The time to end live-shackle slaughter is now

Live-shackle slaughter is the most common method of killing broiler chickens raised for food and is the industry standard for producers in the US. The practice—violent and gruesome from beginning to end—begins with each bird being slammed upside down into metal shackles, frequently breaking their bones, and making it extremely difficult for them to breathe.

Upon reaching the electrical water bath meant to render them unconscious, many chickens will receive an ineffective stun or miss the stun entirely as they frantically try to escape. This means that, as they continue on this already torturous journey, millions of chickens will then have their throats slit open while they are still conscious and able to feel pain. This happens all while also seeing, smelling, and hearing the other birds being brutally killed around them.

The final step in this horrifying process is the scalding tank, where the chickens are submerged in a vat of boiling hot water meant to remove their feathers. Heartwrenchingly, according to the USDA, over half a million chickens drowned in scalding tanks in 2019. This means that thousands of chickens are being boiled alive every single week in US slaughterhouses. It’s a ghastly ending to a grim life full of abuse.

A Gruesome Job

It’s not only the animals who are subjected to excruciating agony from this archaic system. Working in a slaughterhouse is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. The workers on the slaughter lines of today are forced to perform these grueling tasks in unsafe, near-total darkness, aimed to help keep the birds more calm and quiet, unaware of what is happening to them until it does. The processing lines have grown faster and faster over time, now requiring workers to slaughter up to 175 chickens per minute in a typical factory farm in order to keep up with demand.

The birds, desperate and frightened, peck and scratch at workers, sometimes even defecating on them out of pure terror. Dust, mites, and feces fill the air and contaminate employees’ lungs, eyes, and cuts, putting them at a greater risk of disease and infection. Their hands can become deformed from the repetitive, exhausting labor that they perform for hours on end. Workers and animals alike need to see greater protections and an end to this cruel practice.

End Unnecessary Suffering

Live-shackle slaughter is not only outdated and immensely cruel to animals and workers, but it’s also entirely unnecessary, as there are less cruel methods available. That’s why The Humane League is urging the US chicken industry to end live-shackle slaughter once and for all.

The National Chicken Council, Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, Foster Farms, and the other 10 biggest producers in the US—who are collectively responsible for slaughtering 70-80% of birds each year—need to understand that consumers demand real changes for chickens.

These meat industry giants have a unique power—and responsibility—to adopt meaningful reforms that will impact billions of animals every year. By phasing out live-shackle slaughter in their supply chains, countless chickens will be spared from one of the greatest causes of suffering in slaughterhouses today. Because even one bird boiled alive is too many.