Workers and cattle in a slaughterhouse.

A slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (from the French verb abattre, "to strike down"), is a facility where animals are killed and processed into meat products. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer The animals most commonly slaughtered for food are cattle (for beef and veal), sheep (for lamb and mutton), pigs (for pork), horses (for horsemeat), and fowl, largely chickens, turkeys, and ducks. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Beef is the Culinary name for Meat from Bovines especially domestic Cattle (cows Veal is the Meat of Lamb, hogget, and mutton are the meat of Domestic sheep. The meat of an animal in its first year is lamb; that of an older sheep is hogget Lamb, hogget, and mutton are the meat of Domestic sheep. The meat of an animal in its first year is lamb; that of an older sheep is hogget Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times Pork' is the Culinary name for Meat from the domestic Pig ( Sus scrofa) often specifically the fresh meat but can be used as an all-inclusive The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. Horse meat is the culinary name for meat cut from a Horse. It is slightly sweet tender low in fat and high in protein Most or all Birds collectively referred to as fowl belong to one of two orders namely the gamefowl or landfowl ( Galliformes) and the waterfowl

In the United States, around ten billion animals are slaughtered every year in 5,700 slaughterhouses and processing plants employing 527,000 workers;^[1] in 2007, 28. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French 1 billion pounds of beef were consumed in the U. S. alone. ^[2] In Canada, 650 million are killed annually. ^[3] In the European Union, the annual figure is 300 million cattle, sheep, and pigs, and four billion chickens. ^[4]

Slaughtering animals on a large scale poses significant logistical problems and public health concerns, with public aversion to meat packing in many cultures influencing the location of slaughterhouses. Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society organisations The meat packing industry is an Industry that handles the slaughtering, Processing and distribution of animals such as Cattle In addition, some religions stipulate certain conditions for the slaughter of animals so that practices within slaughterhouses vary.

There has been criticism of the methods of preparation, herding, and killing within slaughterhouses, and in particular of the speed with which the slaughter is conducted. Investigations by animal welfare and animal rights groups have indicated that a proportion of animals are being skinned or gutted while alive and apparently conscious. Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food in animal research, as clothing and in entertainment "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation. ^[5] There has also been criticism of the methods of transport of the animals, who are driven for hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses in conditions that often result in crush injuries and death en route. Over a billion living farm animals around the world are exported to different countries or states every week travelling hundreds of miles from Farms to Slaughterhouses ^[6]

History

In the slaughterhouse, Lovis Corinth, 1893. Lovis Corinth ( July 21 1858 &ndash July 17 1925) was a German painter and Printmaker whose mature work

Slaughterhouses act as the starting point of the meat industry, where stock come from farms/market to enter the food chain. They have existed as long as there have been settlements too large for individuals to rear their own stock for personal consumption.

Early maps of London show numerous stockyards in the periphery of the city, where slaughter occurred in the open air. A term for such open-air slaughterhouse is a shambles. There are streets named "The Shambles" in some English towns (e. The Shambles (official name Shambles) is an old street in York, England, with overhanging timber-framed buildings some dating back as far as g. Worcester, York) which got their name from having been the site on which butchers killed and prepared animals for consumption. Worcester (ˈwʊstə is a city and County town of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands of England. York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England.

Open-air slaughter inside cities produced very substantial concerns about public health, morals, and aesthetics. Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society organisations Morality (from the Latin la moralitas "manner character proper behavior" has three principal meanings Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called This antipathy towards slaughterhouses is mentioned at least as early as the 16th century, in Thomas More's Utopia. De Optimo Republicae Statu deque Nova Insula Utopia (translated On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia) or more simply In the 19th and 20th century, slaughterhouses were increasingly sited away from the public view, and took pains to portray themselves as clean, innocuous businesses. In this they have been responding not only to increasing regulation, but also to public sentiment. Most Westerners find the subject of animal slaughter to be unpleasant and prefer not to know the details of what goes on inside a slaughterhouse. As such, in the West, the connection between packaged meat products in the supermarket and the live animals from which they are derived is obscured. Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good

Design

Curved cattle corrals designed by Temple Grandin are intended to reduce stress in animals being led to slaughter. Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947 in Boston Massachusetts) is a professor at Colorado State University.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the layout and design of most U. S. slaughterhouses has been significantly influenced by the work of Dr. Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947 in Boston Massachusetts) is a professor at Colorado State University. ^[7] It was her fascination with patterns and flow that first led her to redesign the layout of cattle holding pens.

