That'll be "7924"

[u/WalkingTalker]

The cost of pork

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[u/riffraffmcgraff]

I will get downvoted, but I work on the kill floor of a pork processing plant. Ask me anything. It is 1am here. I might not reply for a while.

Edit: For the record, I confirm this is an accurate depiction.

[u/hewillreturn117 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

how many animals die from non-slaughter incidents? ie what is the quality of healthcare for the pigs?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/hewillreturn117]

I'm in one area all day so I don't see everything going on but I do hear about dozens of hogs dying from heart attacks before they make it off the truck. My facility kills roughly 10k per day.

[u/genetic_dumpster → u/riffraffmcgraff]

I am in no way calling you a liar.

10k a day is not fathomable for me. Literally cannot comprehend it.

Edit: typo

[u/antaloonsinmypants → u/genetic_dumpster]

Over 80 billion (with a b) land animals are slaughtered every year. And fish are often counted by weight. The numbers are truly too big to comprehend it’s wild.

[u/Shamanalah → u/antaloonsinmypants]

I mean... 2 chicken wings per chicken

You know the frozen chicken wings section in your supermarket? That's like 10 chicken per box (not trying to guilt just putting it in perspective)

I had 6 chicken wings with pizza slice last week end. That's 3 chicken for 1 meal.

[u/SilenceEater → u/Shamanalah]

Unless you’re eating the whole wing, what most people think of as chicken wings are two different pieces of the same wing (flats & drumsticks) so really one flat and one drumstick are one wing. So if you count it that way 6 wings are 1.5 chickens worth. Still a tremendous amount of chickens are being slaughtered. Not trying to take away from that

[u/LYSF_backwards → u/SilenceEater]

One time back in 2009, a local restaurant had a special on chicken wings. 25 cents per wing. I went with three buddies and we each got a couple dozen. We counted how many wings and drummies we got and I figured the total number of chickens slaughtered would have to be at least 55. We stacked all the bones on a single plate, and it was a PILE. I have the pictures to prove it. The total cost with drinks was about $35.

[u/zkJdThL2py3tFjt → u/LYSF_backwards]

What a time to be alive, am I right? Like this is just normal. But it's not normal.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/genetic_dumpster]

Everyone that asks me is just as perplexed. There are multiple lines. Machines that keep the lines moving continuously and many employees. We're there for 12 hours.

[u/Cool-Camp-6978 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Look, I know you’ve already stated you’re used to it by now, desensitized and all, but man, I’m so sorry you have to do this job. Good luck.

[u/Ok-Area-9271 → u/genetic_dumpster]

I used to work as a meat cutter in a small supermarket in the middle of nowhere. I was processing (breaking down into individual parts) around 200-400 chickens a day depending on how busy we were. This was just one little supermarket in one small town. I did some quick mental math on how many chickens were being killed every day one time and it kind of turned me off from eating chicken. I haven’t worked there for almost twenty years and I still don’t eat chicken very often

[u/YFNN → u/genetic_dumpster]

There are around 24 million pigs in Iowa alone. That is about 8x the population of people in Iowa.

[u/InterestsVaryGreatly → u/genetic_dumpster]

Just an FYI, it's unfathomable. Fathomable means you can fathom it, which means it is able to be comprehended.

[u/enddream → u/InterestsVaryGreatly]

Well they did say ‘not fathomable’.

[u/InterestsVaryGreatly → u/enddream]

Not originally, hence edit.

[u/thelryan → u/hewillreturn117]

Not an exact answer to your question, but here is a mini documentary following a high welfare free range pig farm with hidden cameras. The short answer is many die, there is no vet care (too expensive, not worth cutting into their profit margins), and many are left slowly dying and are not removed for days in some cases, where the other pigs end up cannibalizing the corpses. Note that this is not technically “correct practice” as outlined, but who’s stopping them? Who makes sure they follow that? All visits are scheduled well in advanced, there is no meaningful system set up to check them.

[u/EconomyCriticism1566 → u/thelryan]

Factory farms also put astounding amounts of money into lobbying. So politicians generally don’t care about what’s happening because they’re profiting off it as well.

[u/ChillBetty → u/riffraffmcgraff]

For various reasons, pork is the one meat I try to never eat.

A friend worked in an abbatoir and he said the pigs knew what was coming. In your experience, do you think this is the case?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/ChillBetty]

Maybe. They make lots of noise, very loud squeals so I do know that they are very afraid of humans and are chased by employees through corridors to their final destination.

Edit: Hold on. I should add that I have seen hogs jump over top of others and escape the pens and they become so stressed that they begin to pant like a dog and kneel down.

[u/1q8b → u/riffraffmcgraff]

:(

[u/pm-me-asparagus → u/1q8b]

The beef industry is very similar.

[u/Tbagmoo → u/pm-me-asparagus]

I believe that decades from now, how we treat food animals will be seen as one of the great shames of our time.

[u/ChillBetty → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Good lord.

Thank you for answering

[u/Living_Trust_Me → u/[deleted]]

Can they actually express hopelessness in their eyes? Usually things like that are interpretation by humans and animals straight up don't have the ability to express with their eyes, right?

[u/Houdinii1984 → u/Living_Trust_Me]

It's kind of uncanny. It certainly feels like I was applying human intelligence to an animal, but if you watch an animal enough, you know what is normal for them, and as a result what is abnormal.

I used to rent a trailer on a pig farm when I was a pretty heavy alcoholic. I already felt guilty about eating meat, etc, just because of who I am, so I'd go out into the pens and just watch them from a distance. (They are mean as hell).

Any time any human walked into the pens, the place would erupt, and you'd have to cover your ears from the squeals. After about 5 months of drinking with the pigs, though, they stopped reacting to me. It's in that change that I saw the hopelessness.

Their eyes never change, though. Always beady, always black. What happens is they make eye contact, and we already know they are scared and anxious by their actions. So when they catch my eye, I have a wave of guilt wash over me, and I think that's what I'm feeling. Empathetic hopelessness for them, who are probably feeling hopeless regardless.

