Strolling down the street the other day I came across a display by those nice people at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Not content to liken meat with murder, they have now taken to likening the consumption of meat to the holocaust. I’d show you the images but you know what? They offend me too much. The display, showing food products alongside concentration camp inmates read “To Animals, All People Are Nazis.” The display is on a 100-city tour. It was in Montreal on Wednesday, Ottawa on Thursday and Toronto on Friday… and it’s coming soon to a city near you!
Uh, one more thing. I’m not a big meat eater or anything and I am not unsympathetic to vegetarians, but it’s not really necessary to explain why this is so patently idiotic, is it?
completely random and unrelated: how come nothing was posted about the ARYAN NATIONS leader dying? big news folks.
oh, and PETA is carazy.
PETA should fight the Kosher fight! Where is the struggle for humane treatment of animals that are going to be slaughtered? They have on their site, last I checked, a posted article saying Kosher is not more humaine. WHY?
People are going to eat meat, they could choke it up and at least say who is being more humaine to slaughter animals rather than spreading lies.
PETA sucks. ! Down with ignorance.
Relax.. War’s over.. We won BTW
Peta while being mostly dumbasses.. Made ya think huh?
PETA is full of ignorant, over indulged hysterical, loons who are in dire need of a good steak dinner and a drink. Among other things.
I thought PETA was talking about the slaughtering process when they were considering the relative ‘humanity’ of Kosher vs. Non-Kosher meat production. And on that level, is Kosher slaughtering really more humane?
Yes it is. Infinitely more humane.
First they came for the fishies,
And I said nothing,
For I was not a fish
Then they came for the chickens,
And I said nothing,
For I was not a chicken
Then they came for the cows,
And I said nothing,
For I was not a cow
Finally, they came for me
And I couldn’t run away
For I was like, totally stuffed
this is so wrong ….
How is it ‘infinitely’ more humane? While the standard of pre-stunning is often violated, at least in theory it looks like pre-stunning is a more humane way than the jugular slicing us yids prefer. Wouldn’t you rather be unconscious when you die? Isn’t that the old desire for death during sleep?
Kosher slaughter involves one strong crossways blow with a perfectly sharp and nick-free blade, which severs the jugular and several major nerves in the neck. As long as the blade is perfectly sharp (which is a requirement of shechitah, ritual slaughter), there is no pain and unconsciousness results in two to three seconds. Many people have probably given themselves cuts on very sharp knives that they haven’t noticed until they saw blood. If the blade is found to be not sharp or nick-free, or if the blow is not clean, the animal is rendered trefah. More than one non-Jewish animal rights group has declared that kosher slaughter is the most humane form of slaughter practiced, which science supports. The USDA in the US also largely exempts kosher slaughterers from the regular inspections for sanity and non-cruelty because of the stringent requirements of shechitah.
…And by “sanity,” I meant “sanitation”…heh…
Well, the question is tricky. First, so long as we take the entire slaughter process into account, it isn’t merely the killing that matters; it is also the requirement of restraint (since the animal has to be conscious while the slaughter occurs). Animals that are stunned don’t require restraint or any level of discomfort at that level. Anyhow, while typically animals who are slaughtered kosher-ly don’t tend to suffer very much (one study mentions a ‘flinch’, but the same study mentions that some animals can persist consciousnly for over a minute: http://www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.slaugh.html) it is hard to see how this is MORE humane than methods that involve stunning. And I thought that that was the relevant issue; whether or not it was MORE humane.
I read the page…it would seem that the instances they mention when the animal obviously reacts to the cut is when they’ve made an error sometime during the slaughtering process that keeps the animal from being calm.
So the problem is not with kosher slaughter in and of itself, but with how it’s practiced in some kosher slaughtering plants. It would seem at least that properly practiced kosher slaughter is no more cruel than stunning, which ideally renders quick insensibility, but in practice seems to be only loosely enforced.
In a straight comparison with proper kosher slaughter and proper stunning slaughter, they both seem to have the same effect: quick insensibility with a minimum of pain. So at the very least, kosher slaughter can’t be worse, and from what I’ve heard, kosher slaughter rules are still more stringently enforced in slaughter plants than in plants who rely on the stun and kill method.
Please visit my website the “Kosher Goldfish”
Thank you