What is the process for slaughtering cows and other livestock? Do they experience any pain?

The slaughterhouse process differs by species and region. A typical procedure follows: (Kosher and halal religious laws prescribe specific methods of slaughter that differ from those described below.)

Animals are received by truck or rail from a ranch, farm, or feedlot.
Animals are herded into holding pens (see Judas goat).
Animals receive a preslaughter inspection.
Animals are rendered insensible (unconscious) by stunning (method varies)
Animals are hung by hind legs on processing line.
A main artery is cut, the animal's blood drains out and it dies.
Animal's hide/skin/plumage is removed.
Carcass is inspected and graded by a government inspector for quality and safety. (by the Food Safety Inspection Service in the US, and CFIA in Canada)
Carcass is cut apart and the body parts separated.

Meat cuts are quickly chilled to prevent the growth of microorganisms and to reduce meat deterioration while the meat awaits distribution.
The remaining carcass may be further processed to extract any residual traces of meat, usually termed mechanically recovered meat, which may be used for human or animal consumption.

Material not destined for human consumption is sent to a rendering plant. The waste water generated by the slaughtering process and the cleaning of the slaughter house is treated in a waste water treatment plant. The meat is transported to distribution centers that distribute to local retail markets.

Most countries have laws in regard to the treatment of animals at slaughterhouses. In the United States, there is the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, an unenforceable declaration of policy requiring that animals be stunned before killing. This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter in accordance to religious law, such as kashrut. Most strict interpretations of kashrut require that the animal be fully sensible when its carotid artery is cut.

A much larger body of regulation deals with the public health and worker safety regulation and inspection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse
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The Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 sets the guidelines for the slaughter of some animals. However, contrary to popular belief, it does not require the animal to be dead before the cutting begins! According to the Act, the animal must be "insensible to pain" before being chained and cut up. The accepted method to render the animal "insensible" is to use an electric shock delivered by a probe.

Many advocates of humane treatment for animals question whether this renders the animal insensible to pain or just unable to move and respond. We make so many convenient assumptions as a society to keep the dollars - and the meat - flowing.

"In a signed affidavit, a slaughterhouse employee said "The chain goes too fast, more than 300 cows an hour. ... If I can't get the animal knocked right, it keeps going. ... The chain doesn't stop. It keeps running."

"In a horrifying admission, the employee goes on to say, "I estimate that 30 percent of the cows are not properly knocked [stunned with the electric prod] and get to the first legger alive. ..."
Seventeen employees signed affidavits reporting cruel conditions at the plant. Fewer than 1,400 of the slaughterhouses are in compliance with the law. With few inspectors, it is impossible to properly inspect and monitor slaughterhouses.

http://www.vegetariansolutions.org/fortheanimals.php

Horses
Dallas Crown Packaging is Belgian owned in Kaufman, TX and slaughters horses for Belgium, Italy, Japan, and France. Bel-Tex Corporation is a French owned horse slaughterhouse at 3801 N. Grove Street, Ft. Worth, Texas 76106. They export horsemeat to France and other European countries.

It is a dirty secret of the horse industry that these two equine slaughterhouses are operating in Texas - the Beltex "Plant" and the Dallas Crown "Plant." A third plant, Cavel, in DeKalb, Illinois recently reopened.

Their purpose is to supply horsemeat to diners in other countries. Horsemeat is a delicacy in France, Belgium, and Japan, and tens of thousands of young, healthy American horses a year are brutally slain to supply this for them.

Under federal law, horses are required to be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually with a device called a captive bolt gun, which shoots a metal rod into the horse's brain. Some horses, however, are improperly stunned and may still be conscious when they are hoisted by a rear leg to have their throats cut. In addition, conditions in the slaughterhouse are stressful and frightening for horses.

http://www.justsaywhoa.org/slaughterhouses.asp

I've seen many cows slaughtered for food. Not one of them "screamed" and none of them seemed to be in pain. As much of the body was used as possible.

If we eliminated the slaughtering of cows and other livestock, world hunger would skyrocket. I'm sorry, but kill the cows and save the people. Of course it should be done humanely, but the life of a cow is not as valuable as that of a human.

I feel that all slaughter houses are inhuman and I know that we need to protein and meat but if we have to gain that from the deaths that are occuring each day (over 32,000 pigs are killed in smithfeild each day), I believe that this is cruel and that humans are a despicable species if some can kill a species or an animal at all like this, and like smithy-jack talked about, cutting and killing the pig while it's still alive!?!, who the heck does this, I would rather go vegitarian then having to eat meat knowing that these livestock are being killed this way each day... thats my post ^ ^ hope some agree=) but I did see a video about over proccessing, and it shows the hogs being rowned up by the dozens and then pushed into a machine that boiled them alive, and that video also showed other inhuman things, such as putting a chicken through a tube and somehow snapping it's neck.just so cruel=(~~~....~~~

I stopped eating meat a very long time ago when i was on the way home from a holiday and we stoppd along side the road for a break and the cows were being pushed up onto a truck and when one cow broke free and started bleatig loudly (screaming) and it looked so scared and i think it knew what was coming, also when my dad was little the meat truck used to come by his house and the cows were tied by their legs inside the truck still alive.
I stopped eating meat after that but today i looked up videos on youtube about animal cruelty and it showed a cow in a metal cage very small around it two men at the front one holding its tail up and another behind the cow.
The man then started cutting things of the cow and the cow screamed and its two front legs went down the men at the front then pulled out some metal clippers of some sort and did something horrible to the cows head and it screamed louder and its head sunk down.
Then the picture faded and came back on with the same cow and someone standing behind it and smoke was everywhere and the cow was in such inexpressible pain it couldnt bleat anymore and i was shoked when i saw it open its mouth and steam billow out of it i didnt understand why or how. Were they burning it inside out???
Another clip showed a cow being hit and dragged viciously aroung the slaughter house for 3 and a half minutes until its throat was slit and left on the floor. Many more videos that i couldnt handle were their too. I honestly dont give a shit whether or not they insist on "having" to eat meat or '"its just a cow it doesnt feel guilt or saddness" SO? it still feels pain and fear so they must be really bloody frightened...