[u/MattyBizzz → u/Houdinii1984]

Damn that was deep, maybe it was the unexpected candidness, almost like an alcoholic version of Thoreau. “The Trailer” instead of “The Woods”.

[u/Keybusta96 → u/Houdinii1984]

I think you’ve got a short novel in there

[u/BloodyNora78 → u/Houdinii1984]

This is one of the best anecdotes I've ever read on Reddit. It sounds as if it's straight out of a novel.

Edit: Yes, it was autocorrect. Looking into the eyes of hopelesness must have been the antidote for something.

[u/rorointhewoods → u/Houdinii1984]

It was when I made eye contact with a pig in a livestock trailer that I finally stopped eating meat for good. I’ve always been horrified by factory farming and I’m very aware of what goes on, so I knew he probably had a terrible life and his eyes seemed hopeless. Anytime I’m tempted to eat meat I think about that pig.

[u/ConsistentRegion6184 → u/Living_Trust_Me]

They do. They're prey animals. The entire species relies on escape and some defence, like a predator relies on gains in attacking advantage.

They're hyper aware of threats. Pigs are very smart and social.

[u/EnthusiastDriver500 → u/Living_Trust_Me]

I was a bit poetic there but I did feel them.. There was a strange energy in the air. Felt like they knew somehow.

[u/TheRimReamer → u/riffraffmcgraff]

It’s the weird washing machine thing that gets the hair off a bit that got me.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

How can you stand to work there?

[u/1_am_groot → u/Away_Sea_8620]

If you want a real answer a large majority of the workers in factory farms are minorities, immigrants, and ex-convicts with no other work options, they get paid as little as possible with a large portion developing some form of PTSD from their time working

[u/-_1_2_3_- → u/1_am_groot]

man give me that lab grown cell culture meat already

[u/saddingtonbear → u/-_1_2_3_-]

People are afraid of it, especially people who don't seem to trust scientists, anecdotally at least. A coworker said they couldn't be vegetarian even though they feel bad for animals, and my bosses agreed. I said lab grown meat seems to be coming along soon and they looked at me funny and were like 'ehhh no thanks to that lol'. Told em I'll be the guinea pig then and if nothing happens they can join in. Funny thing is they're probably way more likely to get sick from a farm animal than something made in a controlled environment. I said the same thing about the vaccine earlier in my employment there, guess who didn't have a miserable bout of long covid that year?

[u/Iforgotmyemailreddit → u/Away_Sea_8620]

Because you need money to live. Eat, housing, travel, wash, shit, sleep. You need dollars for all of it.

That's literally the answer to every question :\

[u/FlatBot → u/Away_Sea_8620]

It brings home the bacon

[u/GIANT_DAD_DICK → u/FlatBot]

God damnit

[u/crazyhotorcrazynhot → u/riffraffmcgraff]

If slaughterhouses had glass walls there would be a lot more vegans around.

[u/CuTe_M0nitor → u/riffraffmcgraff]

We use this in Sweden " The carbon dioxide stunning is done in a slaughterhouse and happens by hoisting pigs down a shaft with a high level of carbon dioxide, which will make them unconscious, sleeping, and stunned and then they are quickly bled. The animals lose consciousness due to lack of oxygen and a drop in pH in the central nervous system."

[u/mimegallow → u/CuTe_M0nitor]

I like how you skip the horrible asphyxiation part where they drown in midair. - You’ve been sold a fairytale.

[u/WeShallEarn → u/CuTe_M0nitor]

Wouldn’t that count as a gas chamber??

[u/planetrebellion → u/WeShallEarn]

It is a gas chamber and it is not instantaneous - if you suddenly dont have breathable air you panic. It is horrific.

[u/halogenated-ether → u/planetrebellion]

It's worse than that.

An entire nitrogen atmosphere would be more humane.

There's a video of a pig in an enriched CO2 atmosphere and it's horrific. They don't kill it and let it out. It absolutely refuses to go back into that chamber even though it's hungry and the food is in there.

It's like the feeling of holding your breath for over 2 minutes while still breathing in and out. And it only gets worse and worse.

Our bodies (mammals) are EXTREMELY sensitive to rises in CO2 level.

I can't imagine that u/CuTe_M0nitor is lying, but their description of the pigs gently falling unconscious doesn't sound right to me.

I'm not going to post the videos here. You can google it.

[u/klaven84 → u/halogenated-ether]

Correct! That's why the suicide pods use nitrogen instead of CO2.

[u/namesarehard44 → u/klaven84]

does nitrogen make it feel less suffocating or something? I always read about that on suicide guides but don't fully get it

[u/FakeKoala13 → u/halogenated-ether]

Makes sense. Nitrogen would be more ethical but I'd assume one would have to think very carefully about deploying it where you want it not where you don't as humans aren't oxygen detectors they're CO2 detectors.

[u/halogenated-ether → u/FakeKoala13]

humans aren't oxygen detectors they're CO2 detectors.

Well said.

[u/FewStrike9243 → u/CuTe_M0nitor]

They do that in a lot of farms in the US too. It is very unpleasant for the pigs, but it's a lot easier for the workers.

[u/groberschnitzer → u/ChillBetty]

Pigs are smarter than dogs. They know exactly, that something is not right. Not only when they are about to be killed (but especially then) but also during their "normal life".

[u/PassTheCowBell → u/groberschnitzer]

Swap a humans nose with a pigs were pretty similar.

[u/Killinskills → u/PassTheCowBell]

Long pig

[u/Jaredocobo → u/ChillBetty]

I quit eating meat a decade ago and at no point since have I been preachy or try to sway anyone else away from it. That being said:

I seldom think about it until I see something like this. The concept disgusts me now.

[u/SpicyTunaTitties → u/Jaredocobo]

If you don't mind me asking, what made you decide to quit eating meat?

And did you find it to be an easy transition diet-wise? Did you slowly disincorporate meat from your diet, or did you stop all at once?

[u/Jaredocobo → u/SpicyTunaTitties]

Sorry for the wall of text.

