Is there such a thing as a good death?
I know a dismal question to be asking at the start of the new year, but after our experience yesterday I think it is an important one.
Yesterday, we had determined to take our oldest sow to the abattoir. She has been with us for over 5 years and has had a really good life here in Redwood.
We know we treat all our animals – both domestic and farm – well. (Sometimes I wonder if we treat them too well – especially when you are trying to tempt them into a trailer with a bucket of food and they are ignoring you cos they just aren’t hungry!)
So yesterday Lucy was loaded onto the trailer. As she was older and much, much bigger than our normal delivery, our local small abattoir could not take her. (We later learnt that she weighed 280 kgs!)
We don’t like to send the pigs on a long arduous journey in a trailer so thought we were doing her a favour by taking her on a short trip to Roscrea. How wrong we were!!
Alfie arrived at the factory, and was told that he had to go to a ‘special’ area as he was delivering a sow and they (sows) don’t go into the main area. We weren’t told this on the phone when booking. He was, however, in the main delivery area long enough to witness a dead pig in the yard being carted into the butchery area on a forklift. And worse still a semi-alive/semi-dead pig lying in a bin in the yard. He also saw factory staff washing out a double height trailer – with the pigs still in it. They started hosing at the top level, washing all the effluent down on top of the pigs on the lower level.
These were factory reared pigs – so they had had a horrible life, and were now being treated equally badly in death.
Alfie left and went to the ‘special’ area – which was basically a 20 ft open topped trailer – where farmers were backing up their trailers and offloading sows.
The trailer was already full of sows (obviously from differing herds which causes its own difficulties), and who it appeared had been in this trailer for a number of days – they were lying 2 deep in their own excrement and had no access to water.
This did not stop people from beating pigs into the trailer with wheel braces.
Bear in mind there was no more room in the trailer, in fact the trailer was already overloaded.
So what was now happening was that the new sows were walking in on top of those already on board.
All pigs were stressed and shocked and some were wounded.
How long they were going to be in this trailer for we do not know.
We cannot say that the factory were outwardly condoning this, but they were not supervising the offloading, trying to stop the behaviour or providing a second trailer.
We know there are strict Department of Agriculture guidelines – but why were they not being applied in this instance.
We have contacted both the ISPCA and the Department of Agriculture to report this appalling treatment of animals.
And another thought for everyone out there. These pigs were very very stressed which of course does effect the meat and not in a good way – this is what goes out into the food chain!
Beware where you buy your pork from!
Lucy came home and went to a more humane place. She had a good life and a good death.
An Update:
I am delighted to report that late yesterday evening we had a call from a senior representative of the company who asked to come and talk to us about what had happened.
Early this morning 2 representatives called and have been here for the past couple of hours. They have assured us that changes have been put in place already. They explained the reasoning – EU regulations – for some of what Alfie witnessed. The sows cannot be offloaded to existing holding pens within the factory area – hence the offloading directly onto a holding trailer outside the factory perimeter.
The good news is that
- The hosing down of the trailers with pigs on board, as described above, has been stopped with immediate effect.
- There will be a company representative supervising the loading of sows and more trailers will be provided.
- And they are looking at an alternative way whereby the sows from each herd can be segregated within the trailers.
So, overall a good result.
It is particularly good, don’t you think, that a company reacts and deals with a complaint openly and honestly. Well done to them.
I don’t know what to say. I am glad that you made the report. It would be such a depressing story if it wasn’t for your own heartfelt passion and compassion, thank you for caring about this:~)
Thank you! I wasn’t sure if I should write about it… but we do firmly believe that animals should be treated humanely at all stages of life (and death).
Thanks for reading!
Margaret
That is just soooooo bad , It would make you wonder what else goes on in the factories that the public don’t see . I couldn’t go with the lambs last year to the factory as even the smell in it turns my stomach but it is part of farming and has to be done . I will be going this year with the lambs to see exactly where they are going and how they are treated.
Elaine, as you say it is part of farming. And we just feel that if you’ve treated them well in life they should have ‘a good death’. Our local vet laughs at our dogs cos they go in to her surgery with tails wagging delighted to see her – but they’ve never had anyone treat them badly so why not greet her!
Margaret
Wow what a story, thanks for posting. Please keep us posted as to what the ISPCA and the Department of Agriculture had to say.
Sinead in LA
Will do Sinead. Thanks for reading! If something good comes out of it, well then that will be good!
You were completely right to write about it, and I think you should contact your local agriculture veterinary office too. And, possibly, the HSA. Bad practise like this should never go unreported.
