys is estimated at 7% or nearly 2 1/2 million birds. Many of these deaths are young birds unable to find feed and water points. These are called starve-outs.

Transport and Slaughter

The catching and transport of turkeys prior to slaughter can cause the birds considerable distress. Turkeys are considerably larger and stronger than chickens and can be nervous and easily frightened. Catchers are often less familiar with handling turkeys and many birds may be injured whilst being removed from sheds or barns and thrust into crates. Poor handling frequently results in bruising, skin grazing and broken blood vessels.

Transport to slaughter may be some distance and the birds may be exposed to extreme weather conditions.

On reaching the slaughterhouse, turkeys are removed from their crates and hung upside down in shackles on a moving line. Turkeys may legally hang shackled for up to six minutes before being stunned and this time is probably frequently exceeded. Turkeys can weigh anything from 5 to 28 kg (12 to 60 lbs) at slaughter and the pain caused to heavy birds whilst they hang in shackles must be considerable. This pain will be worsened by the fact that many of the birds and especially the larger ones will suffer from diseased hip joints.

Stunning involves the birds having their head and neck dragged through an electrically charged water bath. A study by the Agriculture & Food Research Council (AFRC) Institute of Food Research in Bristol found an incidence of 26% of pre-stun shocks which occurred when either birds wings trailed in the water bath before their heads or the ramp leading to the water bath became electrically charged.

Some birds may be stunned using hand-held stunners instead. These may be used in smaller slaughterhouses which specialise in Traditional Farm Fresh turkeys for the Christmas market (turkeys hung for up to 15 days without evisceration following slaughter). These stunners are less likely to induce cardiac arrest and so birds may be fully conscious when their necks are cut.

Following stunning, the birds have their throats cut before entering a scalding tank which loosens the feathers for plucking. The AFRC study found that 0.1% of birds were still alive on entering the scalding tank. This means around 35,000 turkeys enter the scalding tank alive each year.

Breeding Stock

Turkeys reared for meat are hatched from eggs laid by special breeding stock. Male breeders (called stags) have been selectively bred for size and are now too broad-breasted and heavy to mate naturally. Because of this turkey breeding is dependent on artificial insemination (AI). AI also means that turkeys can be reliably produced in the right numbers when required.

Breeding stock are kept in single sex pens. Males are kept in flocks of 30-50 birds at a stocking density of 1m² per bird. Hens are kept in larger flocks at a density of 345cm per kg of bird.

AI completely frustrates the natural mating instincts of turkeys and is distressing for both males and hens. Male turkeys are milked of semen at least once a week and the hens inseminated using a length of tubing inserted into the birds vagina.

Once the birds are past their peak of semen or egg production they are slaughtered and made into pies, pâtés and other processed foods.

Because of their large size lameness is a considerable problem in male breeding turkeys. Lameness often involves disease of the hip joints, called antitrochanteric degeneration. Studies have shown over 90% of male breeding turkeys suffering degenerative hip disease at slaughter and it is a major cause of mortality, lame turkeys often having to be culled.

A special beefburger recipe devised for the Guild of Q Butchers by celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson will soon be available to Q butchers throughout the UK to sell in their shops.

Guild members are now gearing up to make and promote the beefburger which contains a secret blend of spices, seasonings, chives and parsley selected by Worrall Thompson.

The promotion is backed up by posters, tray tickets and local publicity.

The burger has already won a gold medal in the Guild’s South of England BBQ Championships and is arriving just in time for this year’s barbecue season.

A Guild of Q spokesman said: “Through the auspices of member Joe Collier of Eastwoods of Berkhamsted, the Guild has a very good relationship with Antony and it is an indication of the standing of Q butchers that he has taken the time to come up with this special recipe.

“We now have an exclusive product for members to promote and we are sure consumers will look forward to sampling the AWT Burger.”

Joe Collier and David Smith of ingredient supplier Sauce It, who are corporate members of the Guild, liaised with Antony Worrall Thompson on the development of the burger recipe.

And of course this bloke - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - for promoting the idea that eating meat is some sort of kindly benevolent exercise as long as you do the murdering yourself.

“You can kill a lamb or a mutton wether at any time, but personally I favour late spring and late autumn. In the autumn I will kill either a mutton wether of around eighteen to twenty months or a large lamb of six to eight months, and in spring a wether of just over a year (once it’s had a couple of months of good grass).”

Some mad as a loon speciesism here. Or not speciesism really, just society placed attitudes that highlight how contradictory people are when they decide to take pleasure in the flesh of a fellow creature. A butcher who is advertising like crazy to sell as many wild rabbit bodies as he can is very quick to state that he won’t sell tame rabbits. Well that’s all right then. So long as only the rabbits miss a family member, not the little kid down the road. He then boasts how he wouldn’t sell roadkill. No, they have to be deprived of life specially for him to sell them. What a sick, sad world this is.

