‘Gassing methods can cause horrendous suffering to animals in their last moments.

Pigs are lowered into a chamber containing at least 70 percent CO2 in air.

During this time they will struggle, gasp for breath, squeal, and climb over each other until they finally lose consciousness.

The pigs must remain in the gas mixture until they are completely unconscious which can take up to 30 seconds. After this, the animals are then shackled by one hind leg, hoisted and their throats cut to drain their blood’.

Regards Mark

OPINION: Why The CO2 Shortages Make It The Best Time To Go Vegan (plantbasednews.org)

OPINION: Why The CO2 Shortages Make It The Best Time To Go Vegan

The UK meat industry is reaching ‘breaking point’ and warns Christmas will be cancelled as it fears CO2 slaughters will be stopped…

This week’s headlines are overrun with the issues surrounding the current surge in gas prices. And, the knock-on effect they are expected to have on the UK’s food security.  Damning reports from both farmers and meat processors warn that the CO2 shortages could cancel Christmas, and that the meat industry is reaching breaking point. This is affecting the slaughter process of pigs, poultry, and beef, as well as packaging. 

Siobhan Dolan from vegan charity Viva! explains the connection between CO2 and the meat industry.

CO2 shortages and the meat industry

For billions of animals slaughtered each year in the UK, CO2 is the last thing they will breathe before dying.

In fact, this technique of slaughter, known as gassing, is the most common slaughter technique for many intensively farmed animals.

This is usually because it is the cheapest and quickest way to kill many animals at once. While it has often been thought to cause less suffering than other visibly more brutal methods, this is not true. And, gassing methods can cause horrendous suffering to animals in their last moments.

Pigs are lowered into a chamber containing at least 70 percent CO2 in air.

During this time they will struggle, gasp for breath, squeal, and climb over each other until they finally lose consciousness.

The pigs must remain in the gas mixture until they are completely unconscious which can take up to 30 seconds. After this, the animals are then shackled by one hind leg, hoisted and their throats cut to drain their blood.

The length of time it takes to kill pigs and the acute distress it causes have led to calls to ban the CO2 stunning method.

How birds are slaughtered with CO2

Most poultry birds killed in the UK face a similar fate. Birds are transported to slaughterhouses in crates.

Then, while still in the crates, they are placed into a chamber. Here, they are exposed to either concentrations of CO2 or a mixture of inert gases (nitrogen and argon). The gas mixture deprives birds of oxygen, causing them to lose consciousness and die. 

In a nutshell, CO2 is used to slaughter millions of animals each year in the UK. And, the current shortage could pose significant delays to the number of animals processed for slaughter.  

Factory farmed animals are bred and reared in filthy, overcrowded sheds. As a result, they often suffer from disease, injury, and psychological problems.

In these environments, profits take priority over animal welfare and Viva!’s countless investigations prove that animals suffer for food production.

Why are animals allowed to be killed like this?

Conditions on factory farms are likely to deteriorate even further. And, animals will experience prolonged suffering on factory farms if delays occur at slaughterhouses as the industry is predicting.

There are also reports from the industry regarding the possibility of animals being destroyed (killed) on farms, should the issue continue.

However, shouldn’t the bigger question be; why are we allowing animals to be kept in these conditions, killed in this way, and continuing to eat them?

Especially, considering how much we understand about animal sentience and the impact animal agriculture is having on the climate crisis? 

CO2 shortages might mean you can’t eat turkey this Christmas, but there are plenty of incredible meat alternatives on the market that can win over even the most dedicated carnivores.

Veganism – Now might be a good time to give it a go…

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‘This is significant given the number of land animals being raised for food in the country.

The Netherlands has more than 100 million chickens, 12 million pigs, four million cows, and 600,000 goats, according to DutchNews. It’s also the EU’s largest meat exporter’.