Grandin's primary objective was to reduce the stress and suffering of animals being led to slaughter. In particular she applied an intuitive understanding of animal psychology to design pens and corrals which funnel a herd of animals arriving at a slaughterhouse into a single file ready for slaughter. Psychologists and scientists do not always agree on what should be considered Comparative Psychology. A pen (Latin pinna, feather is a Writing instrument used to apply Ink to a surface usually Paper. Her corrals employ long sweeping curves so that each animal is prevented from seeing what lies ahead and just concentrates on the hind quarters of the animal in front of it. This design also takes advantage of the animal's instinct to return from the direction it came from.

Grandin now claims to have designed over 54 percent of the slaughterhouses in the United States as well as many other slaughterhouses around the world.

Process

A steer restrained for stunning just prior to slaughter.

The slaughterhouse process differs by species and region and may be controlled by civil law as well as religious laws such as Kosher and Halal laws. Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Halal (حلال ḥalāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. A typical procedure follows:

1. Cows are received by truck or rail from a ranch, farm, or feedlot. This article is about the semi-truck For the North American use of the word see Pickup truck. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle A farm is an area of land including various structures devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food ( Produce, Grains, or Livestock A feedlot or feedyard is a type of Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO (also known as " Factory farming " which is used for finishing livestock
2. Cows are herded into holding pens.
3. Cows receive a preslaughter inspection. An inspection is most generally an organised examination or formal evaluation exercise
4. Cows are usually knocked unconscious by applying an electric shock of 300 volts and 2 amps to the back of the head, effectively stunning the animal. See also Unconscious mind. Unconsciousness, more appropriately referred to as loss of Consciousness or lack of consciousness is Stunning is the process of rendering animals immobile or unconscious prior to their being slaughtered for food ^[8] If unsuccessful, secondary methods include the use of a captive bolt pistol to the front of the cow's head. A captive bolt pistol (also variously known as a cattle gun, stunbolt gun, bolt gun, or stunner) is a device used for Stunning animals Livestock are also rendered unconscious by pneumatic or cartridge-fired captive bolt stunning and CO₂/inert gas stunning. (This step is prohibited under strict application of Halal and Kashrut codes. Halal (حلال ḥalāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. )
5. Animals are hung upside down by one of their hind legs on the processing line.
6. The main arteries and veins are severed with a knife, mainly in the neck, and the cow's blood drains, causing death through exsanguination. A knife is a handheld sharp-edged instrument consisting of handle attached to a Blade used for cutting Exsanguination (also known colloquially as bleeding out) is the fatal process of total Hypovolemia (blood loss
7. The hide/skin/plumage is removed by down pullers, side pullers and fisting off the pelt (sheep and goats)
8. The internal organs are removed and inspected for internal parasites and signs of disease. Hides are Skins obtained from animals for human use Examples of animal hide sources are Deer and Cattle typically used for producing Leather, Plumage refers both to the layer of Feathers that cover a Bird and the pattern colour and arrangement of those feathers The guts, referred to as viscera, are separated for inspection from the heart and lungs, referred to as the "pluck. " Livers are separated for inspection, tongues are dropped or removed from the head, and the head is sent down the line on the head hooks or head racks for inspection.
9. The carcass is inspected by a government inspector for safety. (This inspection is performed by the Food Safety Inspection Service in the U. The United States Department of Agriculture 's (USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service ( FSIS) is charged with ensuring that all Meat, Poultry S. , and CFIA in Canada. Role and responsibilities The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ( French: Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments) or CFIA, was created in )
10. Carcasses are subjected to intervention to reduce levels of bacteria. Common interventions are steam, hot water, and organic acids. Carcasses are chilled to prevent the growth of microorganisms and to reduce meat deterioration while the meat awaits distribution. A microorganism (also spelled micro organism or micro-organism and also called a microbe) is an Organism that is Microscopic (usually
11. The chilled carcass is broken down into subprimals and primals for boxed meat unless customer specifies for swinging sides of meat. Beef and horse carcasses are always split in half and then quartered, pork is split into sides only and goat/veal/mutton and lamb is left whole
12. The remaining carcass may be further processed to extract any residual traces of meat, usually termed mechanically recovered meat, which may be used for human or animal consumption. Mechanically separated meat (MSM also known as mechanically recovered/reclaimed meat (MRM is a paste-like meat product produced by forcing Beef, Pork
13. Waste materials such as lard or tallow, are sent to a rendering plant. WASTE is a Peer-to-peer and Friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features Lard is pig Fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a Cooking fat or Shortening Tallow is a rendered form of Beef or Mutton Fat, processed from Suet. Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable value-added materials
14. The waste water, consisting of blood and fecal matter, generated by the slaughtering process is sent to a waste water treatment plant. Distinguish from Wastwater (a lake in the Lake District in northwest England
15. The meat is transported to distribution centers that then distribute to retail markets.

