License to Kill

Yesterday I spent the morning working in an abattoir. Why I hear you ask? Well, I wanted to become a licensed slaughter man. Why I hear you ask? Bascially with the license I can go to any abattoir in the UK and perform halal slaughter. This means if I ever have quite a few lambs I want to do for friends and family I can simply run them down there, slaughter them myself and then pick up the carcass for my friend to butcher for me. This way I know all my lambs have been dealt with properly and that they are 100% halal.

It was on the whole a really interesting experience. I have seen a couple of abattoirs before and they can be horrific. But the place I went to (a small family run place) is really well planned and organised which means I am always going to take my animals there. After going through all the scientific ins and outs of how to kill an animal I then donned my white overalls, white boots, hair net and safety helmet and marched off through the bloody floors into the main hall. There was a team of men, some skinning the animals, some gutting and others processing. I think because it was small scale it didn't look too bad but I can imagine what larger outfits must be like. Another good thing about it being small was the men took their time with the animals. There was no crazy rush to get through their target of animals which inevitably means corner cutting.

I was taken to the area where the lambs come in and watched a pro at work. He was so quick it was unbelievable - I'll spare you the blood and gore. It was good though to see people taking their time and making sure the animals were bled immediately. Then it was my turn! I have slaughtered lambs before but this was a bit wierd as they were coming in upside down plus I was being watched by a vet and a senior slaughterman which was really daunting. Anyway, I got through about 10 or 12 lambs and it was intense!! It wasn't hard work it was just really difficult to make sure I was focused before cutting each one and making sure I made the correct intention and prayers. I managed to; but it convinced me that people working in large halal abattoirs must completely forget and on top of that not really mean it when they do rendering the meat not really halal. As I have said before, I believe, when taking an animals life you need to be fully in a state of consciousness and awareness about what you are doing. This not only makes the action pure but the meat pure and within it there are countless spiritual lessons to be learned.

So, now I am a licensed slaughter man - on the down side I still need to go to the abattoir once every 2 weeks to show the vet I am still capable.