By Neil Trent
Is there a better way?
The apparent simplicity of the question belies its power, especially in places where age-old customs prevail. In Indonesia, where nearly nine out of every ten citizens are Muslim, livestock have long been slaughtered under the dictates of Halal law, which forbids the stunning of animals before they are destroyed. The practice of shackling live animals by a hind leg and cutting their throats may have continued indefinitely had somebody not asked the magic question. Now a ripple effect is transforming agricultural practices across the islands of the world’s fourth most populous country.
You could say Indonesia’s efforts to transform its slaughtering methods grew from its desire to break up the pack – the packs of dogs who roam the city of Denpasar.
About three years ago on the island of Bali, home to a majority Hindu culture, Humane Society International began working with animal welfare advocates in Denpasar to tackle the city’s stray dog problem. The animals are not strays in the traditional Western sense; while the pooches are not owned by any one person, each banjar, or village, considers the wandering wags part of the community. So the Bali Street Dog Foundation (Yudisthera) has to walk a delicate line here: The veterinary teams spay, neuter, and treat these frequently sickly animals, but they never attempt to take the animals from the streets.
The foundation’s combination of sterilization, treatment, and public education has already made an impact. Tourism officials in Bali, a popular destination for international travelers, say public complaints about diseased dogs begging for scraps has declined noticeably. While no one is ready to claim the street dog problem licked, local officials were happy enough with the results in Denpasar to listen sympathetically when we brought another issue to their attention: the stockyards, notorious for their cruel conditions.
No Place for Man or Beast
The conditions in Bali slaughterhouses are unfathomable to Americans. The problems with processing livestock there go far beyond a failure to stun animals. The cattle are transported to slaughter in trucks not designed for the job, which means that countless animals suffer cuts, bruises, and broken legs before even stepping off the truck.
Yet the problems are only beginning; at the slaughterhouse, workers tie ropes around an animal’s hind legs and yank the scared and angry cow to the ground, a brutal process that frequently injures both cattle and handlers. From there, assuming the cow hasn’t struggled back to his feet, the prostrate animal is hoisted by a hind leg with a chain and may remain suspended in the air for five minutes, kicking and vocalizing the entire time. Finally, a worker, likely with a rusty knife, will saw at the animal’s throat, and the dressing process will begin, meat and fecal matter freely mixing in the tropical heat. And because there is little to no refrigeration in Indonesia, the freshly slaughtered meat will be quickly thrown on the back of trucks for distribution in local markets.
Needless to say, this process would not pass muster with the USDA.
Enter the University of Bristol in Great Britain. Already familiar with the pioneering work of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Science in improving economic returns by improving the conditions for livestock, HSI invited the school’s experts to Bali to eyeball the problem.
The Bristol scientists brought their video cameras into the stockyards and slaughterhouses in Denpasar, and documented prevailing conditions and practices. They analyzed everything from the local market dynamics to methods of advertising. They took all the information and compiled a detailed, split-screen PowerPoint presentation in the local language: one side showing how things were currently done and the other how they could be improved.
Their aim was not to impose Western values or to pave the way for factory farming and high-speed, industrial slaughterhouses. Indeed, the scientists showed the utmost respect for community farms and rural economies. They simply succeeded in producing a slight shift in perspective among people who had grown accustomed to doing business a certain way.
The trick to winning over Denpasar officials was to appeal not only to their better natures, but also to their pocketbooks. The Bristol scientists effectively demonstrated that subjecting animals to brutal treatment, from transportation to slaughter, damages carcasses, which in turn leads to meat that’s prone to rotting as well as to hides unfit for commercial use. In addition, the scientists showed that dressing carcasses amid fecal matter increases the risk of E. coli and other diseases.
Island Hopping
When word of the cost-effective reforms in Bali reached Indonesia’s Agriculture Ministry in Jakarta, officials from the capital paid a visit to the neighboring island. This gave everyone pause. Predominantly Hindu Bali was one thing. But would the new practices clash with the Muslim dictates of Halal?
The government officials arrived with refreshingly open minds. The Bristol team, once again, trotted out the PowerPoint presentation and showed Jakarta’s ag experts that they could easily implement measures to enhance meat quality and profits. Looking to expand agricultural exports, the experts were eager to sign on, and they arranged a conference to begin the work of overhauling the nation’s agriculture sector.
After two days of workshops, the participants drafted a new code of practices for the humane transport and slaughter of livestock. It was a tremendous start to an ambitious three-year program. The government has already announced another round of workshops and this time wants to include sessions addressing the country’s poultry industry, which has been devastated by avian flu.
The key to making the program work is something we call the “dream team,” a group of skilled Indonesian workers who understand the benefits of a more humane system and spread the word from village to village. The “word,” we’ve learned, goes down much easier when fed by residents, not foreigners.
This will be especially true as Muslims in Indonesia grapple with the concept of stunning. Halal laws are interpreted differently by different people, but some in Indonesia believe that a non-penetrating captive bolt pistol, which would not damage the cow’s skull and brain but would render the animal unconscious, may earn the Halal stamp of approval.
Clearly, great challenges lie ahead in implementing reforms in an archipelago nation comprising thousands of islands scattered like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle across the Indian and Pacific oceans. But the Indonesians are proving beyond any doubt that: Yes, there is a better way.