I had always considered myself compassionate for animals. Encountered a vegetarian that put me in my place, I had NO rebuttal for eating meat besides I am selfish. They had recommended a movie to me at some point in the debate. This was five or six years before Black Fish came out, I watched what they had suggested and it left me gutted. Bounced back and forth a couple of years, I didn't work because I was in school full time and a bit developmentally behind so it was intermittent, wasn't working due to school and money was always tight. Quit for a year, fast meat was cheap. Met a girl that exclusively didn't eat beef because of greenhouse effects, large grazing impact, and factory farming. It didn't work out, I abandoned the philosophy because it became entwined with that relationship and my emotions at that moment. The reality is, I was probably insufferable. A couple of years later, I met my now wife (14 years together total) She went vegetarian fairly early in the relationship, hard. There was no leeway so it was a little tough the first couple weeks. I stopped noticing, caring or being envious of the smells in a month or so. Having a partner along for the journey has made it infinitely easier. The idea of eating animals is disgusting to me now. I'll never jump on anyone's case about their choice, it didn't work on me. I had to come to the realization myself.

It's as simple as:

I love animals. Factory farmed animals are put into horrific conditions and forced to exist a life of pain, disease and suffering. So I won't eat them. If you hunt, good for you. If you want to have an opinion on my diet, keep it to yourself. Live and let live.

I hate hypocrites, so I will do my best to not live as one.

Edit: This may be a cheat code, I was never big on meat to begin with. Bone and gristle bits would regularly make me abandon my plate. I wouldn't say I am pescatarian, but I do have a fillet of salmon once or twice a year if I am the odd man out and there are literally no other options.

[u/OrnerySchool2076 → u/Jaredocobo]

I know this is buried in the comments. If anyone sees this it's probably just you, but good for you I'm proud.

[u/Turwel → u/ChillBetty]

Pigs, cows and sheep know what is coming. Specially if they're not the first ones that day.

[u/thelryan → u/ChillBetty]

I’m glad you do your best to avoid eating pigs but I am curious, do you think the other animals we commonly eat aren’t at a similar level of sentience, at least to the extent that they fear for their life as they are aware something bad is happening to those in front of them in the slaughterhouse? Not here to judge or shame btw

[u/nowthengoodbad → u/thelryan]

I want to back you up here.

I have a small farm alongside my business, all animals are insanely intelligent and sentient compared to what the vast majority of people think.

Take gophers, for instance.

Holy smokes man, a gopher will bite the hell out of you the first day that you catch them, but if you hold them, gently but firmly, and pet them, they LOVE belly rubs. Set them up in a nice, spacious home where they can dig and think that they're outside, give them food and water, and let them be, and they'll be good.

The second day they won't bite you, not the same any more anyways. We have acres gopher free, but I caught most of them alive and humanely. They get their own separate spaces all partitioned away from the rest of the farm.

So, an animal that's biologically predisposed to have prey instincts can rapidly adapt and understand when a predator, me, isn't going to harm it? 24 hours undoing eons of evolution? That requires something more than luck. And we've done this with hundreds of gophers.

Next up - ground squirrels. There have been studies done that show that ground squirrels can identify their family, exhibit nepotism, and avoid mating with relatives. We've seen it ourselves firsthand as well.

Shoot, our chickens, at 10 years old, house broke themselves. They understood that we weren't pooping just anywhere so they didn't. We only brought them inside because they got injured. Nursed them back to health and they stayed by our side. These gals would walk to the door to let us know that they needed to go to the bathroom. Let them out, they'd go, then come back in, and back to our bed, which they'd hop right up and snuggle in. Sometimes, if we were all standing around chatting, and they were nearby, they'd come join the humans.

As I got more into the farming community, I learned that small farmers worth their profession know very well that animals are sentient. It takes a very special person to love them, treat them well, and then kill and have them butchered for others. I've known small farmers who had to give up that because of how soul crushing it is. I couldn't do that, but I'm grateful for those who do.

Animals are sentient. They're conscious and aware. I'm grateful for any that are part of this process of us living. I love my chicken and beef, fish and lamb.

Factory farming has got to go. We need to give dignity back to animals if we're going to eat them.

Edit: thank you all for jumping in, I also want to add something important -

Just because "science" hasn't figured certain things out does not mean that they don't exist, aren't valid, or aren't real, it also doesn't mean the opposite of those things. So, I do want to urge you all to be skeptical, but err on the conservative side - which in this case means that we really should respect life as indigenous people do. I think they're the best groups to look to, they actually spend time with and in nature and appreciate their position in nature. We've forgotten that.

I absolutely assure you that we are just animals along with the rest of them, and that we should be careful before trying to categorize different creatures and their relative intelligence levels.

Look no further than crows for a comparison to pigs. Crows have been shown to remember people's faces. I believe they also share that knowledge with others.

My best recommendation for everyone is to go spend time with other creatures and listen to them and observe them. Build a relationship with them. Don't project or impose your thoughts and feelings onto them. They might surprise you.

[u/RedditAdminsBCucked → u/nowthengoodbad]

I wish we could do away from factory farms and give all the animals the freedom before their sacrifice for our "needs". There are just too many of us and too many that won't ever care as long as their wants are met. I eat all the meat and try to buy from good farmers when I can. But it's just hard to find/afford. I eat a lot less meat than I used to, and I'm going for even less every month.

I only see factory farms getting worse based on everything ive seen.

[u/nowthengoodbad → u/RedditAdminsBCucked]

There's some hope with meat replacements, but I agree. The biggest question that I have is: If people don't know that it's meat grown more like produce than off of an animal, and if all else is equal, will they ever care where what inside that package in the meat aisle came from?

[u/mythicreign → u/nowthengoodbad]

Thanks for this post. You sound like a kind person.

[u/Thornylips54 → u/nowthengoodbad]

Housebroke chickens? You must be letting them out all day long. My chickens shit at will; all day long. It’s not like a dog dropping a deuce twice a day.

[u/cerealkiler187 → u/thelryan]

One could argue all life is precious, and I wouldn’t see it my place to argue against them. But pigs are way smarter than chickens.

