Animals\' Angels - wir sind bei den Tieren | we are there with the animals

Mohandas Gandhi once said - “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (1869-1948)
 
The story I am about to tell is what I believe to be a reflection of our stagnant moral ‘progress’ and the lack of our humanity.
 
Back in May 2006 I was at a saleyard in Perth. It was in the middle of winter; the cold wet wind chilling me to the bones. As I moved around I saw a dead sheep lying on the cold wet concrete at the foot of a ramp. Although it was unusual to find sheep left like this it was not unheard of.
 
Someone had dumped this young sheep: he was either pushed out of the truck or was thrown landing where he lay. Before I could get to him, he was dragged onto the back of a truck and it was then that I discovered he was still alive. I don’t know exactly what was wrong with the sheep, maybe he had severe internal injuries and or broken bones but whatever he was unable to move his body. No one bothered to find out if he was alive and kill him before dumping his body, instead the person responsible just left him to suffer- and he did. In absolute silence.
 
I cradled his muddy wet head in my hands - his eyes meeting mine. This was probably the first time he had ever felt the gentle hand of human kindness. I named him Toby.
 
I took photos of Toby before he was taken away to be shot. Although the saleyard tried to find out who dumped him no one admitted to it so no one was ever apprehended.
 
Never will Toby be forgotten as Toby represents all that is wrong with the farming industry. The animals they use are considered throwaway items with value expressed only in monetary terms. Toby’s inherent value as a being capable of feeling pain and joy just like you and me is, I am reminded by industry, irrelevant.

For those of you who are not aware- Australia is the largest exporter of live animals destined for slaughter in the world. Australia has the awful reputation of sending millions of live sheep, cattle and goats to overseas countries where they are slaughtered, in most circumstances, by shocking and totally inhumane methods. Australia would never condone the way the animals are transported, handled and slaughtered if this same treatment were to happen here. There is by and large no welfare legislation to protect animals in the Middle East or in Asia. But, regardless Australia happily sends our animals knowing full well they will inevitably suffer in the hands of someone in a far away country.
 
During 2005, Animals’ Angels visited the Karantina slaughterhouse in Beirut. There we filmed the handling and slaughter of German and Brazilian cattle. Outside the slaughterhouse were Australian sheep waiting their turn.
 
Often times the farmers who send animals to these countries for slaughter do not realize just what conditions are like in these countries and so we decided to send a letter to a farmer in Australia so that he would know.

I often feel total despair at the way people see animals. So many people are selective with their compassion. Because the animal is for example a pig somehow this is supposed to make the treatment and respect he/she is entitled to different to that given to a companion animal. Surely human decency transcends this hypocrisy?  Sadly it doesn’t.
 
Animals’ Angels visited Queensland late 2006.  It was a hot and humid - around 35 degrees on the day we visited a small market at which people come to sell all sorts of household items as well as live pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, sheep and cattle.
 
In the car park, inside a car we found a very young pig. The buyer had just returned to his car and opened the back to find the pig he had bought earlier and left bound, inside the car had, basically cooked. The windows were up and the door locked; both of which ensured the temperature inside the car rose well above the outside temperature. The dead pig had turned a pale shade of blue.
 
Pigs do not handle heat well at all. They have no way of perspiring unlike humans or other animals and because they do not sweat through their skin like us, it is vital that they are protected from heat and the sun. Their skin burns very easily also just like humans.
 
There has been much fuss made in the media about leaving children or dogs in a closed car during the summer months. That is because the heat rises inside a car far in excess of the temperature outside and can cause brain damage or death in a very short space of time. A pig is no different…
This case is with the Queensland authorities for investigation.

