A Disturbing Process

2 Parts. 8 chapters. 105 pages. That's how far into Slaughterhouse by Gail A. Eisnitz I am at the moment. 

I can already tell that I am not going to enjoy this book. 

While the author has a style of writing that is both blunt and intriguing, her subject is extremely unpleasant. She does not try to hide this fact from the reader by sensitively approaching the subject, but instead begins the book by describing a horrific case (which she had to go undercover for) of dog training using live rabbits. 

Of course this case had nothing to do with the food industry, but a case she was given at the same time as this one led her to discover a somehow even more disturbing crime that was taking place in a cattle slaughterhouse.

By the second chapter - only 28 pages in - Eisnitz already had two witnesses who claimed that the slaughterhouse, called Kaplan, had been making its workers skin living, conscious cattle. Not only is this clearly a form of animal cruelty, but it also made for a dangerous work environment for the people who actually had to skin the cattle.  

If you are wondering why this might be, try thinking about if someone tried skinning you while you were aware of it. Would you simply relax and let it happen? Or would you start kicking and fighting for your life, and then trying to run from anyone who came near you; even if that meant trampling anyone in your path? 

I would hope most of you would have enough "life preservation" instinct to do the latter.

The worst part, to me, is that even if the cow does not get loose it still gets passed down the line, only to be stabbed in the spinal cord once it reaches the skinners. According to Eisnitz, severing the spinal cord only paralyzes the cattle so they can not move. It does not, however, rid them of the pain of being skinned.

Conditions in this slaughterhouse were not only gruesome for the cattle, of course, but also extremely dangerous for the workers, and not just because of scared cattle.

At this point my main interest in finishing this book is being able to see Eisnitz get the owners of this slaughterhouse in just as much trouble as they deserve.