Animals Are Not Ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.

PETA Australia
  • Action Centre
  • Campaigns
  • Living
  • News
  • About
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • Action Centre
  • Campaigns
  • Living
  • News
  • About
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
PETA Australia
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
PETA Search Icon
Killing for a Living: Heartbreaking Confessions From Slaughterhouse Workers

Killing for a Living: Heartbreaking Confessions From Slaughterhouse Workers

News / Killing for a Living: Heartbreaking Confessions From Slaughterhouse Workers
26 December 2021

Paul McCartney famously said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. In Australia, more than 500 million animals are tormented and butchered in these facilities every year, yet very few of us see these animals in their final, desperate moments.

A new campaign designed by Mek in Melbourne aims to show consumers the suffering that occurs inside slaughterhouses through the eyes of the people who work there.

On the left is a quote: “Pigs on the kill floor have come up to me and nuzzled me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them, beat them to death with a pipe. I can’t care.” And on the right is an image of pigs.

“Pigs on the kill floor have come up to me and nuzzled me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them, beat them to death with a pipe. I can’t care.”

This is how a worker described their time in a Tyson slaughterhouse to author Gail A Eisnitz. It’s not uncommon for people to liken the behaviour of pigs to that of puppies.

Pigs are playful, protective animals who bond with each other, can recognise their own names, and can learn tricks like sitting for a treat. Many even sleep in “pig piles”, much like dogs sleep nestled together.

On the left is the quote: “I’ll never forget the day … when one of the lads cut into a freshly killed cow to gut her – and out fell the foetus of a calf. She was pregnant.” On the right is a photo of a cow with her calf.

“I’ll never forget the day … when one of the lads cut into a freshly killed cow to gut her – and out fell the foetus of a calf. She was pregnant.”

– “Confessions of a Slaughterhouse Worker”, BBC News, January 2020

It’s legal to slaughter pregnant cows, and it’s done far more regularly than you might think. Australia’s Livestock Transport Standards and Guidelines only stipulate that animals should not be “heavily pregnant” when loaded onto trucks, which is open to interpretation.

Then there are the 400,000 calves who are treated as waste products by the dairy industry and are killed in Australia’s slaughterhouses each year, most of them before they’re even 2 weeks old. They are so desperate to nurse from their mothers that they’ve been known to suckle the fingers of slaughterhouse workers.

Cows are protective mothers and will often wail for their babies for days after they’ve been taken away by dairy farmers. The meat and dairy industries tear families apart.

On the left is the quote: Slaughterhouses] are filthy, dirty places. There’s animal faeces on the floor, you see and smell the guts, and the walls are covered in blood.” On the right is an image of a chicken.

“[Slaughterhouses] are filthy, dirty places. There’s animal faeces on the floor, you see and smell the guts, and the walls are covered in blood.”

– “Confessions of a Slaughterhouse Worker”

Not only are slaughterhouses filthy, they’re also dangerous breeding grounds for disease.

Experts believe that COVID-19 first originated at a live-animal market in China. Crammed with stressed animals and slick with blood and faeces, slaughterhouses in Australia aren’t so different – and scientists warn that the next zoonotic disease could spring from our treatment of pigs or chickens in the form of swine or avian flu.

More than 500 million pigs, chickens, sheep, and cows are “processed” in these foul places around Australia each year. Many watch their friends being slaughtered right in front of them and fight until the end to stay alive. They’re dismembered piece by piece, while their blood and other bodily fluids cover machines, walls, and floors.

On the left: “At the end of the slaughter line there was a huge skip, and it was filled with hundreds of cows’ heads. Each one of them had been flayed, with all of the saleable flesh removed. But one thing was still attached – their eyeballs. … The first time I saw those heads, it took all of my strength not to vomit.” On the right is an image of a cow.

 

“At the end of the slaughter line there was a huge skip, and it was filled with hundreds of cows’ heads. Each one of them had been flayed, with all of the saleable flesh removed. But one thing was still attached – their eyeballs. … The first time I saw those heads, it took all of my strength not to vomit.”

– “Confessions of a Slaughterhouse Worker”

Animals exploited for their flesh and skin are subjected to almost unbelievable horrors in abattoirs. They’re tormented and butchered and often scalded to death or dismembered while they’re still conscious.

When we witness cruelty to animals on factory farms or in slaughterhouses, it’s easy to lay blame on the workers. However, we need to consider that the meat and animal-skin industries don’t protect human rights, either. Within these systems of human oppression, cruelty to animals flourishes.

“Perpetration-induced traumatic stress” is the term used to refer to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by abattoir workers, which include depression and suicidal thoughts.

Australian research found that aggression levels among such workers were so high that they were “similar to some reported for incarcerated populations”.

As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. Those who spend their days killing and dismembering animals necessarily become desensitised to violence, making them more likely to commit violence outside a slaughterhouse, too. Academic studies have shown that in communities where abattoirs are a source of employment, rates of domestic violence, rape, and child abuse are high.

No matter how you feel about animals, it’s clear that the business of killing them is a human rights issue, too.

For this to change, we must change.

If you can’t bear the thought of what animals and workers inside slaughterhouses are enduring, don’t support the meat or animal-skin industries. We can help you make kinder choices. Click the link below to get started:

Take the Vegan Challenge

Please join PETA’s “Save Our Skin” Challenge right now!

Donate Now

Recent Press Hits

  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    PETA Urges Councils to Go Vegan for Climate Resilient 
  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    Pamplona 2025: What to Expect at the Running of the Bulls
  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    Exposé of Indian Laboratory Reveals Bloodied Dogs and Pigs

Get PETA Updates

Sign me up for the following e-mail:
Our collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information is guided by the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. More information about our privacy policies and practices is available in our privacy policy. That policy also details how you may access, seek correction of and pursue complaints regarding the personal information we hold about you. If you have any queries about these procedures or any aspect of our work, please contact us on (08) 8556 5828 or at [email protected] or write to us at PO Box 20308, World Square, Sydney NSW 2002. Current subscribers: You will continue to receive e-mails unless you explicitly opt out here.
PETA Fist Logo

Connect with PETA

  • Facebook Icon, PETA International
  • Instagram Icon, PETA International
  • Youtube Icon, PETA International

PETA International Logo

Mailing address:
PO Box 20308 World Square Sydney NSW 2002 ACN – 128209923

Info

  • Contact Us
  • Media Centre
  • Careers
  • Donate Now
  • Subscribe to E-News
  • Bequests

Services

  • Accessibility
  • Site Map
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • © 2025 PETA Australia Pty Ltd. Read our full policy.

International Sites

  • PETA US
  • PETA France
  • PETA Netherlands
  • PETA Germany
  • PETA India
  • PETA UK
  • PETA Asia
  • 亚洲善待动物组织
  • PETA Latino

PETA acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to all other indigenous peoples.

Registered address: PETA Australia Pty Ltd, 219 Henley Beach Road, Torrensville. SA, 5031