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January 1998 Not Straight to Slaughter By Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and Assistant Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, where she teaches courses on livestock behavior and facility design. In North America, almost half of all cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Dr. Grandin has also written a book entitled Thinking in Pictures about her autism--which she believes heightens her sensitivity to the feelings of animals even as it diminishes her ability to respond to the social cues of humans. Dr. Grandin talked to Satya about her motives and her work.

My primary motive in redesigning the slaughterhouse was to ensure the humane treatment of animals. I am not a vegetarian and never will be. But I do believe animals can be raised ethically for food. We owe animals a decent life. So, I designed better equipment for slaughter plants--curved chutes and restrainer systems. One of the reasons the curve works is that as cattle go around the turn, they think they're going back to where they came from. The reconfigured spiral ramp helps cattle move more easily with less balking and backing up, because they can't see people standing down at the other end. One of the things that cattle are most scared of is people.

Many people wonder if cattle and pigs know they are going to slaughter. Animals have no idea what's happening in a slaughter plant. I've worked with kosher plants where cattle will walk right into a chute that has blood on it. But a piece of paper or chain wiggling at the entrance of the kill chute would frighten the cattle. So, while my first objective is the humane treatment of animals, in order to sell the ideas to the plants, I need to stress the efficiency of the design. It costs money for the owner, so I demonstrate how these designs are not only ethical for the animal but efficient and money-saving in the end.

Management, Equipment and the Blueprints

I have found in 25 years working in slaughter plants that top management is key to enforcing humane standards. A manager that enforces a strict code of standards is crucial in running a slaughterhouse that is painless for the animal. I've seen handling get better with a change in management and worse with a change. If you look at my USDA survey on the Internet [http://grandin.com], the plants range from excellent to bad, and many of the problems I found were management problems--things like lack of training, lack of supervision, lack of equipment maintenance. I don't buy the argument that employees are not trainable. Good management is essential in having a slaughter plant that treats animals humanely. That's as important as equipment.

     Adequate equipment helps, though. The USDA survey shows places making very little use of electric prods. If there is a state-of-the-art-system plus good management, 95 percent of the cattle move without the use of an electric prod. If you have mediocre equipment, maybe only 80 to 85 percent will move without a prod. If the management is terrible, every animal could be harassed with an electric prod. About half the cattle in North America go through either a curved ramp system or a restrainer system of my design. I feel that soon my restrainer system will be in most large plants in North America. The implementation of the ramp system may take longer because it involves a larger commitment from the plant owner. Some plants use my restrainer system with the old straight ramp.

     I give numerous talks to educate people on how to handle animals correctly. I've worked free with plants to ensure that animals were being treated humanely. On my web-site, I have all my drawings and plans posted which people can download for free. I do this because my first motive is so that animals can have a better life before death.

Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism is available from Vintage Books

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