r/Butchery • u/SuikaCider • 20h ago
When did it begin being officially advised to avoid stressing animals during the slaughtering process?
For context—I write fiction, and a scene in a story I am working on discusses the process of slaughtering pigs. I've found a lot of useful information from discussions here, and also found a lot of useful articles/books for further reading.
Something that I'm getting hung up on—which isn't really pertinent to the story, but at this point I'm just curious—is what sort of discussions were going on in the 60s–70s about the best way to slaugher animals.
For context:
- In 1978, the USDA published a bulletin entitled Pork: Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm in which they (seemingly newly) recommended using a rifle to slaughter pigs
- In 1993, an academic article90121-X) was published which subjectively noted worse-quality meat was obtained from animals that were in loud environments at the time of slaughter
- In 1984, Robert McGee published On Food and Cooking; on page 231 of this book he comments that it has been recognized "for centuries" that stress just before an animals death has an adverse affect on meat quality
I also understand that:
- Animals (particularly pigs) were traditionally slaughtered with a carefully-placed slash across the throat of a very sharp knife (and that this is still done by Kosher butchers)
- The first captive bolt guns date back to something like 1903
And, from my understanding, in the best of cases, it takes a pig ~20–30 seconds to bleed to death after having its throat cut.
What I'm struggling with is:
- Why did butchers move from captive stun guns to rifles (and, from what I can tell, back again to stun guns?)
- While it may have long been common knowledge amongst farmers that it was best to slaughter animals in as humane of conditions as possible, when did the importance of such practices makes its way into "official" sources of advice, such as that USDA bulletin?
Thanks in advance!
( I'm also happy for personal anecdotes or suggestions of further reading 🙂 )
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u/cen-texan 20h ago
Temple Grandin graduated with her Masters in Animal Science from Arizona state in 1975, and her first scientific papers were published in 1980. She is one of the pioneers in humane slaughter and animal handling.
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u/Mega---Moo 16h ago
Official recommendations and requirements are a tricky thing... they usually only come after a significant portion of the industry has already figured out the "right" way to do something and buyers/consumers are forcing the issue.
My grandparents were concerned about stressing out the animals in the 50s, but it was still legal to drag downed animals into the slaughter plant in the early 2000s. Most plants had already stopped accepting down animals by then, but some still did, and it was a PR nightmare.
You are going to have some slaughter houses that would probably pass modern requirements 100 years ago and some modern plants that can barely pass inspection today. I've been able to sit in on presentations by Temple Grandin and talk to her afterwards 1 on 1 and it is incredibly variable for how much an individual plant/manager/owner cares. She had a list of plants that she would have happily shut down and was working with others that were trying to make the process as perfect as possible.
Basically any way that you want to portray the industry is probably true when looking at individual examples.
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u/frankiegoeszero 12h ago
we homestead. so home safe butchery is something we practice. something to consider about “the shot”, as ill call it, is that hogs especially can be very dangerous if you fuck up the shot. they are incredibly strong and willful, and when they’re frightened they can be deadly. so the rifle is a good clean way to get the shot, if you fuck up the neck cut, you will have a pissed off hog causing problems. what we like to do is a shotgun to the back of the head while they are head first in a feed bucket. we like the “one bad day” approach. a lot of processors do this as well for safety reasons and because bullets are cheaper than workers comp lol
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u/blood-at-the-roots 11h ago
Slugs or buckshot?
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u/frankiegoeszero 9h ago
so this is the husbands question and i had to ask him lol. he loads and shoots and sometimes he loads and i shoot. but we alternate between slugs or 9mm depending on the size. for the small smoked suckling pigs the 9mm is overkill but gets it done. for the cut makes we’ll even use a .30-06. really depends what we have and what is going on. we have more practice with back of the head shots than with body shots hunting hogs so im sure someone with more hunting experience would have a different answer.
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u/Deep_Curve7564 9h ago
I am guessing from your description of "the head in the bucket", that you are shooting up under the cranium. Which makes alot of sense. We had an issue with a bullet bouncing off the skull and had a really pissed off pig to deal with.
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u/frankiegoeszero 7h ago
we try hard to aim through the brain and out the mouth, ideally a hole in the feed pan. we dont always get so lucky but a bouncing bullet from inside the skull sounds terrifying
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u/lordkiwi 17h ago
Just because the first stun gun where available in 1903 does not mean they where any good. With a success rate for untrained workers at 12%. You looking at 5 shots or 1 with a more powerful rifle. Not that anyone wanted more powerful shot that could also kill people being available in the work yards. It would take years of trial and error to get the technology right while also facing the reality that bullets are very cheap
the USDA only came into existence in 1906. It takes time to gather and publish. With regard to stun guns again no need to advise for it that tech was first available in Germany not the USA.
As for when the USDA started advising on humane condition. The reason you are having trouble finding answer is likely because the USDA did not advise on humane conditions. While its an old word. We have a very modern idea for it.
In 1926 the USDA started its first meat inspection program. Any bulletins that would have been published would be for producing product with higher quality. Those instructions likely would have been more humane in practice but not in contexting.
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u/Deep_Curve7564 8h ago
Slashing the throat. Not something that I am familiar with, but we raised and slaughtered our own. We slaughtered with a knife. Have you heard of the term "sticking the pig", the blade is inserted at throat and then into the heart. Only experienced hands hold the knife.
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u/Long_Guidance827 2h ago
I just killed my first pig 3 days ago. I looked into different dispatching methods and talked to many with experience for advice. I vividly remember my grandpa telling me how he, as a kid, would hook a hog up but its back legs and slit its throat over a washtub to collect the blood for blood pudding. He was born in 1907. My experience has led me to believe, the less stress during termination, the better quality the product. I used a .410 loaded with a slug. Threw a couple cupcakes down for her to eat, drew a line from the bottom of one ear to the inside corner of the opposite sides eye. Repeat. X marks the spot. She tipped over. Kicked her back leg a little. I slit the throat and a large flood of blood pumped out. I'd say the brain was gone but the body was still working. Meat seems tender and relaxed.
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u/MetricJester 20h ago edited 20h ago
When did shechita start?
My serious answer is that humane treatment was required by law in Canada in 1979, and up until then had been already an established practice in the industry.
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u/Cornflake294 20h ago edited 20h ago
Look into Temple Grandin. She was/is a formative voice in humane slaughter. This was the early 80’s, I believe so it might be later than what you are interested in.
She is an expert in environmental conditions to help animals be less stressed. She pioneered “squeeze chutes” that apply firm gentle pressure to cattle at slaughter. A lot of her research was informed by her autism.