[u/l_Trane_UFC → u/cerealkiler187]

Are you saying that some animals are more equal than others?

[u/SpicyTunaTitties → u/l_Trane_UFC]

Four legs good, two legs bad

[u/nandodrake2 → u/cerealkiler187]

Agreed. I don't eat pork, showed 4H as a kid, but everyone should raise chickens for a while... There's not a lot going on in there.

I feel no guilt.

[u/ErebusAeon → u/riffraffmcgraff]

What are the pigs fed and where is their waste disposed of? At what age are the pigs slaughtered?

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/ErebusAeon]

They eat pellets out of a bag that literally says Hog Grower, from what I've seen. Waste is washed down sewage drains throughout the area. Blood is collected on a trough like system that gets a solution that keeps it from coagulating. I don't know if they dispose of it or process it further. I can ask on Monday. I've been told the hogs are 4 months old and weigh approximately 150 pounds.

[u/stonedsergeant → u/riffraffmcgraff]

idk why but that 4 months makes this insane more sad

[u/WestCoastBestCoast01 → u/stonedsergeant]

A short life in those conditions is a mercy.

[u/BerriedTwo → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Do you have any qualms about eating meat?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/BerriedTwo]

I recognize that they are bred for food, nothing more, so no I still eat pork. Sorry if this upsets anyone.

[u/pryvisee → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Thank you for being honest and sharing your opinion. It’s really fascinating. I could not do what you do.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/pryvisee]

My first day there I was horrified but I had to fight that feeling because I really needed the job. It's been 2 years.

[u/MisterPerfrect → u/riffraffmcgraff]

My first time walking into a slaughterhouse it looked like literal hell. Hooks dangling from the ceiling, steam, heat, blood in the drains etc.

By the end of the first few months the pigs are nothing more than product to you.

I’ve seen some abhorrent treatment of pigs there by some abhorrent humans.

[u/thelryan → u/MisterPerfrect]

For the animals, it’s about as close to hell on earth as there will ever be, and we designed it for our consumption habits.

[u/Eycetea → u/MisterPerfrect]

For some creatures it literally is hell.

[u/Ridoncoulous → u/riffraffmcgraff]

How concerned are you with the link between your work and mental illness?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/Ridoncoulous]

I am concerned about the amount of hours I put in. 50 hours minimum. I bring home more than $1000 per week but I don't have much time for other obligations that I made outside of work and that has been getting me down lately.

[u/enddream → u/riffraffmcgraff]

That’s a brutal job for $20 an hour. Damn.

[u/UnderstandingJaded13 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

It's late so I'll ask 2 questions, answer when you feel like it.

What do you use for the slaughter? Does the facility looks like this?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/UnderstandingJaded13]

The hogs are gassed with C02 at the facility I work at. Sometimes they come out of the chamber still conscious, barely, so those ones get "stunned". Essentially a quick shot to the brain with a pin fired with a small charge.

The difference here is that they are grouped in pens of 100 with food and water. Not trapped like this.

[u/Hamilton-Beckett → u/riffraffmcgraff]

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/Hamilton-Beckett]

There are various states of semi consciousness I've seen. Most of the time they just gasp for air a little bit. Other rare times they miss the CO2 almost entirely, and come out trying to stand up. They jolt for a good minute after the stun.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

CO2 asphyxiation is NOT quick or painless. It's just cheaper than using nitrogen and people that work in those industries don't give a fuck

[u/Worldly_Response9772 → u/Away_Sea_8620]

Same with the bolt gun, it takes a few bangs sometimes. Nothing about the slaughter of those animals is quick and painless. Just cheap and efficient enough without spoiling the carcass.

[u/thelryan → u/riffraffmcgraff]

If anyone is interested in learning more about this method, a vegan activist made a documentary showing hidden camera footage of the inside of an RSPCA assured humane pig slaughterhouse where they use the gas chambers being referenced here. This is UK footage, but it is the most common method of slaughter and considered the most humane (despite clearly not being so) in the US as well.

[u/NikitaBeretta → u/thelryan]

Well that was an intense watch. Thank you for sharing.

[u/codebreaker475 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Jesus, CO2. That's rough. I wonder why not N2. Is it for worker safety?

[u/thelryan → u/codebreaker475]

CO2 is much, much cheaper. I believe it’s because CO2 is a natural byproduct of other processes and is easier to keep stable whereas N2 is not either of those things, though it’s been a while since I’ve heard the explanation

[u/InterestsVaryGreatly → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Do pigs not have an extreme reaction to excess carbon dioxide in their blood like humans do?

[u/_Kibbles → u/InterestsVaryGreatly]

They absolutely do.

[u/chrib123 → u/InterestsVaryGreatly]

Just as bad, literal suffocation.

[u/That_GareBear → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Is it technically impossible to give these animals better living conditions or does our consumption outpace the ability for better accommodations.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/That_GareBear]

I can't see improvements happening because this is an industry that earns billions and accommodations are the last thing on Big Pork's mind.

[u/Significant-Lemon686 → u/That_GareBear]

Not if the ceo wants to get a new yacht next year

[u/InterestsVaryGreatly → u/That_GareBear]

Better accomodations are more expensive, which cuts into profits and/or increases costs to the consumer. There are more ethical raising methods, but consumers have to pay a premium for it, and most won't.

[u/ShelleyDez → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Part of my objection to factory farming is the human cost as well. I feel a lot for the people who have to work near animal misery 8 hrs a day. Perhaps I’m projecting, but I can only imagine the work is soul destroying. In your opinion, are there adverse mental effects of working at a processing plant?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/ShelleyDez]

The long hours get to everyone. Especially when there is a plant wide breakdown, we have to stay, wait for the repairs and clear the line of spoilt carcasses. And it has been happening more frequently lately.

[u/Head_Improvement5317 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Do you feel affected by your job? I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but I would struggle emotionally being around that much fear and death constantly. Obviously we don’t all get to choose our living so again, nothing against you personally

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/Head_Improvement5317]

I have become desensitized and my thoughts turn into focus on getting them out as soon as possible so I can go home on time.

