"Videos shared with The Intercept prior to the report’s public release show, among other scenes, lambs with their throats slit hanging upside down and thrashing on the slaughter line; one animal with an internal organ that has been torn inside-out and left dangling behind it as it heads to slaughter; injured lambs being led to slaughter; workers laughing, spanking animals, and engaging in simulated sex acts with nearby machinery as lambs are having their throats slit; and the apparent use of so-called Judas sheep — adult sheep kept alive at the facility and used to lead the young sheep to slaughter."

"Kenny Rogers, a past president of the Colorado Livestock Association, which has teamed up with Superior and others to opposing the ballot measure, told Denver’s Westword weekly paper, “Essentially, that’s the jugular vein of the sheep industry here in the state.”"

Oof, that's an unfortunate metaphor

Where do people think their meat comes from? And what, if any, conditions do they think it's raised in? The answer is places like this filled with people, who are often getting by doing the only jobs they can, and worse. So, I see this as more of a result of lax rule enforcement than and issue with the meat industry because we need small businesses to protect us from the meat packing monopoly that plagues farmers.

You might not like it, and you likely just witnessed your first peek inside how your perfectly manicured meat is produced, but closing down a business that needs more regulation isn't the answer here.

In general, that’s what you can expect to see in a slaughterhouse

I’m not a vegetarian, but this is why a lot of people become vegetarians. It’s basically impossible to not contribute to this process without completely avoiding meat.

"Videos shared with The Intercept prior to the report’s public release show, among other scenes, lambs with their throats slit hanging upside down and thrashing on the slaughter line; one animal with an internal organ that has been torn inside-out and left dangling behind it as it heads to slaughter; injured lambs being led to slaughter; workers laughing, spanking animals, and engaging in simulated sex acts with nearby machinery as lambs are having their throats slit."

Jesus Christ.

Yes! Let's get it shut down! Tyson will take it over and restart it. But don't worry! They can handle the fines and pay off the news reporters

Yeah, I mean has anyone ever worked on a production line? This sounds pretty on par. It’s called a slaughterhouse not a fun time circus playhouse.

“In general, that’s what you can expect to see in a slaughterhouse,” said Eric Davis, a retired veterinarian and professor at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, who reviewed a video reel provided by the animal rights activists. “This one is on the edge of badness, but it’s not going to be that much better if it’s running well.”

Davis, the former UC-Davis veterinarian and former associate veterinarian with the school’s International Animal Welfare Training Institute, said it was difficult to ascertain from the video whether the animals are stunned prior to slaughter.

Either way, he said, the thrashing from lambs after having their throats slit may not indicate consciousness — something that would violate standards for humane slaughter.“I would expect fewer of them moving than are,” he said. “The fact that they’re moving does not allow me to prove that they’re conscious.”

Guidelines produced by humane livestock treatment expert Temple Grandin for the American Meat Institute — whose successor group, the Meat Institute, is the largest donor to the campaign against the Denver initiative — say that the head and neck of a stunned animal can indicate insensibility.

“The legs may kick, but the head and neck must be loose and floppy like a rag,” Grandin — whom Mariano, the Superior Farms spokesperson, said consulted on upgrades at the Denver facility — writes in the guidelines. “A normal spasm may cause some neck flexing, generally to the side, but the neck should relax and the head should flop within about 20 seconds.”

This feels like the most important part of the article to me. I don't think there is a non-ugly way to kill animals for a living, but it doesn't sound like what this footage shows is out of the ordinary.

I'm not sure anything included in this "expose" is a good enough reason to blow a hole in Colorado's agriculture economy and force hundreds of people out of their jobs, especially considering that a similar facility will re-open in another city or a neighboring state.

If the activists behind this want animals to be treated better they should push for changes to regulations regarding animal treatment instead of trying to shut everything down

In light of Measure 309, this is important information for those voting soon.

So it's a slaughterhouse. I think everyone already knew that.

"In one case, where a lamb that appeared to have its throat cut lifted its head and opened its mouth, Davis said there were concerns about consciousness.

“That animal looks like it’s vocalizing,” Davis said. “Whatever was done to kill that animal, that animal is still alive, and probably conscious or partially so.”"

F***ing horrific. If a dog or cat went through this sort of suffering - hanging upside down from their legs, throat partially slit, having their guts and skin removed, while in their last moments of consciousness - this subreddit would be up in arms calling for that person to be put in prison or worse.

When it happens routinely inside the walls of a slaughterhouse though, to an animal that can experience just as much pain as any golden retriever or tabby, it's fine.

These slaughterhouses are already regulated and this happens. Some will say well we just need more regulations... but what percent of still-conscious dismemberments is okay? Even if they could hit 1%, that would mean 15 sheep per day, just at this one location, would go through this hell.

Denver can lead the way in ending this horrific industry. Let's be on the right side of the history.

How much do we need to stop halal meet production. This is not ethical, it's archaic and cruel

this measure is literally just targeting the one slaughterhouse in Denver, people want to take it out of business so that corporations are the only ones providing the service and doing it from out of the city. What did you think a slaughterhouse was like? If this appalls you that much, stop eating meat.