Which is the most humane? LETS VOTE!
Below is an article sent by one of my students. It shows a pig being killed in Moldavia. It’s not the typical way that Moldavian’s kill their pigs, but killing is killing… or is it?
When on the subject of vegetarianism, there are many times when people respond, “Well, I think it’s okay to eat meat – but I feel that the animals shouldn’t have to suffer. It’s okay if they’re killed humanely.”
If you feel that way, fair enough. I ask that everyone, vegetarians and non-vegetarians, to watch the 8 videos below and VOTE for the most ‘humane’ way of killing. They only last an average of 3 minutes each.
Please cast your vote in the comments section… and if you don’t think any of them are humane, then write “NONE”.
In 1 month’s time, the blog team will collect the votes and the results will be updated on this post … and let’s see which is the best way of humanely killing a pig.
Tsem Rinpoche
(Extracted from : http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?language=2&Display=119&resolution=high&page=1)
Moldavian Pig Slaughter
A friend brought me back pictures of a Moldavian family slaughtering a pig at home much like it was done all over Europe 100 years ago. Not for the faint-hearted.
My friend Zed is good friends with a young Moldavian chap who works for a large multinational here in Switzerland. The Moldavian – let’s call him that – goes back to visit his family twice a year and last time, he invited Zed along. Moldavia is not the most advanced country in Europe. Stuck between the back of Romania and the Ukraine, it is a bit forgotten by both Europe and the former Eastern bloc.
Moldavians live much like we did a hundred years ago. The Moldavian’s parents have electricity but no running water and no heating system in most of their house. As a gift to his parents, the Moldavian bought them a pig that they could slaughter and feast on for weeks. Whatever you think of pig-eating, please do not judge these people. They live like we did 100 years ago, including your grandmother.
Slaughtering animals at home was very common all across Europe only two generations ago. Both my parents saw their parents do it when they were little. My grandfather would fatten a pig for a whole year, then slaughter him himself in the barn and bring the meat home. This was called faire la boucherie ‘to do the butchery’. In my Italian cookbooks, many traditional recipes use pig blood and guts, ingredients one didn’t want to see lost during the maialata - the pig slaughter.
I have never seen this for real and wouldn’t have the stomach to select a live pig, drive him home and cut his throat. That’s too much for me and you’ll see what it looks like hereafter. But I eat bacon and ham and who would I be to refuse to look at where this food is coming from?
WARNING! This article contains extremely graphic pictures of a pig being slaughtered. This is what happens every time you buy bacon, but it may shock you. If you have a predisposition towards vegetables, this article might turn you into a vegetarian for good. Not for the faint-hearted or those whose heart is prone to bleeding. You’ve been warned.
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The pigs are raised in the Moldavian countryside and can run around all day.
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Inside the pig stall – the pigs are very clean indeed. |
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Left, the fateful moment where the pig is chosen. Middle the Moldavian’s mother inspects the bound pig being weighed. Right, the pig is taken for one last ride while a little girl looks at him up close. |
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And now for our more dreadful sacrifice. A Moldavian with a knife quickly pushes the blade in the place nearest to the pig’s heart. Blood flows. |
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The pig dies by blood loss in less than a minute. If this is as much as you can bear, please stop now. |
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Pigs are furry animals. Three Moldavians with blowtorches burn every hair on the dead pig’s body. |
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The pig’s skin has turned black because of the flames, but the like-in-the-good-old-days taste is still missing. |
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The pig is covered with straw and set on fire to infuse him with that elusive smokey taste. |
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Buckets of water extinguish the fire. |
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The pig is covered with a sheet. It is considered good fortune to sit on the carcass, eg family style like above. |
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Four Moldavians now scrape the skin, revealing a clean, appetizing, yellowish underskin. |
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LAST WARNING! This article contains extremely graphic pictures – stop here if you feel uncomfortable. |
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The man of the house cuts the pig’s head… |
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…then ties it with a string and hangs it for the lads to play with. You might notice that the ears’ tips have been cut off. Somebody ate them – a treat really. |
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Store the blood in a jar for later use. |
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Now let’s do the dirty – carve the pig open (left) and grab his heart … (right) |
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Start removing the intestines. |
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Let’s not shy away from the difficult bit – tying the pig’s anus so that the intestines don’t spill all over the courtyard. If you feel this sounds a bit horrific, I agree but people executed by poison in American prisons are also fit with an anal cork for the exact same reason, so if you are for the death penalty and do eat pig, you cannot afford to be shocked. |
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A Moldavian with an axe starts splitting the carcass in two … |
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… until two usables slabs of meat are obtained. |
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Slabs of fat are cut up in squares, salted and stored in jars. Out of parsimony and respect for the pig and the work entailed, the idea of these pig slaughtering rituals is not to lose one bit. In my Swiss canton of Valais, people used to say Dans le cochon, tout est bon, ‘in a pig you can eat everything’. |
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The pig’s head can be used for sausages, pâtés or soups. I remember helping my uncle out preparing soup for 80 people at his house and he asked me to peel a pig’s head. I couldn’t! |
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This pig didn’t drink. The healty liver is removed from the bile bladder with great care. If you pierce this organ, it would ruin the rest of the meat with a vile green bitter liquid – bile. |
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All in a days’s work – the end product ready to be salted and dried. |
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Here are three dishes made right after the slaughter to use up the guts. A blood sausage (left), Moldavian haggis (center) and a stew of other organs (right). |
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One final word – I did not enjoy writing this article nor looking at the pictures. But I do eat pig regularly and all over the world, people slaughter animals in their homes, pigs, lambs or cows. This is part of the meat-eating diet and to understand traditional recipes, who often call on offal, you need to understand slaughtering. For those who would want to write abusive comments about this please first check that you never have eaten any meat, because meat comes from the exact same process shown on this page, and most of the world’s butchery animals are not free to roam outside before ending up on your table.