A Bletchley-based butcher has received a good response after placing an ad in the local paper asking for people to supply him with dead wild rabbits as he can not keep up with customer demand.

Malcolm Driver, from DP Clarke butchers Queensway, near Milton Keynes, said he was only interested in taking wild rabbits from those who are licensed to shoot them.

Since placing the unusual ad in the paper, which read ‘wild rabbits required’, Malcolm said he had received much media attention which had resulted in increased numbers of wild rabbits being brought into the shop.

“I have sold 80 extra rabbits since Friday last week and they all went during Saturday and Sunday morning,” Malcolm said.

He added he was due to receive another couple of 100 rabbits yesterday.

“I’ve always sold wild rabbit. I can sell 500 a week and in the last six to seven months I have got busier with them,” he said.

Malcolm attributed the increased interest in wild rabbit to a growing multi-cultural society and changes in what consumers choose to eat.

“People are realising that rabbit meat is low fat, tender, very tasty - and a cheap option.

“I certainly remember my mum baking rabbit pies, and they tasted superb,” he said.

He sells three ready-skinned rabbits for £5 and will pay his suppliers £1.50 each for them.

Malcolm said: “They are mainly from farmers or from people that manage golf courses or people who have shot rabbits on their own land.

“I don’t touch roadkill and I certainly would never contemplate tame rabbits.”

3000 animals killed in North Korea to prevent the spread of Foot & Mouth. A disease that is a symtom of modern farming techniques. Ultimately these animals would have been killed anway, but it makes the news when it’s disease and not sandwiches.
[Animal Aid article about the recent pasts' UK F&M outbreak where 6 million animals were slaughtered.]

Hundreds of cows and pigs in North Korea have been slaughtered after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health, a news report has revealed.

The outbreak originally occurred in January at a farm in the capital, Pyongyang, sickening 431 cows, according to a North Korean government report that was posted on the Web site of the Paris-based animal health agency, known by the initials OIE.

According to the report, since the outbreak, quarantine officials have killed 466 cows, including the sickened ones, as well as 2,630 pigs to prevent the spread of the disease, the North’s Agricultural Ministry said.

Some 100,000 animals within the 44-mile radius of the outbreak site will be vaccinated, it added.

The sickened cows were imported from Tieling, China, the report said.

South America takes action over FMD

Foot and mouth disease ‘multination sanitary missions’ will take action in the second half of March along the common borders of Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia, where foot and mouth disease is endemic Uruguayan authorities revealed.

An on-line news report from Merco Press, stated that Francisco Muzio, head of Livestock Services at the Uruguayan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, said the border area in the heart of South America had seen a repeat of the same foot-and-mouth virus strain over the past decade.

Muzio said in the report: “The Agriculture Council of the south, made up of Mercosur member countries, is meeting this week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia to address the issue and decide on definitive measures.

“All the region’s agriculture ministers and heads of animal health departments will be present”.

The report said in December last year a special sanitary mission from FAO’s Animal Health World Organisation (IEO) visited the region and came up with several proposals to combat foot-and-mouth disease in the common border of Paraguay with Matto Grosso do Sul in Brazil and the triple border area in Chaco, shared by Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.

A high risk area under surveillance includes a 15km wide strip of land along the shared borders in the four countries and “represents a significant step to ensure effective controls and a timetable of goals to build on”.

“Mercosur Free of Foot and Mouth programme is funding the initiative which, with the help from veterinarians from all countries involved, should enable a strict monitoring of a common border area in countries with a high risk of viral circulation and structurally weak sanitary programs”, Muzio said in the report.

For those out there that haven’t seen it, here is Earthlings on Google Video.

Death as entertainment? The voyeuristic watching of people watching the death of innocent animals. Or an experiment that will educate and disgust the public as to where their shrink wrapped heart attacks come from?

Kill It, Cook It, Eat It

Do you ever find yourself indulging in a meat feast and wondering how the animal made its way to your plate?

Presenter Richard Johnson is here to bring together the two key moments that are usually separated in our lives and minds: the death of the animal and the eating of its meat.

In each programme, we trace the journey of one animal from its life on the farm to its fate at a small working abbatoir. At the abbatoir, a group of specially invited people, from vegetarians to meat enthusiasts, will witness the slaughter.

They’ll also see how the carcass is prepared, with our butcher breaking it down and explaining the different cuts of meat. Our chef Rachel Green will then demonstrate what to do with them.

Once the meal is ready, the audience is invited to taste the meat. But after witnessing the entire process, will they have the stomach for it?

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