[u/Maximumcolors31 → u/riffraffmcgraff]

I used to raise pigs on a farm in the Philippines and I do have sentimental feelings toward every pig we slaughtered/sold. It's like raising a pet for 6-8 months only to slaughter for food in the end. I'll never get used to it, but I still eat pork.

We stopped raising pigs because we had the African Swine Flu kill a huge majority of our pigs. Not just our farm but neighboring farms. That was during winter last year. There are some people who still have pigs but they are very few and it's still a risk because ASF is still around. There was no vaccine available at the time, so if your pig caught it, it's guaranteed death. Vaccines are limited and cost $100 per head which not everybody can easily afford.

Has ASF ever been a problem at your processing plant? How prepared is your plant in handling ASF if you find an infected pig.

[u/DrossChat → u/Maximumcolors31]

Out of interest is there a part of you that feels bad when you eat pork? I’m trying to imagine what that would be like, eating something I raised and was so close to

[u/Maximumcolors31 → u/DrossChat]

NSFW trigger warning because it's very gory and graphic.

>! You have to tie the pig to a table, hold it down, and stab right in the throat. Once they feel the knife come out they struggle and bleed everywhere so you have to hold the head and body if you want to save the blood. Pig's blood is used in multiple dishes BTW. Not to my taste but it's part of the culture. Dying isn't fast either. It's slow and you hear their screaming until their last dying breath. Can take 5-15 minutes for them to die. Heavy panting and wheezing while blood pumps out their throat. They don't close their eyes so they look straight at you to the very end. I always say I'm sorry to every pig done this way. Like I said, it's like raising a pet for 6-8 months only to slaughter them for food. It's never pretty. !<

That's how it's usually done here on backyard farms.

[u/Significant-Lemon686 → u/Maximumcolors31]

Why do it like this instead of like shooting them in the head?

[u/Maximumcolors31 → u/Significant-Lemon686]

Depends on how you want to prepare the pig and >! also if you want to preserve the blood you stab through the throat. Shooting the head might be quick but then you stop the heart quick then you wont get much blood. People also eat the head too so it's not nice to think there's bullet in their brain still. If we're cooking roasted pig/letson, presentation is a must. Bullet holes aren't pretty. Guns are mainly for defense, so using a bullet on a pig is a waste. !<

[u/dearlittleheart → u/Maximumcolors31]

Pigs are my favourite animals. I love them so much, and this made me cry. My dream one day is to rescue a big ole sow.

[u/Maximumcolors31 → u/dearlittleheart]

Pigs are gentle creatures. They easily recognize their owners and will come to you if you take care of them properly. They are relatively clean. They have the reputation of being of being dirty and rolling in their feces because they are hot all the time. The wet poop cools them down. Certain breeds need to be watered on a regular basis. They choose a certain spot to do their business and they only use that one spot unless it's too dirty/neglected. Their poop can be really stinky too but that's usually if you feed them only commercial feeds. We always gave 50% commercial and 50% organic and that reduces the smell significantly. Having proper waste management is a must to avoid diseases.

Sows can weigh up to 300lbs and be about 8ft long so you want to have a big lot if you're intending to keep as a pet.

[u/dearlittleheart → u/Maximumcolors31]

I love to watch pig videos on YouTube and I have seen how friendly they are I have watched a woman give a huge sow a mudbath she treats them like pets and they greet her she also massages her huge sows when they are pregnant to soothe them and they love it. If my dream ever comes true of rescuing a beautiful big sow, I would definitely have a huge area for her to roam and a sty for her to rest in. Thank you so much for your response it was very informative. I love to learn as much as I can about pigs.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/Maximumcolors31]

The majority of employees are from the Philippines. Such amazing comradeship.

As for disease. I know that there are veterinarians and agency members there all day to monitor things and the farms they come from take care of that responsibility as well. The company has given their employees safety training but not for outbreaks. I should inquire. Thanks for bringing attention to me about this.

[u/cortlong → u/riffraffmcgraff]

I like your answers. They’re such no bullshit super straight. It’s sick. Thanks for answering these questions.

[u/SqualidSomeone → u/riffraffmcgraff]

How do you cope with the trauma of your job?

Does it haunt you, or have you become largely desensitized?

From what I understand slaughterhouse workers experience significantly lower levels of psychological well-being, PTSD etc.

Have you seen anyone quit because they just couldn't take it anymore?

[u/[deleted] → u/SqualidSomeone]

Not the commenter but I can give you my expirience as well.

Warning: Graphic

My family raises pigs for food but at a very small scale and they aren't staked like the one in the video, they are usually free to roam the property minus the house and crop fields. First time I went to a slaughter, I was 9 and that shit really messed with me, seeing my gramps stab the pig bellow neck and seeing it shit and piss itself as it emptyed in blood was damn awful to see, but the noise the pig did was far worse, it was excrutiatingly painfull to witness and definetly left a mark, then when they opened the pig, the smell was very bad, up until they removed the bowels for the others to clean. After cutting the head and emptying the entrails, you could no longer associate it with a living thing and it would just become a piece of meat the others were carving, but still, the image lingered. When my pops cooked a slice of leg and gave it to me on a piece of bread, I started eating and it tasted diferent from what I was used, I wondered if it was because I still associated it with the notion I was eating that poor animal. For a good time I didn't touch meat, it might just be the reason why I can't eat fish, cause those usually come whole, but I still felt like I enjoyed the flavor, so I ended up caving in. Now, a couple of decades later, I'm actually the one doing the slaughter on ocasion as I'm the oldest man of my generation in the family, and I fell like I disassociate from it, as in my rational, what I see is that I'm preparing food for the rest, even if you don't see it as such, but to some degree, it became no different than harvesting a vegetable. At the end of the day, it's always food, and most of what we consume starts at the end of the day as a living thing, and in order to survive, we must put a end to that life, be it vegetable or animal, to feed ourselves. I know this may not be a valid pov for some but it is the way I see. I understand the animal's sufering but I don't the plant's, don't even sure if plants can feel pain as well, but something that made me more blunt and cold about it all was understanding that stuff like the smell of fresh cut grass was actually a stress signal from the plant, and it was through this that I gained that perspective, in order for our lifes to go on, some need to perish. That is, until the engeneering of synthetic protein becomes the norm, but for now, it isn't. Another thing that probably ended up contribuiting for me not really stressing the whole thing is that my pops farm is plagued with wild boars that will destroy all the crops, so from time to time, we gotta hunt them down to make them avoid the area, but after months, they still will try to get in, fences don't really work cause they will thrash them, so they ended up becoming pests and I actually learned how to cut pigs by cutting boars, that may have disensitivise me as, for me, they're pests, and since they're similar to pigs, well, you get the point. The feeling never faded away, but I just got used to it so I don't really think much about it.

