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Comment by mytailorisrich | Hacker News Reader

Everyone knows that eating meat requires the slaughtering of animals. But I think people prefer not to know the details.

The kill is never a pleasant thing to watch however it is carried out and this method is overall quite humane. I suspect most of the stress is created by the transportation (which is often not very kind on the animals) and the unknown environment.

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Between transportation and slaughter, if I had to say which is more stressful/harmful to animal I'd definitely say transportation.

Near me at least, pigs are usually transported in semi trailers with perforated sides. They can see out, hear the traffic around them, and are mostly exposed to the elements.

You don't want to try to slaughter a group of pigs that was just unloaded off a truck - ideally, you want to pen them overnight so they have a chance to calm down and become accustomed to their surroundings. Otherwise they'll be very resistant to being herded into a chute or separated from their herd.

Of course people prefer not to know. I happen to be a vegetarian. I’m not a preachy vegetarian (I hope!) and people should eat what they want to eat. Willfully blind meat eating does offend me though although I’m open to being convinced I’m wrong. I feel if one eats meat one should know and respect its origins like a grownup. The consequences one draws from that knowledge is up to the individual.

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