لقراءة الخبر باللغة العربية اضغطوا هنا
The video I am about to share was secretly shot years ago by a French animal’s rights group. Although it never went viral, I spared no effort to
share it time and time again in hopes of raising awareness on the state of Beirut’s Karantina slaughterhouse…to no avail.
But, with Lebanon’s
Health Minister Wael Abou Faour finally sounding the alarm on the appalling conditions inside the abattoir, I thought I would share it once more, lest it remains unseen by those who need to see it most: the Lebanese public.
Warning: the footage you are about to view is extremely graphic and while published in 2013, the conditions have persisted and will probably continue unless the
closure set to be implemented is followed through with effective measures in line with international standards.
Karantina Slaughterhouse:
Built in 1994, the facility stands close to the Sukleen waste management company, the Sukomi Composting plant and another cement factory, all of which contribute to the pollution of the
maslakh’s surroundings, be it voluntary or not.
Seriously? A compost and waste management factory near the facility that distributes meat to the country? And we wonder why the meat is contaminated with e-coli bacteria?
For a list of the needed international standards, click
here.
The rehabilitation of the slaughterhouse, the only authorized (yet temporary) abattoir in the country –go figure–should by the least abide by these
criterions.
Animal Welfare:
As we see in the video, the animals are subjected to a torturous death. They are beaten, pushed, kicked, inhumanely slaughtered and chopped to pieces, sometimes while still conscious. They are left to slowly bleed to death, which leads the meat to falsely weigh more, a butcher explained to me, surpassing all
Halal standards required by the Lebanese government.
If you have no compassion for animal welfare and consider them lower life forms that do not feel pain or experience anxiety, here’s your wake-up call.
The meat in the burger, steak,
la7m b3ajeen (meat pie) or whatever else commercial food you choose to consume mostly comes from the Karantina slaughterhouse in Beirut.
According to FAO, the quality of meat is directly influenced by the method of slaughter and conditions leading to the killing of the animal.
“Here the animal is subjected to severe anxiety and fright caused by manhandling, fighting in the pens and bad stunning techniques. All this may result in biochemical processes in the muscle in particular in rapid breakdown of muscle glycogen and the meat becoming very pale with pronounced acidity (pH values of 5.4-5.6 immediately after slaughter) and poor flavor. This type of meat is difficult to use or cannot be used at all by butchers or meat processors and is wasted in extreme cases.”
Read the full report here.
In another study conducted by professor of nutritional physiology Irwin H. Putzkoff, PhD, MD, stress, fear and pain in animals that are being slaughtered or waiting to be slaughtered is directly linked to several diseases in humans who consume the flesh, most notably cardiac problems, impotency and general fatigue.
“Studies made of domestic farm animals (cattle, pigs and poultry), and of laboratory animals (dogs and rats) show in all cases elevated levels of steroid hormones, generally associated with adrenocortical secretions. Primary substances include adrenalin, cortisone-like secretions, and steroids which stimulate fear pheromone production. All of these are known to result in poor health and poor vitality. This study confirms this link in food consumed by humans.”
Read the full study here.
Environmental Impact:
If you’re not deterred by the ruthlessness depicted in the video, or the blatant disregard to hygiene, then maybe touching on the environmental impact of factory farming will not the least faze you.
But here’s a video anyway.
So in a nutshell, there are three major reasons to cut down on meat consumption:
1- Lack of hygiene
2- Compassion/Animal Welfare, which directly influences the quality of the meat
3- Environmental impact
But if you INSIST on consuming animal flesh then please by all means, let natural selection do its part by heading down to the nearest restaurant
blacklisted by the Lebanese health ministry to enjoy your favorite meal. It is a
pseudo-democratic (at best) country after all.
Nadine Mazloum is currently a freelance editor and news producer. She received her Honors in Communication Arts (Media Production) from The University of Western Sydney in 2008