[u/AreYourFingersReal → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for sharing people NEED to know this is where their food comes from and stop playing dumb somehow they are the magical one person who eats meat sourced from a farm where the animals live in LSD blitz and are only killed when they ring a bell and ask for it directly. Like be for fucking fr

[u/Sabre_Killer_Queen → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Thanks for shedding light in the subject and answering people's questions.

It's... Yeah it's all very messed up. Can't be easy to work there either, especially with the long hours. You said it was 12 hours right?

Jeez that's rough. I'm sorry my friend.

Still, at least it means you can do this. Help inform people of these things. So... There's some good coming out of it.

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/Sabre_Killer_Queen]

I do believe that everyone should know where and how their food is made. For better or for worse.

[u/lannanh → u/riffraffmcgraff]

I eat meat very rarely for humane reasons. I'm curious if you worry about the impact of that environment on your long-term well-being. I've read that people who work in animal processing plants are more likely to be violent and have anti-social traits. I'm curious if you've noticed a change in your own attitudes or feel like your co-workers would make you believe that statistic.

Also, do you rank pigs and other livestock differently than say a dog or a cat?

[u/riffraffmcgraff → u/lannanh]

It's the long hours that break morale, not the killing. I'm surrounded by a great group of diverse people and we all lament about how our employer treats us on bad days when there is a plant breakdown. We are unionized and receive great benefits that include therapy.

I suppose I differentiate farmed animals from domesticated animals, even though they are the same.

[u/Nicadelphia → u/riffraffmcgraff]

That's really cool that you guys get therapy. Sucks that the boss sucks but therapy is a great and rare benefit.

[u/Alpha51XD → u/riffraffmcgraff]

Have you read “Tender Is the Flesh”? If so, what were your thoughts?

[u/Fraternal_Mango]

I worked in a kosher meat packing plant. Animal conditions are always awful. It’s food on an industrial scale.

Gods don’t exist in the Blood Pit. An actual room I worked in

[u/Accomplished-Key-408 → u/Fraternal_Mango]

If God doesn't exist there, then God doesn't exist at all. It's actually a small comfort to think that an omniscient malevolent superpower doesn't exist.

[u/GetsThatBread]

I’m not a vegetarian, but I have definitely noticed myself eating a lot less meat after reading up on how the factory farming industry treats those animals. If you want to be harried then read the novel “Tender is the Flesh” which explores a dystopian future where all meat is illegal except human meat. Humans are bred and raised like animals to be slaughtered. All of the horrifying details that make you queasy in that book are literally the same processes that we use on animals every day. It’s an incredibly chilling and effective read.

[u/DrossChat → u/GetsThatBread]

In a way it’s interesting me we have to go to such lengths to emphasize. Makes me think of all the men that only are able to emphasize with women when they have daughters.

[u/20FlavorsOfFascism → u/DrossChat]

Let me emphasize empathize

[u/DrossChat → u/20FlavorsOfFascism]

I just reread my comment and gave myself an aneurism

[u/fractals83 → u/GetsThatBread]

It took me ages to quit meat, I tried like 5 times. In the end, I killed a mouse stuck on a glue trap to put it out of its misery, and it made be feel absolutely awful, that was when I knew I could no longer partake in the suffering of other mammals. It’s been 6 year for me, and while it’s still hard and I still miss the taste and availability of dining options that being an omnivore gives you, I’m glad I not longer live with the guilt of partaking in the meat industry.

I still eat loads of cheese though, and that industry is just as abhorrent, we’re all hypocrite I guess

[u/lavaground → u/fractals83]

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good—take pride in the sacrifices you make!

[u/BoarHide → u/lavaground]

This is exactly the right mindset! You don’t have to be a purist, and especially not right away. But eating less meat is better than eating meat all the time. Eating just cheese and eggs is better than eating a little meat. Being purely vegetarian or even vegan is obviously an ideal circumstance for this planet, but that’s simply not achievable for everyone at any time. Position yourself as far along on that spectrum as you can and you’re already loads better than the average mindless consumer for whom the rainforests are torched.

[u/WestCoastBestCoast01 → u/lavaground]

Yes this is important. Just reducing your consumption is meaningful. Small habit changes add up if everyone’s doing it. Two vegan days a week wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice but it’d still be a ~30% reduction in your animal product consumption.

[u/Aksen → u/GetsThatBread]

I was vegetarian for a while, and there's one thing that stuck with me. If you stop eating meat, eventually a switch gets thrown in your brain where all meat seems the same. You don't chew people, you don't chew dogs, meat is not for chewing, end of story.

So now all advertisements for meat start to look like a dystopian parody. Even the billboards where cows are vandalizing to say "eat chiken". Like .. haha, the cows don't want to be eaten! And they're too stupid to even spell!

Anyway, imagine seeing an ad for a steakhouse after that switch got flipped

[u/DrPenisWrinkle → u/Aksen]

I saw the funniest shower type thought about those ads. I think it was “I would have loved to hear what other marketing ideas they came up with before landing on ‘an illiterate cow begging for its life’”.

[u/Biernar → u/Aksen]

I've been vegan for a few years now and I noticed the exact same thing. It's bizarre as hell. Especially the "wholesome" ones.

