The Virginian-Pilot
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The Humane Society of the United States today submitted a shareholder resolution to Smithfield Foods Inc., encouraging the company to switch to a different method of slaughtering turkeys. Smithfield owns a 49 percent stake in Butterball LLC.
The animal rights group advocates the use of “controlled-atmosphere killing,” which involves using inert gases.
“Generally, the whole process lasts seven to 11 minutes, but the birds are unconscious after a few minutes,” said Matt Prescott, a former official with PETA who is outreach director for the Humane Society. “The birds get sleepy, fall asleep and die.”
In Butterball’s current method, the Humane Society said, the birds are shocked, their throats are cut and they are placed in scalding water while they are conscious.
PETA unsuccessfully submitted similar resolutions in 2007 and 2008. At a shareholders meeting last year, Smithfield’s president and CEO, C. Larry Pope, said the company could not afford the change.
Prescott said, however, that the switch could improve the company’s bottom line, by reducing the likelihood of broken bones or bruising in turkeys and improving working conditions.
The intent of the resolution is similar to those submitted by PETA, but the specifics are different. PETA had asked Smithfield to make the change. This time, the Humane Society is asking the company to recommend the switch to Butterball by next November.
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Have you paid your PETA dues for next year yet?
CAK - Logical and Humane
Smithfield and Butterball have the choice of being industry leaders or followers when it comes to the use of CAK, but the poultry industry will eventually make this commonsense switch. CAK for chickens and turkeys is already in use in Europe, and suppliers report decreased waste, less worker injury, lower employee turnover rate, reduction in water usage, higher quality meat from reduced bruising and hemorrhaging, shorter necessitated refrigeration time, less water usage...the list goes on, but all factor into increased profits for suppliers. CAK solves the major animal welfare issues associated with live hanging and electrical stunning and results in higher yield and quality. It's time for meat processing giants like Smithfield to stop digging for excuses not to implement this new technology, admit that there's a better method, and start phasing in CAK.
Controlled-atmosphere killing uses a dangerous green house gas
...carbon dioxide, which the Environmental Protection Agency just declared to be a toxic gas that contributes to global warming. To enact this proposal would release a green house gas into the atmosphere and add to climate change problems, according to the EPA. The current method makes much more sense with regard to the environment, waste and business aspects as well as humane considerations.
Hunters are next!
I wonder if the Humane Society will restrict hunters from shooting wild turkeys because the death method is inhumane??
Our contributions hard at work...I wouldn't give a nickle to PETA, but now I'm wondering about the Humane Society, didn't think they were as crazy as PETA, until I read this article...
If I were CEO
I'd ask the Humane Society to build the chamber and purchase the gas for all of this, if they feel so strongly about it.
Gobble, Gobble.
This is one of the dumbest
This is one of the dumbest things I think I have ever read, and I wish I could have the time it took to read back.
wow
“Generally, the whole process lasts seven to 11 minutes, but the birds are unconscious after a few minutes,” So it's ok if they die over a period of up to 11 minutes, but not when slitting their throats takes about 2 minutes...
Seems perfectly reasonable, I am sure most people would choose a longer, and possibly more painful, death over something shorter. And don't tell me all about that "go to sleep and die peacefully" garbage. If that was the case, we would be using that method to kill death row inmates. They even tried to get needles and drugs removed because it was inhumane... Maybe you should have bought a 51% share, then you can take the losses from crappy business decisions, it isn't your $$$ anyway, it's all donated.