Washington, D.C. – A new Temple Grandin-narrated “Glass Walls” video shot in a lamb processing plant was released online today by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI).
Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, world-renowned expert on animal welfare and the subject of an HBO film about her life, hosts each of the videos and she narrates the process in her own words without the aid of a script. The video shows each step in the slaughter process, including the unloading of the trucks, the handling of lamb in the pens, the use of “lead sheep” to guide lamb throughout the plant by leveraging their strong following instinct, the stunning process that is required by the Humane Slaughter Act to ensure they feel no pain, food safety practices, and the steps involved in breaking a carcass down into the cuts of lamb that consumers enjoy.
Grandin explains in the video that calm handling is not only the most humane approach, it also creates safer workplaces and better quality meat.
The video is the latest in a series of videos that seek to shine a light on the animal care and handling processes used in meat packing plants. Other “Glass Walls” videos focus on beef, pork and turkey plants and the series has generated more than a 1.2 million views on line. The Institute also provides complimentary copies of the DVDs to teachers who request them for classroom education purposes.
“We recognize that consumers want greater transparency about how their meat and poultry products are produced and this video aims to satisfy that desire,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Barry Carpenter. “During the last 25 years, our industry has worked proactively with Dr. Grandin to develop voluntary guidelines, an audit program and training materials aimed at improving the welfare of livestock in our care. Dr. Grandin has documented a sustained trend of improvements in animal care and handling and we are proud that she has agreed to tell the story in her own words.”
More information about the industry’s animal welfare programs is available on the Institute’s dedicated site http://www.AnimalHandling.org. Teachers may request complimentary copies by emailing publicaffairs(at)meatinstitute(dot)org.
Source: North American Meat Institute
