This story was brought to my attention when a sensitive friend of mine called me in tears about what she had seen on television. She wanted to know what could be done to stop this sort of abuse. I won’t go into what happened to the helpless sick dairy cows at the slaughterhouse, because it is too heart wrenching. Suffice to say that the employees involved should be punished severely, and if the owner was involved he should be closed down and prosecuted as well.
Working in a slaughterhouse must require a certain mindset but it has to be instilled in employees that these animals do feel pain and fear and deserve to be treated humanely. These poor cows were already ill and down. Why did they need to be tortured on top of this? It is bad enough they were going to be killed, but why must they endure more pain while they are waiting to die?
If you don’t believe animals experience pain, loss or fear, you have never spent any time around them. I will give you an example of fear and concern for another animal. One of my beloved horses, Gryphon, fell breaking his pelvis. His best pasture buddy, Cajun, stood by him screaming and pawing the ground as if to tell him to please get up. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind what she was saying to him. She would not leave him to eat, and for her that’s huge. Gryphon survived the injury but developed laminitis, a horribly painful condition which ultimately caused his demise. To further illustrate the emotions animals have, after Gryphon died, I covered him with a blanket waiting for that “truck” to come and get him. The two kitties that lived with him in the barn, Sweet Pea and Love Bug, laid on top of him until the truck came and they had to say a final goodbye. And, it wasn’t to stay warm, it was because he had been their friend and companion.
Something needs to be done to stop the abuse of all animals in slaughterhouses. They are treated like they are already dead when they step into those facilities. The only thing I can think of is that cameras should be on at all times employees and animals are present. They could work in two ways to stop the abuse. First of all employees would know they are being filmed and would hopefully refrain from any acts of cruelty. Secondly, if they did commit an act of animal cruelty it would be on film and could be used to prosecute the offender. Of course, the owner of such a facility, must care about the way the animals are treated. I don’t think society can depend on their compassion or honesty. As much as I hate bureaucracy, this might be a case where it would be necessary.
It has been said that a country is judged by the way it treats the elderly and animals. Take time out to help those who have no voice other than ours. Write a letter to the editor, to your representative or anyone you think can help to stop this sort of abuse. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Thank you for caring.
Rosalie Kimberlin, the author, spent almost 30 years on a large metropolitan police department, and is now the owner of RK Enterprises. In a continuing effort to protect the “good guys” she now offers self defense and surveillance products through http://nannycamsetc.com/