The Sunday Times on the Web Plus
26th July 1998

Front Page|
News/Comment|
Editorial/Opinion| Business| Sports |
Mirror Magazine

Home
Front Page
News/Comment
Editorial/Opinion
Business
Sports
Mirror Magazine

Point of View

What kind of barbarians are we?

By Nalini Colonne

It is with a deep sense of sorrow and shame that I write this, for I feel I belong to a country which ignores the basic tenets of civilized life and tolerates dreadful crimes committed daily with the full knowledge of the State. I am not referring here to man's inhumanity to man, but to crimes committed against defenceless animals, who cannot fight for their rights as humans can. I refer here in general to the harsh and brutal manner in which "food animals" such as cattle, goats, pigs and fowl are reared, transported and slaughtered in our country today.

I shall not enlarge at this point on the unspeakable horror of live chickens brought to the market sans all their feathers so that consumers may get their meat absolutely fresh and with least possible delay.. Nor shall I dwell on the inhuman manner in which pigs are beaten with heavy clubs prior to slaughter, until their bodies swell. The meat thus produced is believed to be soft and succulent. I shall deal here specifically with the abhorrent method of cattle slaughter practised in our country today for we live in a society which views with utter callousness or cold indifference, the miserable plight of an invaluable animal, an animal which served and continues to serve man in its entire life.

Why are Buddhists so un-concerned?

It is indeed ironic that although respect for life is given pride of place among the five basic precepts of Buddhism (and piously intoned by Buddhists on every possible occasion), in practice it is paid scant attention. Does the moral responsibility of Buddhists end with parrot like repetition of the Five Precepts?

Shouldn't we put personal preferences aside, and in the name of Lord Buddha, in the name of humanity, band ourselves together, with the firm determination to at least reject meat produced in this savage manner ?

Our abattoirs are a national disgrace

They are appalling, to say the least. Poorly constructed, badly maintained, minus even the basic amenities, they are ramshackle sheds with a permanent stench of stale blood, urine and dung. Those who wax eloquent on this country's economic progress, on its rate of growth would do well to visit our abattoirs. They will then see for themselves that the inhuman manner in which animals are slaughtered in these miserable sheds is a national disgrace.

The last journey

To begin with cattle sold for slaughter are transported in lorries or rail wagons from distant places, packed close together like sardines, with hardly any room to move. The manner of loading and un-loading them is atrocious. Many are the instances where the weak have died in transit, where pregnant cows have calved on the way (this is despite a Government ban on slaughter of milch cows), and where others have sustained broken spines and legs.

To add to their misery most often not a blade of grass, not a drop of water is given to the animals, from the time they are sold to the cattle dealers right up to the time of slaughter. This may take a few days, as the animals are brought from distant places such as Hambantota, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam etc. There was a recent report of a lorry illegally transporting cattle from Polonnaruwa carrying three head of cattle on its roof for lack of space within. The animals had been laid across the roof, tied down firmly with ropes, mouths gagged and bodies covered with straw to avoid detection. Needless to say, those who handle this trade (from the cattle dealer down to the butcher) couldn't care less, all they are worried about is the animals' weight in meat.

In death row (eye-witness report)

Once the bruised, battered and starving animals are delivered to the abattoir, they are kept in the pound (sometimes for several days) before they are taken for slaughter. Tied close together in pairs or in three-somes, free movement is impossible for them. Quite often they are given no food or water. Although a sixth sense seems to tell them of their impending doom? They are so weak and exhausted they fail to show any emotion. Some however, seem to shed tears. When an animal is eventually taken up for slaughter, it invariably refuses to move, for it senses death. It is then pushed, pulled, brutally kicked, beaten with clubs, and sometimes their posteriors are jabbed with iron spikes. If the animal collapses it is dragged to the killing floor with the help of crudely-devised contraptions.

The killing

Once forced into the slaughtering area, the animal is violently felled to the ground and its legs tightly bound together. At this stage, the poor creature, eyes bulging in terror, invariably defecates. The butcher however calmly sets about his grisly task. Ignoring the piteous eyes of his victim (there could be 50-60 such animals each morning in a large abattoir) he slits the throat, after which the animal is left to bleed to death. After all this intense suffering, its life does not come to a speedy end. Being large it takes quite some time to die.

To make matters infinitely worse, the butcher, impatient to get the meat to the market may start skinning the poor creature even before it breathes its last. The rest of the animals awaiting slaughter that day, are often within sight of the killing. They see the gruesome ritual with intense horror, they see the atrocities committed on their kind. They smell the blood and frozen with terror, they gaze helplessly on for what else could they do?

Shouldn't all right-thinking Sri Lankans irrespective of race and religion, rise up and denounce in one single voice, this slur on the good name of our country, and call upon the State to take speedy action to bring relief to these suffering animals ?

Presented on the World Wide Web by Infomation Laboratories (Pvt.) Ltd.

More Plus * No miracles yet

Return to the Plus Contents

Plus Archive

Front Page| News/Comment| Editorial/Opinion| Business| Sports | Mirror Magazine

Hosted By LAcNet

Please send your comments and suggestions on this web site to

The Sunday Times or to Information Laboratories (Pvt.) Ltd.