Slaughterhouses which permit entry to a photojournalist are exceptional cases and, in the rare case that this happens, it is usually forbidden to capture the moment in which the animals are killed. Mexico is one world?s largest producers of beef, chicken and pork meat. At the end of 2015, after various failed attempts, I was able to enter 2 slaughterhouses in the state of Jalisco and photograph their practices. This was the beginning of the investigation which has now extended to 58 slaughterhouses and which now encompasses a comprehensive account of what happens there behind closed doors.
These images are part of an investigation carried out in 58 slaughterhouses in Mexico between 2015 and 2017.
The meat industry designs and delivers costly publicity campaigns in order to present an idyllic view of the lives that the animals under their care experience, intentionally hiding what really happens in their facilities. Shielded by claims that animals are protected under the law —despite no guarantees that the law will be followed—, euphemisms such as«humane slaughter», and the form in which the meat industry markets its final products as «free range», «cage free», etc, are ways in which the industry protects itself and creates a rose-tinted image to project to the public.
But regardless of size, the quality of facilities and equipment, or the advances made in the mechanization of the process of killing, slaughterhouses represent one of the largest and most systematic forms of violence against animals, even when the rules that regulate the process are respected. Stunning methods are subject to the animal's resistance and the skill of the employees and are not always effective. The result is that many animals will suffer whether these procedures are effectively applied or not.
Mexico is among the ten countries with the highest production of beef, chicken, horse or pork worldwide. More than 1,600 million animals are sent to slaughterhouses in the country every year. In there —many of which are owned by the government— animal welfare regulations are repeatedly violated: animals are beaten with sticks and tubes, desensitization equipment does not work or is lacking, and some people do not have the requiered training.
According to the Official Law of Mexico NOM-033-SAG / ZOO-2014 the animals must be directed to a stunning box where one of the desensitization methods will be applied. However, many times they are driven fully conscious to the killing area.