Natalie had been a „broiler“ chicken- genetically selected and fed to grow very quickly so that within 6 weeks she would be large enough to be sold for her meat.  Because of this fast and unnatural growth spurt, “broiler” chickens have very sore legs as they have to support the weight of their large breasts. As a result, some break their legs or suffer form heart attacks, others remain non-ambulatory and never manage to walk towards the food and water dishes and end up dying form starvation or dehydration. During unloading and shackling at the slaughterhouse, she must have been brutally handled.  Only her foot and part of her leg were found hanging on the shackles to the stun bath and knife cutter at Lionel slaughterhouse located in northern France.

Jonathan Livingston was a duck being kept in an individual crate so small that he could barely stand up.  He was “owned” by Palmex Inc., and being raised as a foie gras duck. Jonathan was force-fed massive amounts of a slurry of corn meal and water through a metal pipe pushed through his mouth, into his stomach twice a day, every day for two weeks.  This drastic increase in food was to force his body to produce an unhealthy, fatty liver up to 10 times its normal size for a “delicacy” called pate de foie gras.  As one of the workers told us, many ducks don’t survive the process and die of heart attacks while being force-fed.  The survivors often suffer esophageal tears from the process.  Jonathan was not well – it was clear he was sick, and like the rest of his “barn mates”, severely traumatized.  Jonathan had red, infected and inflamed eyes that were beginning to go opaque (many ducks become blind from the unhealthy environment) and his entire body and head were encrusted in dried corn meal.  When the worker came to push the metal tube down his throat, Jonathan tried to hide by tucking his head as far down into the crate as possible.  It was to no avail as the worker mindlessly and callously grabbed Jonathan’s head and shoved the pipe in.  A lever was pushed and a massive quantity of corn meal was forced into Jon’s stomach.  When the pipe was finally retracted, Jonathan, appearing to be in shock, let his head fall directly down, flat.  Corn meal mash began bubbling out through his nostrils. He lifted his head and rapidly shook it from side to side as though trying to suppress the urge to vomit.  The terror swept down the line as the process was repeated with the other birds.  The room was stiflingly hot and wet.  Because of the toxic levels of food, the birds pant incessantly to try to rid their bodies of the increased heat produced from digesting such an unnatural amount of food.  As I approached Jonathan he opened his mouth further.  I was told that he, like the others, go into a panic attack when any human approaches them.  It was painful to see – normally animals sense kindness and welcome our presence for a sense of peacefulness and likely the first human kindness that’s ever been afforded them, but not Jonathan or these ducks.  They’d been raped orally for 7 days now, twice a day.  They had no way to know I was not there to do the same to them.  I had to leave Jonathan there in those conditions.  He’s certainly been killed by now and someone in Quebec or France is eating a part of him, a diseased part that represents so much trauma and abuse – all for a trifle on a cracker.

30.1. -31.1.2007 | St. Joseph Stockyards | St. Joseph, Missouri, USA
Billy was a gentle young downer boar that we discovered lying in an outdoor pen at the St. Joseph Stockyards in St. Joseph, Missouri on a cold day in late January.  He had a suspected dislocated or broken left hip, and his left leg was blue. The temperature was a frigid –20°C with wind gusts up to 37 km/hr. Billy had been left in the outdoor pen for the night with very little, wet straw for bedding, no protection from the wind and cold and no water to drink.  In an attempt to warm him some, we brought him woodchips and straw as well as rubber matting to get him off the freezing cement pad.  We syringe fed him and provided him with water - all of which he quickly finished.  Unfortunately however, when we returned with a heated mat we were told to leave the premises.  We went back early the next morning, but Billy was gone.  We have no way of knowing with any certainty what happened to Billy but it’s most likely that if he survived the night he would’ve been loaded with the stockyard’s bobcat and taken to slaughter (moving downer pigs is not illegal in Missouri).  During our time with Billy we spoke to the workers and a man who we were told was the manager about the simple things that could be done to  improve conditions for injured and sick pigs like Billy.  While the reaction of the workers was generally one of tolerance, we left concerned that perhaps we weren’t able to convince them of the importance of the improvements.
                                                                             
When we returned to do a follow-up investigation two weeks later though we were extremely happy to see that the stockyards had made many improvements to the pig stabling area.  Wooden sheeting had been nailed to the perimeter of the facility, cutting the wind and cold.  The sick pig pen had been almost completely closed in and protected from the elements, and now contained a full, clean dry bale of straw which the previous inhabitant had made into a cozy nest.  Our water bowl was still there and filled with fresh, clean water, and food was also available. 
 
