Of the many processes necessary to take a live animal and convert it to meat suitable for the dinner table, the kill step has long been the most controversial. Even consumers who eat meat on a daily basis may be somewhat uncomfortable with the slaughter of a live animal and would prefer to think that it died painlessly and humanely.
Some anti-meat activists have taken advantage of the consumers’ concern for animal welfare by alleging that the stunning process prior to the kill step is ineffective. Several undercover videos taken at poultry or hog processing plants have used the convulsions of stunned animals as evidence that the animals were alive and in pain as they were bled out. Those arguments may be compelling to consumers who don’t know about the industry, but the science behind stunning shows that the process works like it should.