Dutch Farmers Face Calls To Reduce Livestock By 30% To Help Protect The Planet

The proposals sparked protests from the farming community, while environmentalists call for more action

Farmers in the Netherlands are facing calls to cut livestock production by almost a third. The proposal is in response to the ongoing ‘nitrogen crisis’ that the country faces, including concerns about ammonia pollution. 

Is nitrogen dangerous?

Nitrogen is the most abundant element in our atmosphere – making up around 78 percent of the atmosphere, according to NASA. It’s essential for life, but too much can damage the ecosystem. 

Excess nitrogen can leach into underground water sources or enter oceans via agricultural runoff. This can lead to algae blooms, which deplete oxygen in the water and can create aquatic dead zones. Dead zones typically cannot support life of any kind. 

Ammonia is made of nitrogen and hydrogen. In high concentrations, ammonia can cause respiratory problems, dermatitis, eye irritation and in severe cases, blindness or death. 

What is the nitrogen crisis?

In 2019, the Council of State – the highest Dutch administrative court – ruled that the government was breaching EU law, stating that the country’s efforts to reduce excess nitrogen in vulnerable natural areas were insufficient. 

Up to 18,000 infrastructure and construction projects were halted in an attempt to lower emissions. The government also reduced daytime speed limits to 100km per hour (62mi) on motorways.

But according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, animal husbandry and manure applications are the chief culprits of nitrogen oxide and ammonia pollution.

This is significant given the number of land animals being raised for food in the country. The Netherlands has more than 100 million chickens, 12 million pigs, four million cows, and 600,000 goats, according to DutchNews. It’s also the EU’s largest meat exporter.

The proposals

Farmers could have to reduce numbers of dairy cows, pigs, and poultry.

The finance and agriculture ministry has published two proposals to cut livestock numbers by 30 percent. According to The Guardian, it’s one of the ‘most radical plans of its kind in Europe’. 

Both proposals use buy-back schemes to reduce animal numbers – including dairy cows, pigs, and poultry. One proposal also subsidizes sustainable land management and livestock housing, while the other focuses on price incentives, such as a levy on ammonia emissions. 

“We are a relatively small country with a lot of inhabitants, industry, transport and agriculture, so we are reaching the limits of what nature can take,” Rudi Buis, a spokesperson for the agriculture ministry, told The Guardian. “There is a high level of urgency for us to tackle the nitrogen compounds problem. This means that in the near future, choices must be made.”

Farming community’s response

The proposals have attracted criticism from members of the farming community. The Farmer’s Defence Force (FDF), which has nearly 60,000 members in its Facebook group, was established to help farmers who are under ‘attack of environmental extremists’.

On its website, FDF calls the nitrogen reduction plans ‘disgusting’. In July, FDF and fellow farming group Agractie staged protests in multiple regions in the Netherlands. 

Some of the demonstrations saw farmers filling the roads with hundreds of tractors.

“The snow is not blackened by farming activities, the air is not poisoned with heavy metals by farming activities. You will not find increased cancer rates around farms,” FDF writes on its website. “The air was clean during the lock-downs – when the farmer plowed on and industry and air traffic came to a virtual standstill.”

The groups are planning further protests in the coming weeks. 

‘Step in the right direction’

Meanwhile, other groups have pushed for more to be done to protect the planet.

Coalition party D66 previously proposed reducing the number of livestock in the Netherlands by 50 percent. 

D66 parliamentarian Tjeerd de Groot spoke to RTL Nieuws about the issue in 2019.

“[Seventy] percent of Dutch nitrogen emissions come from agriculture, a large part of which comes from intensive livestock farming. That is huge,” de Groot said, per the NL Times. 

“At the same time, the contribution of intensive livestock farming to our own economy is not even one percent. The ratio is completely missing.”

Bram van Liere, of environmental organization Friends of the Earth Netherlands, applauded the move.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” van Liere said to The Guardian. “We would do more on buying out farmers and helping them transition to sustainable agriculture.”

Dutch Farmers Face Calls To Reduce Livestock By 30% To Help Protect The Planet – Plant Based News

Regards Mark