Thursday 21 February 2019 | 10

Slaughterhouses on trial...

Slaughterhouses on trial...

Mis à jour le 04 March 2019

One Voice is a civil party in the case involving the slaughterhouse Houdan (78) of which has on many occasions already been postponed, finally to be judged this February 21st…The terrible images, revealed in 2017 by L214, highlight unsustainable industrial practices.

Hr blog

In the slaughterhouse's bays, you can read signs that leave you wondering ... "Do not push more than 7 pigs at a time into the CO2 supply corridors", "Respect animals, you will respect yourself". Pious advice distilled by the management of this establishment ensuring the killing of about 2,500 pigs per week (finally just a small drop in the ocean of slaughter practiced in France by several hundred other structures, sizes and methods vary).

Speech’s ... and methods

In Houdan, the pigs are stunned before they are bled and dispensed of, this technique boils down to those who evoke something similar to that of the miners of Germinal. They move the animals to an atmosphere charged with carbon dioxide (CO2). Gas has its "advantages": the dead animal is less tense than killing them by electrical methods, for example, in addition to contracting the flesh and making them less suitable for cutting, an industrial problem. So, they invested in these techniques for the welfare of pigs destined to for the dinner plate, among the thirty million slaughtered animals per year in France1. We are actually talking about "good" dying and not about well-being. And again, it's okay...

Extremely violent practices

Before our eyes, there is absolutely no question of their well-being! CO2, during inhalation, causes awful distress in the animal, screaming convulsively in endless seconds before it slips into unconsciousness. But it's not just that ... To get there, in these techno cookers, pigs are driven violently by employees who are quick to accelerate the pace, using electric prods to excessively, hitting out at these pigs piled up on top of one another, because, let's face it, the facilities are badly designed. The flow is not fluid enough, packed together in the dark, compressed, without access to water. Live pigs that are already meat on which we harp and bang on about, even the veterinarian delegated by the state shows the same example. Worse still, exposure to CO2 seems to have been reduced to speed up the process.

Serious failings

One Voice reminded the judges that pigs are highly studied animals, “a moral subject of extreme complexity and sensitivity.” The least we must do for these sentient beings that are sacrificed on masse on the altar of consumption, would be for the slaughterhouses, without which breeding would no longer exist, is to develop more virtuous practices like that of the breeders.

To marry an economic balance, respect of sanitary conditions and animal welfare is possible. But here, faced with the needs of the industrial flow, there are numerous offenses: non-compliance by these facilities, lack of training of staff for using good practices, only abuse. In short, despicable practices added to the daily horror. Fines incurred personally will be minimal on these defendants, the managers and employees of this slaughterhouse. But they remain highly symbolic: we cannot proceed in this way, especially under a notice board claiming rightly "Respect animals, respect each other...".

You can also, as more than 500 000 other people in Europe have done, join the citizen mobilization to put an end to cage farming.

(1) Figures 2015, in Parliamentary report on slaughter conditions for slaughter animals in French slaughterhouses

Frédéric Rideau
Hr blog

In the subject

Cage hens: during the hearing before the State Council, the public reporter proves NGOs right Unpublished investigation: deer farming and culling in France. No respite for wild animals

Comments 10

I accept that publication of my comments is subject to the code of conduct.

trochu | Tuesday 26 February 2019

Ce n'est qu'en cessant de manger de la viande et tous autres produits animaux que nous parviendrons à faire cesser de telles horreurs dans les élevages et abattoirs de l'horreur, que faut il donc pour que les consciences se réveillent et que les mentalités et habitudes alimentaires changent ? Nous n'avons pas besoin de tuer d'autres ETRES VIVANTS QUE SONT LES ANIMAUX pour nous nourrir et vraiment nous nous en portons que mieux à tous niveaux, les animaux ont comme nous envie DE VIVRE ET NON DE MOURIR pour se retrouver dans des assiettes, rien que d'y penser je me sens très mal et c'est trop douloureux de penser les animaux ainsi alors qu'ils ont pour la plupart des facultés mentales indéniables et reconnues avec tout ce que cela comporte comme nous pour la plupart. L'alimentation entièrement végétale est excellente très nutritive variée saine et surtout ETHIQUE. Avec toutes les dénonciations et diffusions d'atrocités, de barbaries et tortures dans les abattoirs et même dans les élevages comment peut on encore continuer à manger des animaux en toute conscience ? il y va de la dignité humaine et du grand respect de toutes vies qui ont toutes les mêmes valeurs et importances et il n'existe pas "d'êtres vivants inférieurs ou supérieurs" mais simplement différents.

VERONIQUE | Thursday 28 February 2019

TROCHU,
Vous avez parfaitement bien exprimé ce que je pense aussi.
STOP MALTRAITANCE !
Les Animaux sont des être sensibles, qui souffrent comme nous..! On ne peux plus laisser faire de telles atrocités !!!

Bugnette | Monday 25 February 2019

Il faut fermer les abattoirs une bonne fois pour toutes !!! L'animal est un être sensible et intelligent. Il faut faire cesser cela, et amener les gens à une consommation sans viande. Les protéines végétales remplissent très bien leur fonction, au même degré que les protéines animales. Stoppons tout net, et passons à une alimentation respectueuse de la Vie, sous toutes Ses formes.

Mélisande | Saturday 23 February 2019

Je me demande toujours comment et pourquoi des vétérinaires acceptent de travailler dans des conditions ignobles que pratiquent les abattoirs.
Un médecin m'a dit une fois "la plupart des vétérinaires exercent ce métier car, au départ, ils aiment les animaux". Ca ne semble pas être le cas de ceux-ci!!

Annie | Saturday 23 February 2019

Je cautionne tout ce qui est dit et n'ai rien à ajouter, sinon que je vous remercie vivement pour votre courageuse lutte contre les abus pratiqués contre les pauvres animaux des abattoirs, ou d'ailleurs.