International variations

The standards and regulations governing slaughterhouses vary considerably around the world. In many countries the slaughter of animals is regulated by custom and tradition rather than by law. In the non-Western world, including the Arab world, the Indian sub-continent, etc. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. , both forms of meat are available: one which is produced in modern mechanized slaughterhouses, and the other from local butcher shops. A butcher is someone who prepares various Meats and other related goods for sale

In some communities animal slaughter may be controlled by religious laws, most notably halal for Muslims and kashrut for Jewish communities. In some Religions law can be thought of as the ordering principle of Reality; Knowledge as revealed by God defining and governing all human affairs Halal (حلال ḥalāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ These both require that the animals being slaughtered should be conscious at the point of death, and as such animals cannot be stunned prior to killing. This can cause conflicts with national regulations when a slaughterhouse adhering to the rules of kosher preparation is located in some Western countries. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings

In many societies, traditional cultural and religious aversion to slaughter led to prejudice against the people involved. In Japan, where the ban on slaughter of livestock for food was lifted only in the late 19th century, the newly found slaughter industry drew workers primarily from villages of burakumin, who traditionally worked in occupations relating to death (such as executioners and undertakers). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Burakumin (ja {{linktext 部 落 民}} buraku, tribe + min, people is a term often used to describe a Japanese social Minority group. In some parts of western Japan, prejudice faced by current and former residents of such areas (burakumin "hamlet people") is still a sensitive issue. Burakumin (ja {{linktext 部 落 民}} buraku, tribe + min, people is a term often used to describe a Japanese social Minority group. Because of this, even the Japanese word for "slaughter" (屠殺 tosatsu) is deemed politically incorrect by some pressure groups as its inclusion of the kanji (Chinese symbol) for "kill" (殺) supposedly portrays those who practice it in a negative manner. Politically Incorrect was a late-night half-hour political Talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002 An interest group (also advocacy group, lobby group, pressure group or special interest group) is an organized collection of people who seek are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana

