MOUNT VERNON — From undercover video footage of workers abusing cattle in California to E. coli scares in the Midwest, livestock handling and processing has lately been much in the news. Thus it is particularly timely that a new book has arrived from Storey Publishing, titled “Humane Livestock Handling.” Importantly, the book comes from Temple Grandin, a prominent Animal Science professor at Colorado State University whose expertise is sought by major food production companies around the world. Grandin’s innovative new designs for animal processing facilities have been adopted by about 50 percent of commercial facilities in North America, so her comments carry a lot of weight.
Alas, she is concerned that many people operating the processing facilities she designed still don’t realize how many things they are doing which needlessly terrorize the animals and slow down production, to boot. In her designs, Grandin identified and removed problem areas that others had not recognized previously. Her insights came from careful study of animal behavior. Having overcome autism as a child, Grandin is aware that there is a wide range of human thinking styles, with the “normal” mainstream being for people to think verbally, turning ideas into words. Grandin’s own thinking, typical of autistics or those with Asperger’s Syndrome, instead turns ideas into visual images. Her big breakthrough in designing better processing facilities was in looking at said facilities through the eyes of animals, who are completely visual and not verbal.
By intense observation, taking innumerable pictures and walking through animal chutes herself, Grandin was able to identify that animals were frequently being scared by visual distractions such as gaps in the chute where people or vehicles could be seen moving, places where loud noises startled them, bottlenecks that allowed animals to panic, or even something as simple as a strong shadow on the floor which some animals — particularly pigs — interpreted as a spot they had to go out of their way to walk around. Thinking visually helped smooth the processing flow and make the animals’ final walk less stressful.
Grandin assembled her insights in this book with the help of design consultant Mark Deesing because even though her designs have become widespread, she is afraid that many managers and workers don’t realize how much the animals cue off non-verbal tones. She said that screaming, whistling or smacking animals can create automatic panic responses, which can spread from one animal to an entire herd. Understanding just how potent tone of voice and body language can be makes a big difference, according to Grandin.
Of greatest value to smaller farmers is that Grandin includes a wealth of detailed design diagrams, showing how facilities can be laid down and built to take advantage of the insights made into humane livestock processing in recent years. One would be well-equipped to build a facility for healthier animals with this book, for usable plans are here for pens, gates, rollers, latches, rails, feedlots, loading docks and much, much more.
In short, Grandin’s book has a point we dare not ignore: Human health and humane treatment of animals go hand in hand. If a society doesn’t take sensible care of how its animals are slaughtered, public health disasters will follow. It’s not just good advice, it’s the only path that makes sense.
