Killing The Meat Industry Essay

This next stage is where the animal is killed. They are brought from the stunning station to this station where chains are attached to their hind legs and are then lifted into the air by those hind legs. The cow will then be attached to an overhead trolley system, and then the animal’s neck is sliced so they can be bled. The next step is a worker comes and sticks a long knife into the sliced neck, and “cut his aorta and bleed the animal” (pbs.org). After this point the animals is now dead. However, like stated before, some animals are merely made unconscious from the methods used in earlier steps, the electrical current and the bolt gun. These animals, if not sliced fast enough may regain consciousness after being hung on the overhead trolley.

Methods of killing the animals is not the problem with the animal industry. This industry also poses a massive threat to the environment. This is because of the amount of greenhouse gases and waste the industry produces, animal agriculture accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. When compared to transportation, it is “more than the combined exhaust from all transportation.” (Cowspiracy, documentary) The meat industry also uses 2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, and 70 to 140 billion gallons annually as a whole industry.

However, even with these high numbers of greenhouses and water usage, the government's main focus on the topic. The government’s focus is on keeping the food safe, they do this by creating food safety regulations to help ensure the safety of the food. The industry follows these regulations because if they, the industry, are accused of produced unsafe meat, their whole business could fall

This case involves TV host Oprah Winfrey. In an interview, Oprah asked someone by the last name of Lyman, “You said Mad Cow Disease could make AIDS look like the common cold?” who then replied by saying “absolutely.” Lyman then continues to talk about mad cow disease, and how a large number of cow are alive one night only to wake up dead. Lyman then continues to tell Oprah how these dead cows are then ground up and fed back to the living cows, and if one has mad cow disease it has the potential to affect thousands. Oprah’s response is what causes the lawsuit to be filed. Oprah responded by saying, “It has just stopped me cold from eating another burger!” After the interview aired, cattle prices dropped to near 10-year lows and ranchers blamed the drop on the show. The ranchers affected claimed more than $12 million in damages. This case was in the public eye and brought a large amount of attention to the meat industry and its methods.

This case brought up many questions surrounding the meat industry, many began to question its ethics and methods used by the slaughterhouses. These questions need to be asked in order for change to occur, and change to the meat industry needs to happen. The meat industry not only is a leader is producer’s for greenhouse gases, in water waste, they also, every minute, produce 7 million pounds of excrement by animals raised in the US for food. The meat industry needs change and it needs