Farmers forced to kill hundreds of thousands of pigs as meat packing plants across the country close

[yuna628 9,700]

16 minutes ago, sl1pstream said:

I don't get this article. Killing them as opposed to what? They're making it sound like they feel bad for killing the animals they were going to slaughter in the first place. Overcrowding wouldn't be an issue if they temporarily stopped adding pigs, it's not like they can't start again once those plants reopen.

Well, we're having to slaughter chickens that were not for meat, but egg laying. Still.. I think it's more upsetting that there are food banks that really need food, and hungry bodies to feed.. but we're killing off animals, tossing out milk, and dumping out harvests instead of maybe donating stuff.

[Dashinka 24,741]

8 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Well, we're having to slaughter chickens that were not for meat, but egg laying. Still.. I think it's more upsetting that there are food banks that really need food, and hungry bodies to feed.. but we're killing off animals, tossing out milk, and dumping out harvests instead of maybe donating stuff.

I don’t disagree, but would you donate a live pig to a shelter?  

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

30 minutes ago, Oliversmom said:

I, for one, wish they would make the  sale of meat illegal.  Never going to happen - but I can dream.  Vegetarian and animal rights activist here.  

Oliver drink milk?

[Oliversmom 250]

1 minute ago, Randyandyuni said:

Oliver drink milk?

Oh my gosh that is so funny.  Why would my dog drink milk???? And I don't either.  

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

Just now, Oliversmom said:

Oh my gosh that is so funny.  Why would my dog drink milk???? And I don't either.  

Ahhh you are his adopted mother I guess, my point was many large dairy farms are tough on the animals

[spookyturtle 9,466]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

Not just the employers, but maybe the employees themselves were casual with or actually ignored protective instructions.  We don't really know.

I see plenty of employees who are quite casual about all of this. I’m in a hard hit area and I still see people working on top of each other with no protection. 

[spookyturtle 9,466]

1 hour ago, Steeleballz said:

 

    It's still on the employer to have protocols in place. I don't get a choice. If I have symptoms I get turned around at the door. Even without symptoms I wear a mask and get temps taken twice a shift. Employers need to be proactive.

Lots of small employers in the construction trades have few protocols in place. And plenty of carriers have no symptoms at all. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

Just now, spookyturtle said:

Lots of small employers in the construction trades have few protocols in place. And plenty of carriers have no symptoms at all. 

 

   Right, that's why you monitor, have distancing policies and wear masks. Obviously not everyone needs the same level of precautions, but when you have 3000 employees sharing several common areas, you cant just have business as usual.  

 

  The JBS plant had workers eating in huge groups in the same lunch room even after the state said that could not be done. They had large numbers of people calling in sick for a week before they responded to the situation. They got threatened by the DOH for their failure to mitigate the issues and then they got shut down. They did not take things seriously, and they are going to face legal issues going forward. They dropped the ball.

 

   If farmers are upset with the situation, they should be mad at the meat processing industry. The plants were considered essential. They were not closed down because of the stay at home laws. They were shut down because of how they operate, and the numbers of people who got sick and died because of that.

 

  

[spookyturtle 9,466]

38 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   Right, that's why you monitor, have distancing policies and wear masks. Obviously not everyone needs the same level of precautions, but when you have 3000 employees sharing several common areas, you cant just have business as usual.  

 

  The JBS plant had workers eating in huge groups in the same lunch room even after the state said that could not be done. They had large numbers of people calling in sick for a week before they responded to the situation. They got threatened by the DOH for their failure to mitigate the issues and then they got shut down. They did not take things seriously, and they are going to face legal issues going forward. They dropped the ball.

 

   If farmers are upset with the situation, they should be mad at the meat processing industry. The plants were considered essential. They were not closed down because of the stay at home laws. They were shut down because of how they operate, and the numbers of people who got sick and died because of that.

 

  

And the tragedy was probably preventable or could have been substantially less widespread. 

[Oliversmom 250]

55 minutes ago, Randyandyuni said:

Ahhh you are his adopted mother I guess, my point was many large dairy farms are tough on the animals

Just giving you a hard time lol.  Yes I am very  aware of the problems with dairy farms therefore I don't drink milk.  I am active with ASPCA and PETA and try to do what I can which is really just a drop in the bucket.  

 

[spookyturtle 9,466]

5 minutes ago, Oliversmom said:

Just giving you a hard time lol.  Yes I am very  aware of the problems with dairy farms therefore I don't drink milk.  I am active with ASPCA and PETA and try to do what I can which is really just a drop in the bucket.  

 

PETA, People Eating Tasty Animals. 

[Oliversmom 250]

I respect your right to eat dead animals.  My husband eats meat and I don't give him a hard time.  But I personally can not do it.  

[TBoneTX 45,962]

5 hours ago, 90DayFinancier said:

First hand fake news?

{{{ sigh }}}  READ the transcript.

[90DayFinancier 910]

48 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

{{{ sigh }}}  READ the transcript.

{{{ sigh }}}  I did, and when the rancher started to promote cures and solution that are unproven it went off the rails.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

7 hours ago, sl1pstream said:

I don't get this article. Killing them as opposed to what? They're making it sound like they feel bad for killing the animals they were going to slaughter in the first place. Overcrowding wouldn't be an issue if they temporarily stopped adding pigs, it's not like they can't start again once those plants reopen.

How does a food supply chain "temporarily stop adding pigs"?  Or vegetables, or chickens, etc.  I can see where a person who has never farmed in their life might not see the big picture, but you can't just STOP pigs from growing up and eating your profits.  You either send them to the slaughterhouse as a profit, or you kill them in place and lose a lot of money.  Not only because you just killed your product, but because now you have to pay to dispose of them properly.