Where did you take Lucy in the end? When I had to take a big sow (the one you didn’t take as she turned out to be very old, remember?) I went to Banagher where they did a grand job… although Michael did ask me NEVER to bring such a big pig again!
Lily,
We have. But your comment also explains why Michael doesn’t take big pigs anymore… Peggy Sue was some size 🙂
Margaret
Margaret I am so upset having read this but am thrilled that you wrote it. I feel if I complain as a meat eater I’m wasting my time but given that you’re in the ‘industry’ hopefully both government officials and media will listen (but I doubt it!).
What a pity Alfie didn’t think of filming this destruction and barbaric act of cruelty. Knowing that your main concern (and Alfies) at the time was Lucys I do feel now that you’ve had time to think you should publicise the abbatoirs details so that other farms may boycott.
Ena,
Alfie was annoyed he didn’t take photos but he was so horrified it just didn’t dawn on him. As I’ve said so many times this evening – death is just as much a part of farming as birth. But if you’ve feed and nurtured an animal (and they’ve given you good service too) they deserve a good ‘sending off’ too!
Lucy had got too heavy (no more than myself!) for useable meat but she still deserved to be treated well.
We may in time publish the name of the abattoir.
Margaret
That’s just awful Margaret. It really doesn’t bear thinking about but we should think about it because we are so separated from how our food is produced and treated all along the path of the food chain.
Karen
You are so right. People buy chops on a tray in the supermarket and just don’t think about the fact that this was once a living, running about animal!
Thank you!
Margaret
Wow. Devastating. And probably all too common. I am so sorry that you had to experience this and am thankful that you’ve reported it to the authorities.
Thanks Imen.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Yes, we’ve reported it to the DoA but will the act on it???
Margaret
Oh, gosh, that’s awful. Any factory we’ve ever been to has always been humane but yet I do think the cattle know when they are waiting in the pens what is going to happen but that really is horrific.
Lorna,
From what our local vet has told us the cattle ‘factories’ tend to be better (but then she had only been at the other side of the process)…
I do think that pigs do seem to really get the short end of the stick in this country… bad lives and bad deaths when they are in those totally commercial set-ups.
Sometimes our pigs annoy me…. but I’d never have them treated badly.
Margaret
This is absolutely horrendous!! Thanks so much for posting but it is such a shame that you had to. My husband always tells me that when it comes to certain abattoirs traceability etc is fairly questionable and it certainly seems the case here. I feel ashamed that I have been a bit lax of late when it comes to buying meat, particularly pork, but this post has reminded me of how important the source is.
Thanks so much for your comments.
We try to do our best, and it is nice when people appreciate it. It definitely isn’t fair when you give an animal a good life (or even if they have a bad life) that they should be treated badly at the end.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
Margaret
God that is horrific. I couldn’t have dealt with seeing that, our local place we take the lambs is really well run and nothing like that. I just don’t understand people sometimes.
I guess we’ll never understand people! Our local (small) abattoir is terrific, but he just doesn’t have the capacity to deal with a ‘big’ pig. So this was our first experience of going to one of the big factory abattoirs – heaven help the poor pigs that are raised in factory farms and then going to their end in circumstances like this.
Margaret
What an awful experience. Well done for the report, and bringing Lucy out of there.
I find our trips to the abattoir bad enough without coming across things like that. Lets hope something gets done.
Ben
Ben,
Good to hear your trips are OK… ours generally are. We’ve a good local abattoir… but Lucy was older, and heavier and he couldn’t deal with her… hence this experience.
Margaret
Thank you for sharing this- it really does make you think about how animals are treated in their last moments of life and there is something to be said about a humane, peaceful way of handling this. We will always continue to eat meat but we can make a choice and this is why we must all thing more carefully about the choices we make and where we buy our meat from.
I’m so glad that Alfie was able to avoid this end for Lucy and find someone else.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your thoughts. The good news is that the company have responded!
Margaret
I am speechless Margaret but not surprised at all. I can only imagine that Alfie is still in shock from seeing this. I really hope people read this and are reminded of how important ‘sourcing’ really is. Dignity in death after living such a lovey life is not asking too much for man or beast. Hugs and kisses to you both xx
Thank you, Mona. Yes it was upsetting but at least today we can report that the company have responded!
So a good result ultimately.
Margaret
This is why we love you both & your yummy produce. All the love & care.
These conditions are completely unexceptable & it pains me to think that even if I am careful to choose outdoor reared or organic meat – a careless, throw away attitude to the slaughter process could invalidate these choices entirely 😦
When you guys delivering to Belfast 😉
Thank you Laura.