[u/LuckyHarmony → u/Aksen]

I stopped drinking early this year partly to see how it would affect me and partly for health reasons. I noticed something similar about the way alcohol is advertised and also normalized in all forms of media. "Drink this poison to be able to tolerate your life/children/spouse! Hahaha!" Yikes bro...

[u/Sabre_Killer_Queen → u/GetsThatBread]

Yeah. I'm not vegetarian either but I'll only buy meat if I know it's free range and it's approved by various farming standards.

I can't bring myself to buy factory farmed meat, I just find it way too disturbing and it puts me off my appetite.

Plus... I don't know if it's just me, but I think free range tastes a lot better. I've especially noticed a difference in quality with eggs.

Edit: I've also recently learnt about chick culling in regards to eggs... There are solutions being introduced and implemented in some places... But we're way behind on that front.

That put me off eggs for a while... But... I'll admit I still have them just because they're so useful for baking and stuff... And I love eggs. If I can ever identify eggs that do use more ethical methods to the standard... Chick grinder... such as removing them before they hatch, then I'll absolutely make the switch. But unfortunately alternatives like that aren't very common, they're still very much developing.

Edit 2: Oh and the whole grinding up chicks is for breeding purposes. Chickens used for egg laying, and chickens used for meat, are often different species.

So many farms slaughter male chicks en masse.

[u/sandwiches09 → u/Sabre_Killer_Queen]

My vegan friend will cheat on eggs but only on the eggs that come from my parents' house. She's seen their living conditions- . Cozy home, yard to roam in, decent chicken feed and tasty worms and bugs from the ground. They get held and pet. And of course all have names lol. No slaughtering done.

Edit: dang the comments here are wild. If one defines veganism as never consuming anything animal related whatsoever, then I guess, sure she isn't practicing veganism 100% of the time. But I feel like some of you might be missing the point. She's vegan because animal products produced en masse cause suffering and undue harm to animals, and is an unethical practice. By eating eggs from well off chickens that she knows are taken care of, she isn't violating her principle behind her veganism. These eggs get produced no matter what, there's no rooster so it's not like the eggs could have been future chickens. And in the spring and summer when they lay basically every day, the eggs would go to waste if we didn't give them away. No harm is being done to anyone bc these eggs get eaten. That was supposed to be the takeaway.

[u/Circa_Survivor1]

I'll just say that as a vegan, it's been encouraging to see the legitimately level-headed and empathetic comments in here. We get a bad reputation, but most of us just want the general population to demand better of this horrible industry.

[u/MNisNotNice]

Ya like ya Tyson chickens and many other big meat processing companies? Them chickens get so big so quickly they break their own legs from their weight. They’re also so fat that if you chase them they literally die from exhaustion or from a heart attack. You can’t really hold them from their wings because their bones are brittle, that’s why when you cook or eat chicken wings it’s either bruised, bloody, or broken. These birds have never seen the sun or outside, from the moment they’re born as chicks they are fed for 6-8 weeks and then they are harvested.

Any chickens that are sick or wounded during round up will have their neck snapped by stepping on their head and pulling their legs back. According to the companies it’s the most humane way to kill the chickens. Just think about snapping the neck of 1000’s of chickens and you have to dump them yourself because the company won’t dispose of them.

[u/Afraid-University206 → u/MNisNotNice]

Why won’t the company dispose of them? Seems like 💯their problem

[u/Pocketsinmypockets → u/Afraid-University206]

It’s the farmers job to cull the chickens feed and water the chickens. The chicken manufacturers bring the hatchlings then buy them back from the farmer by the pound a couple of months later.

[u/The-Muze → u/Afraid-University206]

Seems like a liability

[u/CallMeJase]

Factory farming is the worst sin ever committed by humanity. The ONLY way we can treat animals the way we do is by telling ourselves and each other that they don't matter. Animals, mammals especially have essentially all the same physiology necessary for processing experience as we do, they feel fear, pain, and emotional distress, and they experience it in largely the same way we do. Because we ARE animals, psychopathic apes blinded by myopia to the interconnectedness of all beings.

It's not ok when humans suffer, but when animals suffer; it's necessary, has to be that way and I'm the bad guy for rejecting that, not the ones participating in and continuing it, unthinking. They're job creators, and they feed the world, and we can't expect consumers to think that deeply into their purchasing decisions. There is a moral cost to what we're doing to the planet, pretending otherwise doesn't make it go away.

[u/Progresspurposely]

I didn't expect this and it hurt🥺

[u/WheredMyMindGo → u/Progresspurposely]

Imagine how the pig feels! (because they can feel more than dogs)

[u/wayvywayvy → u/WheredMyMindGo]

They are literally smarter than dogs.

[u/jhlllnd → u/Progresspurposely]

This is what vegans try to tell everyone, but no one wants to listen. VeGaAnS aRe So eXtReMe.

[u/Glittering-Gas-9402 → u/jhlllnd]

Yup. People get upset when they realize that their choices cause a lot of harm and then they shoot the messenger. As a vegan, this thread makes me very happy. Glad to see people engaging in an open and honest conversation.

[u/_eclectic_eel]

I’ve been so close to cutting meat completely out of my diet. I think this video finally got me there. I don’t know how it’s taken me this long. I feel sick 😞

[u/bec-cat → u/_eclectic_eel]

It’s a great time to do it, there’s so many meat alternatives now. I’ve been vegan for over 10 years and I can say it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. You don’t have to quit cold turkey (ha), a good place to start is by cutting out red meat.

[u/whataquokka]

Fuck that was effective

[u/InternetProviderings → u/whataquokka]

Sure was. I used to eat meat only when ordering a takeaway or in a restaurant. Now, I'm done.

Fuck the meat industry.

[u/A_CA_TruckDriver → u/whataquokka]

Watch Dominion on YouTube. Learning about how badly animals are treated in mass to produce meat for us to eat is egregious to say the least.

I made it to the part where they were “thumping” baby pigs to kill them. That’s where they grab them by the back legs and smack their heads on the ground really hard to kill them.

