Slaughterhouses
A Paper About Why Slaughterhouses are Bad
Jaqueline Diaz
Eastside High School

Slaughterhouses
10,481,856,693 have been killed so far this year. Only from this year. This rate is going up every second. The fact that we don’t bring light to this issue makes it even worse. The way that slaughterhouses treat animals in such an inhumane way and it’s still going on. They haven’t been banned nor have they tried to make the living conditions of these animals better. Cattle are usually crammed into trucks and go without food or water for the duration of the journey. This is saying baby cows are pushed in big groups onto trucks and they don’t get fed for however long the journey is. There are more than 800 slaughterhouses all over the U.S. At regular slaughterhouses, there are about 25-30 deaths of pigs per minute.
Why Should You Care?
All these animals aren’t put down in inhumane ways. Some of the slaughterhouses murder the animals in a horrific manner. Chickens are put through electrified water while shackled. This isn’t the only reason that slaughterhouses are dangerous. Humans are affected by this too. These murder houses are usually fast-paced and can cause accidents for the people who are running. It can also affect the people who eat food from slaughterhouses. As mentioned before it’s fast-paced so sometimes fecal matter contaminates the food. Mad cow disease can also be the outcome of this unhealthy food. Workers of slaughterhouses are expected to kill, at the minimum, 400 cows per hour. Meaning depending on how many workers are at the slaughterhouses there are at least 9,600 cows that are killed in only ONE day. They are not only hurting the animals and humans. These god awful places are hurting our planet. Slaughterhouses let out greenhouse gases. They let out gases such as methane and carbon dioxide in large amounts.
Who Has Spoke Out About This Issue?
Rakim Mayers or more famously known as A$AP Rocky or Lord Flacko has brought light to this issue before in past interviews. Rocky has been meat free for 4 years after he learned how animals. More specifically chickens are treated in these houses. The rapper said in an interview, “You gotta go do research on the way they treat like f*cking chickens, man. Those chickens go through f*cking torture before they’re processed.” Rocky frequently promotes healthy plant-based diets in interviews. He has really brought light to this issue. With over 14 million fans on Spotify. He has made many people aware of this crisis. This is the type of help we need. To get people aware of what’s happening in the world can make a huge impact.
Other Impacts
There is also stuff that goes on in slaughterhouses that not everyone knows about. Finding out how many animals are killed is nothing. There is stuff like the fact that a chicken is crammed to live in a space smaller than an iPad. More than 80% of pigs have pneumonia before being slaughtered. This is caused by the high levels of ammonia and dangerous gases that come from manure. Dairy cows are killed after just three cycles. Cows usually live to be 20-25 years old. In slaughterhouses they are forced to breed, eat, be drugged, and produce milk in a small amount of time. The houses run quickly. They never let cows live out their full lives. They never get to have a child they can keep. They are always stripped from their children. They are killed at young ages just to satisfy the needs of others.
Counter Argument
I’m not saying that we should all go vegetarian. Being vegetarian means that you would be eating foods that lack vitamin B12, protein, and iron. This can cause health risks because these factors are important in keeping a healthy and maintaining a relatively fit lifestyle. Most people like meat and we should never be forced to give up something we like but there are better ways to do what we’re doing wrong. We shouldn’t keep animals in these horrible conditions. It will not only cause an imbalance in nature but it can affect us with mad cow disease or eating contaminated meat. These houses need to be maintained in a better fashion if not then it will end up causing even more problems.
How Can We Help?
I know this issue seems far to reach and it’s only because we are not trying. We can bring light to this issue. Everyone is worried about all the wrong things. Celebrity drama is not important when there are situations that affect all of us greatly. This shouldn’t be the way we handle things. We can help organizations and start protests. We should all be pitching in a little help because if we all do it can start a movement. We should start marches or even bring it to the attention of the governors of our states. There are so many ideas we can all put together to help.
Conclusion
Slaughterhouses have caused enough damage and it’s time to put an end to it. They affect our planet because of the gases they let out. They are brutally killing animals, therefore, causing an imbalance in nature. They also contaminate the food we eat affecting the health of the people who are ingesting it.