Published 23/10/2007
1. Tong Nan, China
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/PigSlaughterInTongNanChina.flvOr view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/PigSlaughterInTongNanChina.flv
2. Cape Verde
Or view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/HowToKillAPig.flv
3. New Mexico
Or view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/CleverAndProfessionelWomenPigKilling.flv
4. Tonga, Polynesian Islands
Or view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/RoastingAndKillingAPigInTonga.flv
5. Europe
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/PrivatePigSLAUGHTERING.flvOr view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/PrivatePigSLAUGHTERING.flv
6. Egypt
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/OutrageEgyptsPigKilling.flvOr view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/OutrageEgyptsPigKilling.flv
7. The Celtic Way
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Celtic-Pig-Slaughter.flvOr view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Celtic-Pig-Slaughter.flv
8. An Average Slaughterhouse
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Slaughterhouse.flvOr view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Slaughterhouse.flv
None, can we vote for the WORST
I think that’s a fantastic idea, please do vote for the worst instead!
None
Absolutely NONE. There is no way anyone can justify killing let alone deem it “humane”…. Gosh! These images are burnt into my phyche… May I NEVER knowingly have to kill to sustain my existence EVER! This reaffirms my commitment and belief to be vegetarian for the rest of my life and in doing so may I generate the merits to be able to avoid having to consume meat in my future lives!
NONE!! They are all bad killing, but the worst ones are: 5, 6 & 8.
None. Especially when you consider that the pig is the fourth most intelligent animal in the world and have the same emotional cognition of 3 year old human child. If you have very seen a young human child cry and cpwer in fear, you may get an idea of what the pig is going through.
None.
Voting for the WORST:
They’re all terrible! These images have been forever burned into my psyche. I’m so happy I convinced my daughter to at least cut back on her meat consumption. By coincidence she gave up bacon at breakfast, choosing cereal and almond milk instead. Thank you Rinpoche from the bottom of my heart for writing the vegetarian vows and publishing them in your blog. It may sound strange, but taking the vows has actually made it much easier to be a vegetarian. Being able to say that I “can’t” eat meat instead of I “shouldn’t” eat meat takes away the urge completely. Even if that hadn’t been enough watching these videos has made the thought of consuming ANY animal just as horrific as cannibalism so thanks for that too!
None is humane.
Watching these videos reaffirm my committment of going vegetarian which I have started almost 2 years back. Some may find it hard to view all the videos, but do take a look at any one, you will change your mind of ” shall we have pork or chicken?” next time you go and eat in a restaurant.
I am glad that my two sons are also vegetarian now after watching another great video “Earthlings” which Rinpoche recommended.
We tend to live in our own ignorance and avoid the reality and truth. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these videos and pictures as the brutal killing resonate with all of us, I hope this will encourage more and more people stop eating meat everytime they think about the horrible slaughter scenes.
The only humane act would be to free these poor animals and allow them to live out their lives as they should. Would we want our lives to be shortened and we have no control over what is being decided for us? I do not believe that there is anything humane about taking someone’s life. An animal is still a someone.
Vote: NONE
No matter how “humane” is the process of taking the life of another being, it is never humane at all. Never.
NONE. Every act or method of killing is inhumane. It can never be humane!!!!
There is no humane way to kill. Killing is inhumane from every angle. We cannot vote for the most humane at all. Killing is still killing. A life is still lost.
KILLING is a human activity.
SAVING LIVES is a human activity.
We are one of these rare “species” that can apply a conscient choice as to which one of these two activities we engage in.
HUMAN NATURE is characterized by our potential of every moment to create the causes for a world free from sufferings.
But because this is based on personal choice, human nature can also become destructive and create causes for more sufferings.
When we say “HUMANE”, we draw from the best possible choice humans have to engage in activities, the virtuous one, the choice that creates causes for a world free from sufferings.
Thus:
killing as going against the human nature.
Saving lives as going forward to an even better nature than human.
In this specific case of killing an animal for a pleasurable meal, the most humane choice is not to kill.
Therefore, none of the killing shown here above can be humane, because they all create causes for a world with increased sufferings.
it sure is a human activity to kill or to let live. And the choice is ours… We DO HAVE the choice. It is not that humans do not have choice of food for sustenance.
I vote for NONE.
Your mind will be filled with so much peace, knowing that each non-meat meal you consume is a choice that you have made to let a being/s live.
The variety of ways that people come up with to kill animals in a more humane way is just a joke… they just want to cushion their guilt for killing the animal by believing that the animal did not suffer.
To me, i believe we should think at the point of view from the one receiving the treatment in this case the animals… I don’t think any animal will find this very humane
So, my answer would be NONE of these is humane. Killing is not human nature…
The sadness of this article and the videos lie within the lack of understanding your own nature, human nature, but judging another being as lesser instead. If you wouldn’t consider that kind of ‘murder’ acceptable to yourself, why do so to others, regardless of human or not?
None.
Killing is not sanctioned across all religions – it is a matter of interpretation what is the extent of the killing. Some people think that it’s fine to kill animals. I know someone who can’t eat any meat if it is served with the head on (e.g. fish or chicken/duck in some Chinese restaurants). It’s so hypocritical to say that once the head is taken off, she can eat it. If only she would watch these videos – i wonder if she’d be able to continue eating meat.
As everyone has said previously, there is no humane way to kill.
YUCK! NONE!!! None of this can be called humane.
If us human is allowed to die naturally… then who give us the power to kill another just like that?