Livestock Slaughter Animals

Livestock Slaughter Animals Livestock slaughter: Processes, concerns and regulations The slaughter of livestock animals is an essential part of the world today. There are many methods and tools that can be used on the livestock. Slaughtering is performed for many reasons, the most common would be for human consumption but there is religious slaughter that is also practiced in many parts of the world. There are many laws that are enforced to ensure that the slaughter of livestock is conducted correctly and humanely to guarantee the safety of the products that are used for human consumption. The history of slaughter started as a way of survival, as humans began to become civilized they discovered that it was easier to contain the animals that they previously hunted and to put them on high protein diets to increase their weight. The more weight, the more useable product that came from the animal. Today slaughter is no longer just for survival, it is also used to control the livestock population. Although human consumption is still the primary reason, if animal slaughter did not exist their populations would increase dramatically and would become overpopulated causing inbreeding and risk of disease. The common practice of slaughter starts with the initial killing of the animal, either by a firearm shot to the head or a stunning method which is also applied to the head. The animal is then hoisted up by its hind legs with meat hooks inserted into made slits between the bone and tendon just above the hocks. The processing of a cow starts with the expulsion of the insides. Certain edible parts can be kept such as the heart, liver and intestines which can be used as casings for sausage mixes. This starts with the cutting through the hide on the hind legs just below the meat hooks and continues down the cow so the insides can now be removed. Removal of the insides is easily done and virtually mess free if an empty barrel is pressed against the chest of the animal and the insides are then rolled into the barrel as you cut down the belly. After the animal is cleaned out it is then skinned, which is the removal of its hide. Next the head and legs are removed from the animal, this is usua lly done with a hacksaw or a reciprocating saw specially made for the butchering of animals. The carcass is then cut vertically into two halves and stored into a cooler. The purpose of the cooler is to prevent microorganism growth on the carcass so it will delay decomposition of the carcass. After the carcass is fully chilled it is then brought out into the butchering end of the facility. The end of processing the animal starts with the halving the halves, so the full carcass has now been quartered. Specialty cuts are then made from here like your T-bone steak, chops, ribs, etc. All cuts of meat that are made go through a process called de-boning. It is a simple process where you make the specialty cuts, trim fat, and remove any bones and defaults in the meat. The extra meat, also called â€Å"scraps† are then put into a grinder and made into ground beef. From here it is basically the customers choice on what they desire from the animal and it is then wrapped and put into a storage freezer for the customer to pickup. Ritual, or religious slaughter, is also practiced in many parts of the world and is still practiced today. These slaughter practices are sacred and have to be performed a certain way in order to be considered religious. This type of slaughter is usually performed with the sacrifice of an animal. The difference between regular slaughter houses and ritual slaughter is the way that it is performed. The sacrificial animal has to be terminated in a certain way, usually by bleeding out and some parts of the animal can not be consumed. The two most common types of ritual slaughter are Kosher slaughter and Halal. (J.M. Regenstein, 2003) Kosher slaughter is the law of Kashrut, it is practiced by the Jewish religion but not every one in this religion follows the kosher practice because of the todays society and the practice is thought to be an outdated ritual. This practice is based upon the act of faith and being obedient to God, many of the kosher laws are derived from the Old Testament in the Bible. In order for the food to be considered Kosher, only certain livestock animals can be used such as beef, sheep, goats, and deer with no flaws or diseases. The â€Å"law† of this is that only animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves are considered to be kosher. (J.M. Regenstein, 2003) The processes of the ritual slaughter is that as much blood as possible has to be drained from the animal, since in this religion it is forbidden to ingest the blood of the animal. The common practice of draining the blood of the animal is to cut the animals throat with an extremely sharp knife. The carcass is then hung so that the blood will drain out, after being hung, the carcass is washed and salted with â€Å"kosher salt† and cooked to well done. Halal is another form of religious slaughter that is practiced by the Muslim religion. Halal means lawful or permitted and the opposite of halal is haram which means unlawful or prohibited. Many foods are referred to as being either halal or haram. The animal must be slaughtered with only the use of an extremely sharp knife. One of the major arguments about religious slaughter is that it is considered cruel to the animal and is not a humane act of slaughtered because of the restraint methods. Most slaughter plants restrain the live animal in an upright position