This is now a much more comfortable facility for the pigs, especially those like Billy who are sick or injured.  Because of Billy, no other pigs at St. Joseph Stockyards will have to suffer as he did.  They will now have a full bale of straw to make a comfortable nest in, clean fresh water to drink, food to eat and be much more protected from the elements.
 
Animals’ Angels commends the staff of St. Joseph Stockyards for making these improvements to their pig stabling area.  This facility has become a good example of how even when both parties feel they are coming from very different perspectives, positive and real change can still be made.  In between both sides was Billy – a gentle boar who showed us all what kindness can accomplish.

9.11.2006 | Kanada
Jane was a broiler chicken who likely lived in a barren, crowded barn with 5,000 to up to 50,000 other birds. Bred to grow too quickly she likely suffered from crippling skeletal problems. Life would’ve been chaotic for her – with too many fellow chickens to sort out a hierarchy she would’ve been surrounded by stress and aggression.
When the day came for her to be trucked to slaughter, she would have been still a baby – only 42 days old. She would’ve been frantically grabbed up by her feet, held upside down with many others, then tossed into a crate.Here in Canada, she could’ve been transported up to 36 hours without food or water in the rain and cold.

It was likely during unloading that Jane’s leg was amputated. She would’ve been ripped from her crate, her foot jammed but providing little resistance to the aggressiveness with which she was pulled out. Her leg would’ve snapped off, and she would’ve been in extreme pain but the worker likely didn’t even notice. The number of chickens he’d be processing would be so high there would be no time to notice.

At the slaughterplant, Jane would’ve had her remaining leg snapped into a shackle and hung upside down. Chances are she would’ve slipped from this shackle and fallen to the ground. With only one leg and one bleeding stump, Jane would’ve flopped around on the ground where she would be at high risk for violence – being kicked, thrown or worse (as numerous undercover investigations have shown).
If she was rehung, chances are that she would not have entered the stun bath properly and wouldn’t have received the electric shock that we are told is intended to render the chickens unconscious, but recent studies are indicating really only immobilizes the birds and relaxes the muscles around their feathers making them easier to pull out. Fully conscious, she would’ ve been sliced with the knife, which would likely not have hit its intended target of her neck because of her off-balance hanging. Without the knife cut she would have entered the scald tank fully conscious, fully alive and in unbearable fear and pain. It’s horrendous to think of this fate for her, but it’s what is most likely. All of this suffering because her foot became lodged and she was unable to free it and there was no one there to help her.
This is far too high a price for any animal to be forced to pay to satisfy our unnecessary craving for meat.

