Where can I get humanely raised and slaughtered meat in Oregon?

Question

As in no electric proddings/beatings, no brands, no cages, no starving the sick ones, that sort of thing. Label's on packages that say "humane" mean less to me than the ones that say "organic" I'm looking for the real deal - naturally raises and pain free as possible killings. Anyone know which farms practice this?

Answer 1

If you purchase meat in rural Oregon directly from a butcher, you can check out the slaughterhouse for yourself. But that's usually not an option for people living in the larger cities. I agree with the other Yamsters that kosher meats are one way to ensure that the animal was treated humanely, and to help, here are some sites that list Kosher meat markets in Oregon.

Portland:
http://www.kesserisrael.org/kosher.php
http://squirrelqa.nwkosher.com/store.php

Eugene - Lane County
http://jewishfedlc.org/HTML/JewishLiving.html

General site for food sources in Oregon, including Kosher products
http://food.oregonstate.edu/ingredient/

Green People Search, where you can search for products by your zipcode
http://www.greenpeople.org/search2nd.cfm?type=kosher

And you can also review the New York Times section for People for the ethical treatment of animals - and review what they have found for Oregon.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/people_for_the_ethical_treatment_of_animals/index.html?rss=1

Answer 2

Did you hear your own question? Do you realize that you've actually used humane and slaughter in the same statement, with one as a descriptor of the other?

What makes you think that such a thing exists? Just what method of killing another sentient creature could possible be labelled humane?

The two points don't mean anything to me, not in the long run. But they seem to mean more to me than the lives of sentient creatures mean to you.

And for the record, there is absolutely nothing humane about taking a fully conscious creature and slashing completely through it's throat, through all the major veins and arteries, plus trachea and esophagus, all at one time, even with the sharpest blade ever devised. That's a description of kosher slaughter.

Answer 3

Buy kosher meat. In order for meat to be kosher it has to go through a special process. When a butcher kills a cow he first says a prayer to thank the cow. In order for the cow to be considered kosher they cannot be killed by electric prodding nor be caged for a long time, can't be starved or abused. Plus it is healthier meat.
A butcher uses a very sharp knife and slices the cow's throat. In fact, the knife is so sharp that it can slice of your finger of in a second. The cow dies within 3 seconds. It stands and then just drops. After that the meat goes through salted water and all the veins are removed and hence little blood remains. It goes through that process several times. Kosher meat because of that is always leaner, healthier, and easier to cook with.

Answer 4

This is not a question to ask vegetarians and vegans. There is no such thing as humane meat. No matter how kindly the animals are treated during their lives, they are still killed in the end, and they are often slaughtered in the same slaughterhouses as conventionally raised animals. Even if they were in a "better" slaughterhouse, there's no humane way to kill anyone. And when it comes to dairy, even the kindest farms will have the cows slaughtered when production declines, and even the kindest farms will sell off the male offspring (a cow does have to get pregnant to produce milk) to veal producers. But I did avoid the temptation to say "no such animal."

Answer 5

Any kosher butcher shop. The religious laws that govern the slaughtering of animals say that they must be killed humanely or they cannot be labeled as kosher.

Answer 6

no, but if i wanted something of that nature, i would go out and hunt a deer or two, maybe an elk. make a clean, quick kill with a high powered rifle and process the meat as quick as you can. that would be the only way you can guarantee what you eat.

Answer 7

it isn't possible to slaughter something and have it be pain free. so humanely raised and slaughtered is a HUGE oxymoron4!