before the initial killing of the animal, but there are also some religious slaughter plants that hang the live animal upside down and then do the killing. Hanging a live animal upside down has many negative affects such as the possibility of harm to the animal and also to the people performing the practice. (J.M. Regenstein, 2003) Minnesota state law states the following as the humane way to terminate a livestock animal. The law requires humane slaughter of livestock, defined as any method of slaughtering livestock which normally causes animals to be rendered insensible to pain by a single blow of a mechanical instrument or shot of a firearm or by chemical, or other means that are rapid and effective; or by methods of preparation necessary to Halal ritual slaughter, Jewish ritual slaughter and of slaughtering required by the ritual of the Islamic or Jewish faith. â€Å"Livestock† under this act is limited to cattle, horses, swine, sheep and goats. Any slaughterer who by act or failure to act violates section 31.591 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished accordingly. (Minnesota State Statute: 31.59-592) There are many different methods of slaughtering that are practiced. The cheapest would be a firearm shot to head of the animal; the most used would be the stunning method, where there are multiple stunning tools and practices. There is also a captive bolt, electrical, gas and anoxic stunning methods that are used as well. The most controversial method of slaughter would be the stunning of an animal because if not done correctly can cause only nerve damage while the cow is still conscious and alive while being processed. Recent concerns about captive bolt stunning in livestock is the spread of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), also know as, mad cow disease. A possible risk in using this method is that when the animal is stunned that the brain matter is forced through the jugular vein and passes through the lungs and enters the edible carcass. This poses a threat that if the animal being slaughtered had the BSE prion, an infective protein agent, in their brain and this is passed into the carcass and then later sold for human consumption. (Anil, M.H., 2001) Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (BSE in humans) is another concern when discussing methods of stunning in slaughter. This disease is caused by the consumption of contaminated central nervous system tissue that had been passed through the body of the animal into the edible parts of the carcass. (Paul Brown, 2001) The most recent topic of interest in the livestock industry today is the Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) and the effect it will have on, not only the cattle farms, but the slaughter houses themselves. The slaughter plants will now have to increase their sanitation practices to prevent the disease from spreading from carcass to carcass if an infected animal were to be brought in to be processed. With limited funding for the TB infected herds, most farmers are just taking their animals in and butchering them because they either cant sell them because their infected or cant afford to have their entire herd tested. This brings up another issue of an overload of animals to be slaughtered and the fact that if they are bringing in cattle that are infected or have the recessive gene that it would be spread to other carcasses. Millions of pounds of red meat are already being commercial produced, which means how much red meat is currently being produced and sold. So, if every farmer were to bring his cattle to slaughter because they cant afford to TB test their herd, the amount of red meat production would increase dramatically and could cause an overload of product. This also causes concern for the consumers who are afraid to purchase the byproducts because of their fear of contracting the diseases that are now the primary concerns in the livestock industry. This graph shows the trend of red meat production of the past two years and the beginning of the 2008 year. As you can readily see that the numbers are already significantly higher than the past two. The slaughter of livestock used to be a way to support the high demand of meat products and to eliminate overpopulation, but with the changing of cultures, it has become a hassle. There are so many health issues and not enough inspectors to oversee all the types of slaughter plants; that diseases are slipping through into products that are later sold to consumers. There are several types of slaughter plants and not all of them are equally inspected either; this could be one of the many problems with the control of disease of the end products. There are generally four types of slaughter plants; FI, TA, NFI, and custom exempt plants. Federally inspected (FI) plants transport meat interstate and they have to employ federal inspectors to comply with USDA standards. Talmedge-Aiken (TA) plants are under the USDA responsibility for inspection. Although considered federally inspected, the inspections are carried out by state employees. Non-federally Inspected (NFI) plants sell and transport only intrastate. There are individual state standards where state inspectors have to comply with and mobile slaughtering units are considered farm slaughter and are excluded from this. Custom-Exempt plants do not sell meat but operate on a custom basis. The animals and meat products are not inspected but the facilities are, and have to meet health standards. Custom-Exempt plants are considered NFI plants and head kill is included in NFI