Nathan Stuckey

10/19/04

English 134

 

The Slaughter House Diary

 

            “Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth;
            like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, or a sheep before the shearers,
            he was silent and opened not his mouth” Isaiah 53:7     

 

Trudging along the dirt road that led down to Cal Poly’s abattoir, I was experiencing strong emotions. My stomach churned at the thought of the blood I was likely to encounter during the processing of lambs. I reasoned that to get a valid opinion on the subject, I had to witness the entire process, no matter how unpleasant.

            As I entered the abattoir I was greeted by Tim, a young graduate student who would be assisting the professor throughout the process. I was told to step into a tray on the floor filled with a disinfectant to prevent the entrance of unwelcomed germs that hid on the bottom of my shoes. I pulled on a long yellow apron and placed a hair net and hard hat on my head. A small class of animal science majors walked in who would also be viewing the slaughtering.

            The professor and Tim prepared for the process by thoroughly washing and sanitizing all of their instruments, sharpening their knives, and placing hooks on a track overhead that holds the sheep carcass upside down. I stepped outside and saw the four sheep that were to be killed. They were huddled together as if they knew what was to happen and were saying their goodbyes. Tim reassured me they were only afraid of being in a strange, confined space.

            I stood off to the side as Tim led the first of the sheep inside. The sheep gave little struggle and made no sound. Tim gripped its head tightly as the professor placed a bolt gun on the top of its skull. The bolt gun worked similar to a revolver. It had a blank charge that shot out a bolt that cracked the skull and shocked the brain. The sheep dropped to the floor unconscious. The bolt retracted with a spurt of blood from the sheep’s skull. Tim quickly tied the hind legs of the sheep to the hook hanging above and lifted the body off the ground. The sheep continued to twitch violently due to spasms of the nervous system.

With a swift cut, the professor slit open the sheep’s throat, severing the jugular. Down came a shower of crimson blood that splattered on the floor forming a thick pool of gore. All four limbs of the animal shook and the body convulsed as if it were making a last, futile effort to resist. The twitching of the corpse made it difficult to place on the metal rack where it would be skinned. With help from Tim, the professor managed to lay it down. The head of the animal hung limply off to the side, its laceration still dripping a steady stream of blood into the river below it which flowed into a nearby drain.

            The next step was the removal of the sheep’s hide. The skinning process began with the professor removing the hoofs and the wool on the legs. After several precise cuts, the four severed hoofs fell to the floor. The joints of the legs, called the break joints, were then snapped, revealing the inner cartilage of the limbs which the inspector had to examine. The long process of skinning involved separating the wool from the skin. The professor began this by peeling apart the thin membrane that connected them. The professor made an incision on the sternum and then put his fist into the hole and began the separation. It resembled pulling up carpet from a floor revealing the padding underneath. The hide flapped down over the sheep’s head exposing the smooth inner skin.

At the beginning of the gory process my shock was evident compared to the slaughter-hardened students that surrounded me. As the process continued I realized that with each step I became less nauseated and more interested in the procedure. The lamb was no longer a living creature. It was now a product that contained valuable necessities to the human way of life. With every cut, the sheep looked less like an animal and more like something you’d see at a butcher shop. That and the fact that the animal didn’t suffer made it easier to watch.

            After the hide was taken off, Tim thrust a knife through the back of the neck, cutting the spinal cord and other tissue in order to remove the head. The head was placed into a bucket so that the thyroid could be inspected by the government inspector for any signs of ill health. Meanwhile, the professor was cutting off excess membrane still attached to the animal when he came across an abscess, a sore filled with pus, which was covered by some membrane. The result was a spurt of thick yellowish-green liquid that landed on the professor’s shirt sleeve. He cleaned his shirt off and explained that such things were not unusual and would not jeopardize the meat quality of the animal.

            At this point the decapitated animal was again lifted off the ground. Another incision was made to enlarge the rear-end and the rectum was pulled out, tied and covered with a small plastic bag in order to prevent any fecal fluids from spilling out. The professor turned the animal and made the main cut from the sternum to crotch. A metal tray was pushed underneath the animal and Tim removed the internal organs and dropped them on the tray. The organs were covered by a clear film that emitted a putrid fragrance. The lungs, heart and liver were put aside to be inspected for any signs of disease. Attached to the liver was the bile sac which the inspector punctured to search for signs of parasites. The lime green fluid added to the musky smell of blood and entrails. The required organs proved to be clear of any parasites. The inspector then examined the carcass for broken ribs, parasites or infections in the inner tissue that would be hazardous for human consumption. When the animal was deemed safe, the small and large intestines, the stomach and other useless organs were thrown out. The remaining carcass was then put into the refrigerator where it sits for several days until the proper cuts of meat could be made and sent to the market. With that, I removed my hard hat and apron and thanked the professor and Tim for allowing me to observe the slaughtering.

            By the time I left the abattoir, I had a new perspective on the slaughtering of animals. I realized that despite the terrible fact that the abattoir is a factory of death for animals, it is a food processing plant for humans. I believe that animals should be humanely treated, but I also think every living organism has some sort of role to fill in this life and that the role of the Lamb is to provide clothing, food and other products. Perhaps that is why the lambs were silent when they were confronted with their end; they sensed they were fulfilling their role.