move from the blood-splattered slaughterhouse into the
scalding pot.^134
Much of the suffering that occurs in slaughterhouses is a
resultofthefranticpaceatwhichthekillinglinemustwork.
Economiccompetition meansthatslaughterhousesstriveto
killmoreanimalsperhourthantheircompetitors.Between
1981 and 1986, forexample, conveyorspeed atone large
Americanplant increasedfrom 225 bodiesan hourto 275.
Thepressuretoworkfastermeansthatlesscareistaken—and
not only with the animals. In 1988 a United States
congressionalcommitteereportedthatnootherU.S.industry
hasahigherinjuryorillnessratethantheslaughterindustry.
Evidence wasgiven that58,000 slaughterhouse employees
areinjuredayear,orabout 160 aday.Ifsolittlecareistaken
with humans,what islikely to bethefate oftheanimals?
Anothermajorproblemwiththeindustryisthat,becauseitis
so unpleasant, employees do not last long, and annual
turnoverratesbetween 60 and 100 percent arecommonin
manyplants.Thismeansaconstantstreamofinexperienced
staff handling frightened animals in a strange environment.^135
In Britain, where slaughterhouses are in theory tightly
controlledbyhumaneslaughterlegislation,thegovernment’s
Farm AnimalWelfareCouncil investigatedslaughterhouses
and found:
Wehaveconcludedthatunconsciousnessandinsensibilityare
beingassumedtoexistinmanyslaughteringoperationswhen
itishighlyprobablethatthedegreeisnotsufficienttorender
the animal insensitive to pain.