totals. (Agricultural Statistics Board NASS, USDA, 2006, PP 21/23) Every slaughter plant has sanitation requirements and procedures that they have to follow in order to keep their business running. The requirements are met and periodically checked by inspectors, either federally inspected or state inspected. These inspections are made to ensure the quality and safety of the meat that is being sent out from these plants. To ensure this quality of production, humane slaughter of the animal is required also. What is considered humane? This is a rising question to many inspectors and slaughterers, and this question is still unanswered to many of them. What is thought to be humane may in fact not be humane to the animal, and since we cannot feel its pain we cant determine whether the methods used are painless or not. And this is why slaughter laws have come into effect. The first law of humane slaughter was voluntary and came into effect in 1958. The law required that the livestock to be rendered insensible to pain. This was achieved by a blow, gunshot, or electrical or chemical means; it was to be rapid and effective before shackling, hoisting, casting, or gutting. (animal law statutes, citation 7 USC 1901-1907, 2008) The law that is currently enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is known as the Humane Slaughter Act. This act became effective in 1978 and instead of being voluntary this law is mandatory for all slaughter houses. The only exception to the statutory requirement of rendering the animal insensible to pain; is ritual slaughter, which still needs to be approved in order to be carried out. The Humane Slaughter act of 1978 concludes that the use of humane methods on livestock for slaughter results in a safer environment and better working conditions for persons engaging in the slaughtering practices. This also improves benefits for producers, processors, and consumers that tend to accelerate a constant flow of livestock and byproducts across state and country borders. If the humane slaughter of livestock continues, the end products and consumer satisfaction will remain steady and will bring comfort to those who anticipate disease spreading because of unlawful slaughtering practices. (Animal law statutes, citation 7 USC 1901-1907, 2008) The slaughter of livestock is not only a high demand of todays population, but it is also a necessity. It is beneficial to the human race, economy, and is becoming a world renounce trade. With the world today, slaughter has evolved from a way of survival to becoming versatile and plays an important role in the economy. The slaughter of livestock is an essential part of the human lifestyle and will continue to deliver and progress with the ever changing future of the world.

Describe How and Why the Fertility Rate in Brazil Is Changing

Describe how and why the fertility rate in Brazil is changing Brazil, along with Russia, India and China (known collectively as the BRIC countries) is industrialising rapidly and going through dramatic demographic change. Its rate of growth has far exceeded that of current MEDCs, experiencing in 25 years the kind of change that would be expected in 100 years. The changes range from the economy, the industry and agriculture to the population and trends associated with it.As of 2011 the fertility rate in Brazil is a mere 1. 83, far lower than the other BRIC countries. For example the fertility rate of India is currently 2. 62. Brazil’s story is abnormal as its fertility rate is below the replacement rate (2. 1), especially when considering that much of the working population is still involved in agriculture and industry. The reasons for the sharp decline in fertility are similar to those associated with development, albeit Brazil has experienced these over a much shorter period of time.Education has improved drastically in the past 50 years in brazil; state-funded education is now compulsory for children aged 6-14 with most children continuing their studies beyond this. By the 1980s education reached a level of equality for boys and girls, but perhaps surprisingly females on average continued their studies for 1. 3 years longer than males (as of 2000). This shows that women are much more career driven than they used to be in the 1960s, when women were a small part of the total workforce.As of 2000 this has completely turned on its head, with women making up 54% of the working population. In the past if a woman did have a job it tended to be low-responsibility with mediocre career prospects and pay, but now many women occupy important roles in society and earn large salaries. With women now working more they have less desire to start a family. This means that they put off marriage until a lot later in life, meaning that when they do settle down they have le ss time to have children.Television has played a surprisingly large role in this change, and has a large influence on the lives of many Brazilians. ‘Novelas’ (soap operas) are extremely popular and have altered the way many people live. The people in these novelas always have small families (3-4 people) and the children are usually well stocked with the latest gadgets such as mobile phones. It is assumed that many Brazilians aspire to live this kind of life and many will take note that this is partly down to small families. The female characters are often particularly strong-willed, successful business omen who focus on their career over their love life. President Dilma Rousseff reinforces this statement and has one child, a daughter, and has proved that women can lead