From slaughterer to vegan – Five former meat industry employees tell their very personal stories
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FAQ - Das fragen andere
You have worked as butchers and butcher and now all live vegan. How did you come to this decision?
Thomas: It was a gradual process from vegetarian to vegan, decisive were my last days in the slaughterhouse. A small group of untrained people should take the certificate of competence for stunning/killing. A bad horror movie was still comedy against it.
How long were you active there and what were your tasks?
Thomas: I worked as a butcher for a total of 20 years, or 17 years as a personnel service provider for slaughterhouses. Mainly in the field of cutting, but also some years of slaughtering. I thus coordinated more personnel, procured, controlled the work.
Was there a decisive moment that made you make this decision?
Thomas: I would describe this moment as decisive as described above. You start to wonder if what you are doing is right. From that moment on, I have also consciously always watched the stunning, and have noticed that when the pigs go down in the elevator to the gas, they suffer...
Were there any key moments when you really wanted to save an animal?
Thomas: You would have wanted to take so many with you, but once they are behind the walls there is no escape. You have to flip the switch in your head or it won’t work. When a curious pig sniffs your fingers and it is killed the next moment is not nice.
How did your work colleagues and your environment react when you told them that you no longer wanted to be part of this system?
Thomas: I first dropped out and then shortly afterwards took the step to become a vegetarian. I became a vegan later. I don’t know anyone in my environment who has expressed a positive opinion. They knew me as a butcher, and then suddenly changing fronts was an outrage.
Animal rights activists repeatedly gain access to slaughterhouses to draw attention to the suffering of animals. What do you think about such actions?
Thomas: I think it’s good and necessary, but it’s sad that something like this is necessary at all and that all control instances fail in the companies. It is of course always cruel for outsiders to see when an animal is murdered. These are never beautiful pictures.
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