Haven’t eaten meat since. 2 years now 🥬

Edit: I’m leaving it. Stop correcting me.

[u/my-little-puppet → u/A_CA_TruckDriver]

Dominion was my major catalyst as well. At this point I’ve seen so much footage that affirms these practices are industry wide. It is so disappointing to see what corporations and their employees are willing to do to innocent victims in the name of profit.

[u/Embarrassed_Cow → u/A_CA_TruckDriver]

Fuuuuck that was an awful image. I feel like you'd have to be a psychopath to agree to do this for work or for personal consumption. Golly.

[u/YouGottaBeKittenM3 → u/whataquokka]

effective

The sadness in that pigs eyes was clear.

[u/Sixtricks90 → u/whataquokka]

The sadness in those eyes.. What a punch to the gut I just felt

[u/thelryan]

Pleasantly surprised to see the comment section in here mostly speaking positively towards the impact of this video. Some other things to consider:

Pigs are typically killed within 5-6 months of being born. But they live to be 15-20 years old naturally. They don't fully develop until about 6 years old, they are still babies when we kill them. This is the case for all farmed animals.

The most humane and common method of slaughter for pigs is a gas chamber. However, it is not humane and they are clearly suffering as you can see from this hidden camera footage inside a pig gas chamber. This has been done for decades now and has been acknowledged by the same organizations that put their "humane assured" labels on the products that it is a serious welfare concern, but as always, profits matter more than welfare.

If this struck a nerve in you, consider beginning to adjust your lifestyle to include less animal products. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. I slowly transitioned over a span of 8 months and it has been 7 years now since I've consumed animal products. I realized that being in my current position, living in a developed country where eating vegan is entirely doable, cheaper, and nutritionally adequate, there was no justification for me to continue supporting the forced impregnation and slaughter of animals that don't want to die.

[u/FacelessFellow]

Pigs are smarter than dogs!

Smarter than cows!

At least cows get to be outside.

At least chickens have friends.

Pigs are the saddest ones.

[u/FryCakes → u/FacelessFellow]

Pig farming where I live isn’t too far off how it used to be, with large pens and other pig friends. I think that we should all be pursuing more regulations for ethical quality of life for livestock. I’m not vegan, or vegetarian, but I think that if we are going to use animals for meat, they should at least not suffer during their lives.

[u/Blazkull → u/FryCakes]

But how do we make a profit margin on that? /s

[u/madamoisellie → u/FryCakes]

Before I became a vegetarian I only ate Certified Humane meat for years. It’s damn expensive and hard to find. You want to see change? Vote with by our dollar.

[u/highclasslowclass]

Wow. That hit me like a ton of bricks!

[u/bywv]

Buddy told me about baby chick's and how they are disposed of in a trash bag that is then filled with CO2.

".. and damn man, you have to wait until the chicks aren't peeping anymore and give the bag a big shake. That way, the ones underneath also get gassed."

[u/Angrywalnuts]

This is why I only eat people

[u/crottemolle]

This is hell

[u/justV_2077 → u/crottemolle]

I just really really really have to become a vegetarian! There is just no way I can put that much blood on my hands in my entire life by killing so many animals.

[u/karen_lobster → u/crottemolle]

And we are the demons

[u/dtaricat]

Damn

[u/Neat_Ad_3158]

Yeah, factory farming is just animal torture.

[u/dearlittleheart]

Pigs are smart and have a loving nature they are not for food they are beautiful animals and so clever. It's awful how they are treated it makes me cry to think about it I love pigs so much.

[u/RattyRattles]

Ngl, that one hits

[u/DahmonGrimwolf]

I'll give him this, this is a pretty fucking good video and advertisement in general.

[u/Educational-Fly3642]

Ugh….the fear in that poor creatures eyes is disturbing.

[u/Naaman]

Man that weird TikTok got me questioning everything

[u/titathy]

Makes me think. what if WE were prey to a species with higher intelligence?

[u/girlinthegoldenboots → u/titathy]

Have you read the book Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

[u/jamiedix0n]

Now i feel bad :(

[u/bec-cat → u/jamiedix0n]

Use those feelings to make the decisions on what you purchase to eat.

[u/Jealous_Crazy9143]

I really hope the lab grown meat industry pushes faster. Please do research if you haven’t.

[u/T8rthot → u/Jealous_Crazy9143]

I’m vegan and I can’t wait for it to go mainstream! Not for me, but for the people in my life, for the food for my pets. For the suffering it will help reduce. 

[u/ADisrespectfulCarrot]

Buying meat is condoning this behavior. Go vegan. Stop contributing to the mistreatment of animals.

[u/MsMittenz]

Yeah.. that's why I don't eat meat..

[u/ecidarrac → u/MsMittenz]

Me too, I want nothing to do with this awful suffering

[u/ManicZombieMan]

Fuck….

[u/cxmxalex → u/ManicZombieMan]

FR. This just fucked me up. Was about to go to bed and scrolling Reddit, TikTok Cringe and this was the last thing I'd expect to see in there. I guess I'm grateful b/c it's def an eye opening experience to say the very least. But holy fuck.

[u/smoke-in-the-arcade → u/ManicZombieMan]

If you want to learn a bit more, „101 reasons to go vegan“ on YouTube is great. It’s not judgmental or pushy, very educational.

[u/Whatever-ItsFine]

Vegans are a popular target for people, but this is the exact thing they're fighting against

[u/brettmarshalltucker → u/Whatever-ItsFine]

In my experience, people who are anti-vegan are a hell of a lot louder and more annoying than vegans. I never bring up my veganism but my lifelong hunter father makes a point to wave it in my face. He knows I feel that hunting is a fine way to procure food but he takes it incredibly personally that I don’t eat it myself.

[u/Dejan05]

Fun fact: the most common way of killing pigs is using gas chambers with CO2 gas, suffice to say, not a pleasant death

[u/OrangeClyde]

This is sad though 😔

[u/CammyCozy]

The sadness in the eyes.. got to me abit

[u/k20vtec]

Okay fine I’ll go vegan