extremely successful lives in Brazil. President Rousseff, along with other women’s rights campaigners, helped take down the problem of ‘machismo’ in Brazil. An example of their protect ion of women is separate ‘women only’ carriages on night trains to prevent rape. Advertisements on tv and bill boards promoting contraception and family planning are also omnipresent.The incredibly high accessibility to contraception, abortions and family planning services is an incredibly significant reason for changing fertility rates in Brazil. It is surprising considering the country’s catholic beliefs which rejects all forms of contraception and birth-prevention. As a result of this abortions are still only allowed in the case of rape or threat to the mother. Despite this illegal abortions are commonplace and over-the-counter drugs that initiate termination are easy to come by. Despite being strictly illegal little is done to stop this.Whilst abortion does remain a sensitive subject (as it does in most countries) contraception is freely available. In fact a 2011 survey showed that 85% of Brazilians were against amendments to the abortion law. Many doctorâ₠¬â„¢s surgeries go so far as to give out condoms for free especially in cities and favelas where fertility is at its highest. Urbanisation in Brazil has been very rapid due to the increased industry. Many live in favelas, and much of the rest of the urban population lives in cheap high-rise apartments. These homes are small by design and having a family of more than 4 could lead to lack of space.The favelas are so common in Brazil that a drop in fertility should be a huge relief to many. Rochina, a favela next to Rio de Janeiro, has a population of somewhere between 150,000 and 300,000 although this is difficult to accurately measure. Small cars are popular, and shops sell food in serving sizes suited for 4 people. This appears to show a shift towards products being suited to small families. As families get smaller, parents have more money to spend on each child, so gadgets and expensive toys are becoming more popular, with their advertisement on television increasing too.In the 180 0s the death of a child was common so families were large to ensure that at least some survived, but nowadays this is less likely and Brazilian families are now starting to illustrate this change. The value of a child is significantly higher and families often don’t recover from the loss of an offspring. Parents are spending more on their children not only because they can now afford to, but also because they want to give the few children that they have the best shot at success. Economic and industrial development of Brazil has increased the standard of living as a whole.Since 2000, life expectancy has jumped from 54 to 72, and infant mortality rates have nearly halved from 38 to 20/1000 live births. Sanitation improving enormously has helped, and people who move in to cities now often find clean, fresh water and sanitation facilities (e. g. clean toilets and sinks). Even favelas are improving in this case, with communal development projects becoming increasingly common. Heal thcare has improved dramatically too (as shown by the shockingly sharp decline in infant mortality) and even the poor can access healthcare as basic care is free.Brazil can be considered an anomaly; however there does appear to be a growing trend in rapid development in the LEDW. Falling fertility rates has reduced the pressure on healthcare and education allowing more money to be spent per person equalling a better overall experience and service. Female empowerment is very important too, in both the economic output of the nation and the fall in fertility rates. However Brazil must be wary of the potential pitfalls of this rapid growth – e. g. an elderly population.

Patent Protection and Patentability of the Exit Poll Machine Free Essay Example, 3000 words

In the case of Intalite International NV v Cellular Ceilings Limited, it was held that if the invention is not obvious on the skilled worker test, the invention will automatically satisfy the inventive step test and that it is necessary to evaluate the invention as a whole. Additionally, the invention must be capable of industrial application. Exclusions from patentability are included in sections 1(2) and 1(3) of the PA, which in general excluded scientific discoveries and mathematical methods and computer programs unless they can be established to produce a novel technical effect. An application may be made for the UK patent, for a European Patent designating a number of member states of the European Patent Convention (EPC) or under the Patent Co-Operation Treaty designating some of or all of the contracting states (www. uk) In all cases applications can be handled by the Patent Office in London, however, European applications can instead be filed directly with the European Paten t Office, in which case permission must first be obtained from the UK patent office to ensure that the application does not compromise national security as required under section 23 of the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977). The filing date and priority date are important in the application process as this is the date the application is received by the Patent Office and the state of the art at the priority date that is considered when judging a patent for novelty (Macqueen, Waelde, Laurie, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Patent Protection and Patentability of the Exit Poll Machine or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page