12.7.2006 | Pig Collecting Facility | Grunthal Livestock Auction | Canada

Beth was one of 346,000 breeding sows in Manitoba. She lived her life in a 2’ x 7’ barren metal crate. She would only have had space to take one step forward and one step back. Lying down would’ve been very difficult. Beth had severe arthritis in such an advanced state that the joints in her back legs had fused. Each time she tried to lay down, she knew she would jepordize the sow beside her laying on and crushing her acutely painful legs as she would have had to protrude them into the crate beside her. As with all breeding sows, she would’ve been kept perpetually pregnant giving birth approximately every 4 months. All of her natural instincts to make a nest to keep her soon-to-be born piglets safe and warm would’ve been thwarted as she’d have had no straw to dig in. Once she gave birth she’d have been moved to a farrowing crate – a cage just as barren that would keep her separated from her babies but still allow them to nurse off her. If she was labelled a "bad" mother, she’d be tied down to the concrete slatted floor so she couldn’t "harm" her babies. Within a few days (10-21) her piglets would be taken from her and the insemination would be repeated again. This would be her short, painful life – a life of deprivation and heart-ache.Beth’s first exposure to fresh air was likely on the day she was sent to the pig collecting station in Grunthal. She would’ve gone from a temperature controlled barn to 35 °C with no provisions made for her – no water, no food, no protection from the sun between the slats in the trailer burning her skin.By the time Beth arrived at Grunthal she was laming badly and exhausted. It was clear that she should not be loaded into another trailer for transport to slaughter – which was hours away across the border in the US, but the manager of the facility tried to do so anyway. She was pushed down the alleyway to be loaded, each step sending shooting pains throughout her inflamed rear legs. Once in the round pen she collapsed, panting and in severe pain. Three groups of pigs were run through, trampling her. After each group would be loaded, Beth would hobble to the side of the round pen and collapse. Finally the manager and driver decided not to load her as they were suspicious of our presence. The trailer of her fellow barnmates was closed up and driven away. The workers returned to their duties inside and Beth was left, abandoned in the full sun and heat of the day to lie in her own vomit with no water or shelter, collapsed and panting heavily. This is how we last saw Beth. We were forced to leave her. Her pain and the knowledge that I was not able to help her will remain with me always.

18.4.2006| Bretagne, France
Amélie was raised on an intensive farm in Bretagne, France and used for reproduction.  Her whole life she was in gestation and farrowing crates.  On April 18th 2006 she was loaded and transported to a slaughterhouse in Laval.  She arrived as a downer- she could not get up nor walk.  The driver tried to drag her out by her legs.  The official veterinarian technician from the government services was then called out and tried to hoist her up onto a trolley meant for already dead animals.  It did not have a solid floor and thus she got her front leg caught and almost broke it.  Finally she was hoisted up by ropes placed underneath her body and dragged to a pen where 3 other downer sows were housed.  Amélie cried out in pain the whole time.  She was then left overnight and slaughtered the following day. Her body was never consumed, the meat inspector threw her body into the garbage because she was covered in tumours and severe arthritis.

6.9.2006 | Auction market in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kanada
Emily was what industry calls a "cull" or "spent" dairy cow. She spent her life being milked by machines, kept continually pregnant and having her calves taken away after only 1-2 days together so as not to "waste" any of her milk on them. This would’ve been her life for 5 years before being torn from her barn-mates, loaded with electric prods onto a transport trailer, and shipped to the auction market in Winnipeg, Manitoba on or about September 6th, 2006. Two days later, she was put through the auction ring and purchased by a slaughterhouse in Ontario that planned to only transport her the following week. Emily had a particularly painful journey after supplying her owner with all that she could, likely developing mastitis on the farm - a painful, inflammatory condition of her teats - which remained untreated, eventually rupturing the ligaments that held her udder in place and finally ending in the excruciating pain of a twisted stomach, which she was forced to endure for at least 3 days. Emily had been suffering quietly for far too long and rather than being met with any human kindness she was instead callously tossed aside and considered a liability and "junk" meat. It is a sad but likely fact that the only human kindness Emily experienced was by the veterinarian who provided her with her final human contact, releasing her from her agony, by euthanizing her.

7.8.2003 | Alberta, Canada
Chloé was a young Canadian pig, transported 35 hours in 37°C heat from Alberta (Canada) to a California slaughterhouse on August 7, 2003.
She was not given water during the entire voyage.  Upon arrival she was badly kicked by the slaughterhouse owner and she fell and split her back legs.  She had difficulty getting up afterward and was dragged by her ears into a pen by herself.  She could not walk to the water troughs in the slaughterhouse pens to quench her thirst.  Chloé was left alone all night for the veterinarian inspector to arrive the next day.  Early in the morning the veterinarian declared her suitable for slaughter and she was dragged to the kill floor to be electrically stunned and gutted.