Why would a so-called "civilized" nation handle food processing in such a way?? Are these animals not alive and provide us with food? Can they not sense death and fear like any other animal, including humans? Do we not take great care that they remain healthy all there lives, only to torture them in a cruel and horrifying death?? Can we put men on the moon but not devise a better way to humanely kill an animal?? I don't want to support money-hungry bureaucrats, cattle barons or anyone else who wants to look the other way on this issue. As for me I'm going to stick with protein powders and contact my congressman and state representative demanding more action!!!!!!!!

Would you?

I live in Texas, in an area where there are many many cattle operations, both dairy and beef. My husband works for the Railroad industry, and is familiar with proceedings at "plants" they service.
The animals are quite frightened and upset, they seem to "know" something scary is about to happen to them. "You should hear them all bleating in great fear." (They scream.) It bothers me to think about it, but I still enjoy a bit of meat occasionally. Carnivorous....

Naw. It's very pleasant! Like a walk on the beach at sunset!
;-)

1) "In the United States, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) specifies the approved methods of livestock slaughter:
- Chemical (carbon dioxide):
This method is approved for sheep, calves and swine. The animal is asphyxiated by the use of carbon dioxide gas.
- Mechanical (captive bolt):
This method is approved for sheep, swine, goats, calves, cattle, horses, mules, and other equines. A captive bolt stunner is applied to the livestock so as to produce immediate unconsciousness in the animals before they are butchered.
- Mechanical (gunshot):
This method is approved for cattle, calves, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines. The gun is used to render the animal immediately unconscious (and presumably dead) before butchering.
- Electrical (stunning or slaughtering with electric current):
This method is approved for swine, sheep, calves, cattle, and goats. The current applied is sufficient to ensure surgical anesthesia throughout the "bleeding" of the animal.

Each of these methods is outlined in detail, and the regulations require that inspectors identify operations which cause undue "excitement and discomfort" of animals."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_slaughter


2) "For her book Slaughterhouse, Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association (HFA), interviewed slaughterhouse workers in the U.S. who say that, because of the speed with which they are required to work, animals are routinely skinned while apparently alive, and still blinking, kicking, and shrieking. Eisnitz argues that this is not only cruel to the animals, but also dangerous for the human workers, as cows weighing several thousands of pounds thrashing around in pain are likely to kick out and debilitate anyone working near them.

According to the HFA, Eiznitz interviewed slaughterhouse workers representing over two million hours of experience, who, without exception, told her that they have beaten, strangled, boiled, and dismembered animals alive, or have failed to report those who do. The workers described the effects the violence has had on their personal lives, with several admitting to being physically abusive or taking to alcohol and other drugs.

The HFA alleges that workers are required to kill up to 1,100 hogs an hour, and end up taking their frustration out on the animals. Eisnitz interviewed one worker, who had worked in ten slaughterhouses, about pig production. He told her:
“Hogs get stressed out pretty easy. If you prod them too much, they have heart attacks. If you get a hog in the chute that's had the shit prodded out of him and has a heart attack or refuses to move, you take a meat hook and hook it into his bunghole. You try to do this by clipping the hipbone. Then you drag him backwards. You're dragging these hogs alive, and a lot of times the meat hook rips out of the bunghole. I've seen hams — thighs — completely ripped open. I've also seen intestines come out. If the hog collapses near the front of the chute, you shove the meat hook into his cheek and drag him forward.”

It is observed that animals lose weight when stressed and meat loses taste quality. This does motivate companies to try to control the stress levels of animals as much as possible."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse#Animal_welfare_concerns

This is one of the reasons I went vegan ....a huge reason...we DO NOT NEED "meat"...I don't eat any animal products and I am extremely healthy...watch Food Inc.

Any animal is also have soul. huminity will never allow to do such acts by socity.
regards,
Pankaj

depends how there killed if there killed humanly they feel no pain

I'm writing in response to the MORON who said "kill the cows, save the people">> How could you even THINK that??? Are we not all of God's children, should we not repect and love one another?? If we must kill animals for our pathetic existence, can we at least do it humanely so that they are unconscious before they die, and be killed in a way that they dont fel pain and suffering???
I hate people who think the way YOU do, idiot.....we are no better than the animals, in fact i HATE humans for all the evil we do in this world, cause pain, suffering, and are destroying this planet we live in!!!!
You are pathetic. We dont need to eat meat to survive....and we dont need to kill other creatures for our "enjoyment of food" !!!!

They force them into a large device by using shock poles. once in the device, the cattle are turned upsydown where their necks are slip open and their trachea are taken out. the cattle are still fully alive, and are dumped out of the device and left on the ground to die from excessive bleeding and lack of air. theres a lot more to it, watch this video. and watch the whole thing, and you'll see what i mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTO7UXsdC9w

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142#
WARNING!!!
prepare to gag and wipe tears.

You eat beef?