Good news is that things will be better for animals at this outlet in the future.
Will hopefully be coming your way in the coming weeks!
Margaret
Thank you for publishing this shocking account of brutality. It is appalling that this is still happening in Ireland or indeed anywhere. It makes me so glad I’m a vegetarian.
Hi Bridget,
Thanks for your comments… it was appalling but at least by highlighting it we have managed to implement some change.
Margaret
There’s so much that’s wrong with our way of producing food – and what worries me is that Ireland is considered one of the more humane places; imagine what happens elsewhere! We need more people to become aware of what happens when animals are slaughtered and to really think about what they eat. What you eat is your choice and that choice should be an informed one. Well done for publicising this issue.
Thank you Sharon.
As you so rightly said, people do need to think about the entire process. The good news is that the company has already implemented better procedures.
Margaret
I’m delighted that you’ve brought this to peoples attention. What a horror and to think that this sort of thing is happening every single day in Ireland. It makes a heart weep. Those poor pigs. I’ve been vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for the past 2 of those years, and this is exactly the reason why.
Thank you Deborah,
The good news is that the company have assured us this morning that changes have already been implemented, and more will be.
Margaret
Fantastic news that the company have implemented changes. It is also refreshing that they did not deny your report of events but were honest about it. This really has made me question yet again where my meat comes from. I like to support my local butcher but I do wish there were stricter guidelines in place in terms of displaying details of the origins of meat products to make traceability easier for consumers to help them to make better informed purchases.
We are lucky in that we can source directly from the farmer! It would be so good if everyone could, but even if you can source a butcher who knows the farmers that he buys meat from.
So many butchers just buy from a central location – so their pork, beef, lamb could come from a myriad of farms!
Margaret
Wonderful news and well done on effecting these changes, more power to you! It’s worth noting that the reason most abattoirs won’t take big pigs is because they now use a machine to de-hair the carcass. If they put too large an animal through, it can break the machine. Michael was one of the last guys around who was prepared to dehair by hand.
Lily,
And despite it being a big facility they have this same issue with the de-hairing machine!
Margaret
Isn’t it crazy? But that’s how things have gone… breed ’em up fast and get ’em on the conveyor belt as soon as possible.
You are so right Lily….. and things are supposed to be better?????
Margaret
I’m so glad that your action and protest resulted in a postive re- action from the company. Glad you were able to share and highlight this and get people thinking.
The response on your blog, Twitter, FB etc has been great.
Hi Lisa,
The response/reaction has been phenomenal – which is so encouraging for us – there are people who care where their meat comes from and how the animal is treated both in life and in death.
Margaret
It never fails to amaze me when you encounter a monumental cock-up, how quick agencies, corporations etc are to fall back on the maze that is EU law! Common sense should prevail!
Maree you are right about common sense! We should perhaps adopt the French attitude to EU regulations! 🙂
Great result Margaret & Alfie.
This is exactly why I can’t eat meat. Well done for taking Lucy home x
Estelle,
I will never become vegetarian, but we give our pigs a very good life here and believe that they are also entitled to a good death. We also source all our meat from farmers we know have the same ethos.
Margaret
Terrific news that they contacted you. Ok so they didn’t fully accept liability but it’s a start and as said above people talking about an issue that still needs addressing is a GOOD thing so well done to you both for publicising!
[…] all started on Tuesday when we took Lucy off to the abattoir. When I wrote my blog post on Wednesday about the episode, the response on Twitter and Facebook was phenomenal. Over 500 […]
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Well done Margaret and Alfie. If only more people were like you the world would be a better place. I think whenever any of us see something like this we need to try to change it. It could be in a hospital, creche ……. Unfortunately people take shortcuts
Thank you Fiona.
We are often asked if we get ‘attached’ to the pigs. Mostly we don’t because we know they’ve had a very good life here. However, they also deserve dignity in death.
Margaret
Heartbreaking! My late Mum used to talk about how the pig would be slaughtered at their family farm or one of the neighbours’ farms during her childhood in the 1920’s/’30’s. There was an obligation to send the best cuts of meat to the house where someone was sick, pregnant or postnatal. The remaining cuts were brined, salted, hung in the chimney and cured, or cooked immediately. Black pudding was made from the blood and entrails. The essence of the activity was that the animal was killed with respect and every little bit of his/her body was put to some use. In my Mum’s family, the greatest disrespect of all was waste. Waste showed laziness, ignorance or both. Nothing has changed.
I hear you! I think I may have become your Mum…. I HATE waste!
[…] Secondly – we know that the abattoir that we take the animals too, makes their death a good one. […]
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