by Matt Halferty, 1996

A couple of months ago, I had the chance to visit a slaughterhouse with some friends. We woke up very early and tried to get to the Tarpoof Packaging Plant before the lunch break which begins at 9:00 a.m. When we parked outside you could hear the screams. We walked into the office. Tim Tarpoof greeted us and showed us to the "killing floor." He opened a door and said, "Stand here and ask the workers questions if you want," and then he left us standing in a room full of dead cows.

I first looked at the dead cow in front of me. It was hanging upside down and was missing its head, feet, and tail. The men were skinning it. Then my eyes wandered over to the corner where a cow was being lifted out of a small pen in the ground. I was looking in its eyes as they dragged it out and killed it. But, before its life was taken, its back legs were probably broken, and that cow went through incredible amounts of sheer horror, because yes-it was still alive while being dragged out of the pen and hung upside down. It knew very well what was going to happen. You could tell by the screams. As the man was about to hit the cow on the head with the bolt gun, he was telling a joke. Then he stunned it. I've heard that this tool doesn't always work. When we asked to see it, the man tried six times before it worked. I've also heard that the stun gun doesn't work very well, and on occasion the animal wakes up. Then the man slit the cow's throat. I saw at least one cow that was screaming as its throat was cut and the life was taken from it.

The amount of blood I saw that day was incredible. The man who slit the throats was wading in blood up to his ankles. The walls were covered in blood. Walls, once white, were stained red from pain and suffering inflicted on these animals.

While I was there, the workers listened to the radio and told jokes, while the whole time I was thinking, "How on earth can somebody kill and laugh about it?" In my opinion, they are no longer thinking, caring human beings; they are now monsters with no respect for life. A good example of their lack of sensitivity follows. When we asked to see the stun gun a man told us to watch out for the cows. He stated that sometimes they struggle so much that they get out of the chains and attack the workers (slaughterhouse employees have a high rate of work related injury.) This man then told me that cows are like humans, and they know when they are going to die. Funny...he compared the cows to humans, yet he found it easy to kill them.

The hardest part of this trip for me was that I couldn't do anything. I looked into the eyes of beautiful dying creatures, and I couldn't do a thing. I couldn't cry. I couldn't yell. I just had to stand there. To this day, I am haunted by the screams of the cows as they bled to death. I will never forget how I looked into the eyes of a particular cow and saw its pain. She seemed to look into my eyes asking for help. I couldn't do a thing. And for that I will never forgive myself.

After making that trip, I found a new reason to fight for animal liberation-the suffering cow who looked into my eyes.

Editor's note: "Matt," (not his real name) was in the high school at the time he went undercover to witness animals on death row in a slaughterhouse.

And Tomorrow Will Be Another Day, Just Like Today
by Gina Pupillo, 1996

Editor's Note: Gina, also in high school at the time, accompanied Matt to the Tarpoof Packaging Plant in Missouri. The horror of what she saw is reflected in her prose and painting.

For you today is a day like any other, but not for me. The sun comes up as always, but it will not shine on me. You wake in the morning all snug in your bed, while I'm traveling in a truck soon to be dead. As you breathe the fresh air and relax in your warm house, that is when I'm unloaded in front of the slaughterhouse. As you smell your coffee, I smell death. As you watch television, I see my family killed. As you relax, I suffer. As you are walking to the phone, I'm lifted into the air by my hind leg. As you are talking, I am screaming. While you are shaving, my throat is being slit. When you eat your dinner tonight, you will be eating my corpse.

And tomorrow will be another day,
just like today.

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