[Sylvia]

Has anyone stayed with their pigs, or any other animal, at the abattoir until they were dispatched? There has been some controversy about our local slaughterhouse (animals being kicked, shouted at, processed before the 20 second bleeding time etc.) and I am determined to stay with my animals until the deed is done.
I know what the process is and am not squeamish I hope, but wondered whether anyone has any experience to share.

[chickenfeed]

 :pig:i walk ours through and oh has watched the deed done while i sort the paper work out my daughter hasw been in the slaughter house and witnessed the slaughter etc. i would not have thought they could be cruel as trading standards can and do spot checks to make sure things like cruelty do not happen.

[dixie]

You hear all sorts of horror stories, but if you can stay with them then why not? personally I couldn't and just take them into  the holding pen then leave. There are always sounds of the men singing and chatting and they all seem friendly, I've not seen anything to make me concerned despite some people telling me they can be horrible to the animals.

[Malc]

It's probably something everyone should do once, if only to set your mind at ease that the animals are professionally dealt with. It's not a pleasant experience, but a good abbatoir will dispatch your animals quietly and efficiently.
If you're not happy with your local slaughterhouse is there another within reasonable distance?

[Sylvia]

Thank you. Three slaughtermen were suspended from our local abattoir, pending enquries. I think they were rushing things and not giving enough thought to the animals welfare. Hopefully things will be better now but I will be there 'til the end, just to be sure.

[JulieS]

I'm lucky enough to have a small, family run abattoir that I use.  I'm very confident that everything is done well there.  If I were in any doubt at all I would opt to be there until the end.

[dixie]

Yes the one I use is also a family run small business, I have every faith that its all done correctly! My butcher reckons that tough meat comes from anxious animals, mine has always come back lovely, so maybe its true!

[herdsman]

I visit a lot of slaughterhouses and on the whole the stockmen in the lairage are very good. Most of them have worked with animlas/grown up on on farms etc. Dont forget there is an official vet on duty all the time to ensure welfare is up to standard. It is not in the interest of the abbatoir to have animlas stressed before sluaghter as it affects the meat and kicking and beating animls with anything will leave marks on the meat.