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Farmers at an Australian farming conference have opted to use the word ‘process’ to describe killing animals instead of ‘slaughter’.
Delegates at the NSW annual conference passed a motion saying the industry should use the word ‘to the complete exclusion’ of slaughter to improve ‘public image’.
‘Unfortunate connotations’
According to theland.com, Southern Highland-based Jack Skipper put forward the motion, saying: “When you pull up google and other sources the first thing that comes up is unfortunate connotations in world events relating to humans.
“The word slaughter is not appropriate for our industry as we are processing animals through the various stages that end up for food. It’s not a mass murder.”
The motion says removing the word slaughter will minimize the impact of ‘detrimental emotive arguments’ put forward by animal rights activists.
‘Marketing ploy’
The move has been blasted by leading vegan organization Viva!, which described it as a marketing ploy.
“The decision to exclude the word ‘slaughter’ from the livestock industry is nothing more than a marketing ploy to mislead consumers about the brutal realities of animal agriculture,” Lex Rigby, Viva! Campaigns Manager, told Plant Based News.
“It is reinforcing the cognitive dissonance between the food on our plates and the animals slain to produce it. Farmed animals are not ‘processed’ or ‘dispatched’, they are needlessly killed. These individuals claim to love the animals in their care and yet they routinely send them to their deaths.
“This decision only highlights the contradiction between loving animals and eating them. If you are uncomfortable with the fact that animals are slaughtered for your consumption, then the only option is to choose vegan.”
