In America, where the USDA's interpretation of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act exempts chicken slaughter, the voltage is kept low - about one-tenth the level necessary to render the animals unconscious. After it has traveled through the bath, a paralyzed bird's eyes might still move. Sometimes the birds will have enough control of their bodies to slowly open their beaks, as though attempting to scream. The next stop on the line for the immobile-but-conscious bird will be an automated throat slitter. Blood will slowly drain out of the bird, unless the relevant arteries are missed, which happens, according to another worker I spoke with, "all the time." So you'll need a few more workers to function as backup slaughterers -"kill men" - who will slit the throats of the birds that the machine misses. Unless they, too, miss the birds, which I was also told happens "all the time." According to the National Chicken Council - representatives of the industry - about 180 million chickens are improperly slaughtered each year.
( Jonathan Safran Foer )
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