No slaughterhouse is safe for animals, and Compassion Over Killing investigations have shown that when slaughter lines run faster, animal suffering is greatly exacerbated. But animals aren’t the only ones at risk: a new report from Human Rights Watch shows that workers are suffering greatly, too. TAKE ACTION: Help stop the USDA from speeding up slaughter speeds with a quick tweet TODAY!
As the Trump administration aims to dangerously increase slaughter line speeds in the name of profit--and at the expense of animals and workers--the HRW report illuminates just why that shouldn’t be allowed to happen.
Though news to some, Compassion Over Killing investigators know these dangers far too well. One of these high-speed chicken plants, Amick Farms, was investigated by Compassion Over Killing in 2018, and the investigator shared with us just how painful the work could be. Working on the live-hang line in an enclosed, ammonia-filled space, the investigator told COK, “I could not remember a time in my life that I had felt sick so frequently.”
The situation is dire. As is, meatpacking is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, and that’s just based on federal data. The report, however, points at disparities between federal data and real injury rates, indicating that injuries happen even more often than formally reported. This existing data, which accounts for about only half the country, shows that a worker suffers an amputation or is sent to the hospital for in-patient treatment about every other day. Add to that staggering statistic that chronic illnesses and injuries occur often as a result of chemical exposure and fast, repetitive motions on the line.
Many workers experience in the industry experience the debilitating Raynaud’s phenomenon, which greatly affects their lives outside of the plant. One person interviewed describes the feeling: “It feels like your hand’s getting stung by bees. Your fingertips turn ashen white. There’s an immediate loss of circulation to your hands—it’s extremely painful.… I couldn’t hold a coffee cup, couldn’t hold a pen. I couldn’t hold onto anything.”
And line speeds are going to get faster. Though the House of Representatives is taking steps to block implementation of the new rule, the USDA seems determined to greenlight a barbaric speed increase in pig slaughter plants and is also granting high-speed waivers to poultry slaughterhouses.
Faster line speeds can only stand to benefit the companies that are profiting off of the exploitation of human labor and animal lives. Help put an end to cruel & reckless high-speed slaughter with a quick tweet TODAY!