Some countries have laws that exclude specific animal species or grades of animal from being slaughtered for human consumption, especially those that are taboo food. Taboo food and drinks are food and drink which people abstain from consuming for religious or cultural reasons The former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee suggested in 2004 introducing legislation banning the slaughter of cows throughout India, as Hinduism holds cows as sacred and considers their slaughter unthinkable and offensive (N. The Prime Minister of India is head of the Council of Ministers, appointed by the President to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive Atal Bihari Vajpayee (अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी əʈəl bɪhaːɾiː ʋaːdʒpeiː (born December 25 1924 The eleventh Prime Minister of India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The term sacred cow has passed into the English language to mean an object or practice which is considered immune from criticism especially unreasonably so B. only two of the federal states of India ban cow slaughter). India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The slaughter of cows and the importation of beef into the nation of Nepal are strictly forbidden. Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. Several U. S. states have banned the slaughter and consumption of dogs. The sale and consumption of horse meat is illegal in Illinois and California,^[9] although horses are slaughtered for meat export to Europe and Japan for human consumption and for the U. Horse meat is the culinary name for meat cut from a Horse. It is slightly sweet tender low in fat and high in protein The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Horse slaughter is the practice of slaughtering Horses for meat S. pet food market. Pet food is typically sold in Pet stores and Supermarkets It is usually specific to the type of Pet (such as Dog food or Cat food)

Law

USDA inspection of pig. Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times

Most countries have laws in regard to the treatment of animals at slaughterhouses. In the United States, there is the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, a law requiring that all swine, sheep, cattle, and horses be stunned unconscious with just one application of a stunning device by a trained person before being shackled and hoisted up on the line (chickens are exempt from this Act). The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Humane Slaughter Act, or the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act is a United States federal law designed to protect food animals during the moment of their slaughter The USDA is opposed to the Humane Slaughter Act, and violations of the Act carry no penalties. Since stopping the line to re-knock conscious animals causes "down time" and results in fewer profits, the Humane Slaughter Act is usually bypassed and ignored by USDA supervisors (Eiznitz 1997). A slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (from the French verb abattre, "to strike down" or freezing works ( New Zealand There is some debate over the enforcement of this act. This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter in accordance to religious law, such as kosher shechita and dhabiĥa halal. Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Shechita ( Hebrew:he שחיטה is the Ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. Dhabīḥah (ar ذَبِيْحَة is the prescribed method of Ritual slaughter of all animals excluding fish and most sea-life per Islamic law Halal (حلال ḥalāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. Most strict interpretations of kashrut require that the animal be fully sensible when its carotid artery is cut. In Human anatomy, the common carotid artery is an Artery that supplies the head and neck with Oxygenated blood; it divides in the neck to form the

The novel The Jungle detailed unsanitary conditions in slaughterhouses and the meatpacking industry during the 1800s, leading to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration. The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by Author and socialist Journalist Upton Sinclair. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was a United States federal law that authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to inspect and condemn any meat product found unfit The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture A much larger body of regulation deals with the public health and worker safety regulation and inspection.

Major slaughterhouses

The largest slaughterhouse in the world is operated by the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Smithfield Packing Company was founded in 1936 by Joseph W Luter and his son Joseph W Tar Heel is a town in Bladen County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is capable of butchering over 32,000 pigs a day. The Dutch Stork Food Systems is the world largest manufacturer of chicken slaughtering installations with an annual turnover of € 149m. The euro sign (€ is the Currency sign used for the Euro, the official currency of the European Union (EU

The largest slaughterhouse in Asia is in Deonar, a suburb of Mumbai, India. Deonar is a eastern suburb of Chembur in Mumbai, India. Famous residents include Hindi movie legends Raj Kapoor and Ashok Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

See also

• Beef ring
• Ethics of eating meat
• Pig slaughter
• The Jungle, a novel by Upton Sinclair
• Blood of the Beasts (Le Sang des bêtes), a 1949 French documentary film

References

External links

• Slaughterhouse designer Temple Grandin's official site detailing her design principles, as well as many of the regulations affecting slaughter in the United States. The Daily Chronicle was a London Newspaper company in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1872
• Pig slaughtering process
• Poultry slaughtering process
• Search slaughterhouses in Canada
• Sustainable slaughtering issues