Moreover, in the United States there are special
circumstances that turn this method of slaughter into a
grotesquetravestyofanyhumane intentionsthatmayonce
havelainbehindit.Thisistheresultofacombinationofthe
requirementsof ritual slaughter and of thePure Foodand
DrugActof1906,whichforsanitaryreasonsstipulatesthata
slaughteredanimalmustnotfallinthebloodofapreviously
slaughtered animal.Effectively, this meansthat theanimal
mustbekilledwhilebeingsuspendedfromaconveyorbelt,
orheldabovethefloorinsomeotherway,insteadofwhen
lyingontheslaughterhousefloor.Therequirementdoesnot
affect the welfare of an animal whohas been made fully
unconscious beforebeingkilled, sincethesuspension does
not take place until the animalis unconscious;but it has
horribleresultsiftheanimalmustbeconsciouswhenkilled.
Instead of being quickly knocked to the floor and killed
almost as they hit the ground, animals being ritually
slaughteredin theUnitedStatesmaybe shackledarounda
rearleg,hoistedintotheair,andthenhang,fullyconscious,
upsidedownontheconveyorbeltforbetweentwoandfive
minutes—and occasionally much longerif something goes
wrongonthe“killingline”—beforetheslaughterermakeshis
cut. The process has been described as follows:
Whenaheavyironchainisclampedaroundthelegofaheavy
beefanimalweighingbetween1,000and2,000pounds,and
thesteerisjerkedoffitsfeet,theskinwillopenandslipaway
from the bone. The canon bone will often be snapped or
fractured.^138
Theanimal,upside down,withrupturedjointsand oftena
brokenleg,twistsfranticallyinpainandterror,sothatitmust
begrippedbytheneckorhaveaclampinsertedinitsnostrils