Death By Suffocation Is Not Humane

A hidden camera records the secret “Butina North” gas chamber at Smithfield Foods’ slaughterhouse. Groups of 7 to 9 fully conscious pigs are pushed into cages within the chamber. The USDA has no way to see what’s done to them inside.

Recently, 16 hours of footage from inside a carbon dioxide gas chamber at a Smithfield slaughterhouse in Vernon, CA, revealed the reality of this killing method. Over the past two decades, CO₂ chambers have become widespread, yet they remain uniquely shielded from USDA inspectors’ oversight.

Dr. Temple Grandin once attempted to study these chambers by installing cameras inside. Temple Grandin said the slaughterhouse blocked her efforts, “they didn’t want to look inside the box.” This refusal to confront the method’s reality raises an uncomfortable question: If the process is humane, why keep it hidden?

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has released its newest edition of the Guidelines on Humane Slaughter. Go to HumaneSlaughter.org and look for yourself; does this look humane to you?

Will you help animals by adding your signature to our letter to the AVMA?