Animal Transportation- Dead Before Reaching the Slaughterhouse

We’ve all seen the horrific sight of a transport truck flying by with little regard for the safety of the animals inside who are usually jostled about, having to struggle just to stay on their feet.  It’s saddening enough that these animals are headed for the slaughterhouse; what many people don’t realize is that millions of animals die each year when they are trampled or succumb to untreated illnesses, before they even reach the slaughterhouse.

According to an article of the Vancouver Sun about animal transport fatalities, “up to three million farm animals are found dead each year” inside transport trucks when they arrive at Canadian slaughterhouses.  And “more than 11 million farm animals are declared unfit for human consumption after arriving diseased or injured.”  And that’s just in Canada- it is a major problem in the U.S. as well.  The sad fact of the matter is to the industry these deaths are simply another cost of doing business.

The numbers are very upsetting, but it should be no surprise when you factor in all the other abuse these animals face.  Workers routinely poke pigs with electric prods and beat them, sometimes hitting them on the snout with baseball bats, breaking their noses.  Birds are often thrown, resulting in broken bones and wings.  Animals are literally piled on top of each other with no room to turn around, and no food or water is given to them during transport.  The massive number of animals crammed into the cargo containers can cause some to suffocate, especially in intense heat. During the summer months, temperatures inside the metal fixtures are sweltering, and during the winter months, the animals have almost no protection from the wind, ice, and snow. Many pigs actually freeze to the sides of the trucks in winter.

Truck drivers can be reckless, putting both the animals and humans in danger and transport accidents are common. If an animal is lucky, he or she might escape injury and be able to flee and avoid the slaughterhouse forever, but the chances of this happening are slim. Surviving, injured animals are usually just reloaded onto another truck to continue the journey to the slaughterhouse.

Below are some numbers for an example of just how many animals die in the senseless agricultural industry.

Number of animals declared unfit for human consumption after arriving diseased or injured at Canadian slaughterhouses:

8 million broiler chickens

3 million egg-layers and breeders

200,000 turkeys

80,000 pigs

8,000 cattle

-More than 11 million total

Number of animals found dead each year when trucks are unloaded at Canadian slaughterhouses:

2 million broiler chickens

400,000 egg-layers and breeders

20,000 turkeys

17,000 pigs

500 cattle

-Up to 3 million total