0:00:00.060,0:00:05.220
I once visited a very small slaughterhouse in [br]Virginia. This particular slaughterhouse rotated

0:00:05.220,0:00:09.000
the animals they killed by day. I happened [br]to be there on a pig day. Before entering

0:00:09.000,0:00:13.200
the slaughterhouse to observe the kill floor, I [br]peered over the wall of the holding pen outside.

0:00:13.200,0:00:17.280
There was a group of pigs milling about and two [br]slaughterhouse workers talking in the middle.

0:00:17.280,0:00:21.600
One pig approached a worker wearing [br]a blood-stained smock and nuzzled his side.

0:00:21.600,0:00:26.855
The worker glanced down and started petting the pig,[br]who readily laid down for a hearty belly rub.

0:00:26.855,0:00:30.300
The slaughterhouse worker rubbed her belly as the pig closed her eyes

0:00:30.300,0:00:34.428
in a look of bliss every person with a dog is more than accustomed to.

0:00:34.428,0:00:40.260
After a minute or so, he patted her head, saying [br]"okay, I've gotta go," and headed back into the kill floor,

0:00:40.260,0:00:45.266
where he would later stab that very same pig in her carotid artery.

0:00:45.266,0:00:49.440
As far as slaughterhouses go, the one I visited [br]was a far cry from the industrial,

0:00:49.440,0:00:54.600
mechanized kill lines run at staggering speed [br]with haphazard results. But in many ways,

0:00:54.600,0:00:59.400
I found it almost more disturbing to see [br]the very same man shower a living being with affection

0:00:59.400,0:01:04.920
only to moments later take her life. [br]This apparent emotional disconnect is hard for

0:01:04.920,0:01:09.840
even meat-eaters to reconcile. There's a reason [br]most people don't kill the animals they consume.

0:01:09.840,0:01:14.460
But as much distance as we may like to place [br]between ourselves and the animals on our plates,

0:01:14.460,0:01:20.160
there' no avoiding the reality that purchasing [br]animal products is simply a way of having others

0:01:20.160,0:01:26.040
kill in our name. And just as we dare not think [br]of what the animals have experienced to make it to

0:01:26.040,0:01:31.980
our grocery store, we equally resist considering [br]the experience of those who took their lives.

0:01:43.080,0:01:47.880
Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, [br]where you can find free resources, eCourses,

0:01:47.880,0:01:51.300
kids' content, and a Guided Search [br]to help you find just what you need,

0:01:51.300,0:01:55.020
even if you don't know what to ask! [br]And where you'll find all the sources

0:01:55.020,0:02:00.757
and additional resources for this video! [br]Just go to bitesize.link/WorkerTrauma

0:02:00.757,0:02:04.800
Some people may wonder why I, a vegan [br]animal liberation activist and educator,

0:02:04.800,0:02:08.580
would take the time to address the mental [br]health of slaughterhouse workers.

0:02:08.580,0:02:12.360
The most basic reason why their mental health [br]matters is that the psychological anguish

0:02:12.360,0:02:17.760
of any sentient being matters. And when an [br]occupation routinely causes psychological

0:02:17.760,0:02:21.480
harm to workers across all countries [br]and cultures, it’s worth asking why.

0:02:21.480,0:02:26.460
Slaughterhouse workers are essentially canaries [br]in the coal mine for our collective humanity.

0:02:26.460,0:02:31.500
If killing animals results in profound [br]psychological trauma for workers, it would

0:02:31.500,0:02:36.420
certainly call into question our societal belief [br]that slaughtering animals is perfectly acceptable.

0:02:36.420,0:02:40.140
This belief is already a thinly [br]veiled dissociation for people who

0:02:40.140,0:02:44.160
consume animals. Ask the average person [br]to watch footage from a slaughterhouse,

0:02:44.160,0:02:48.840
and you'll likely be met with resistance. [br]If nothing is wrong with the way that we raise,

0:02:48.840,0:02:52.320
confine, and kill animals, why are we so resistant to watching?

0:02:52.320,0:02:57.240
Perhaps even more telling is the animal products [br]industry's own resistance to transparency.

0:02:57.240,0:03:02.580
Starting with my own state of Iowa, many states [br]have criminalized the exposure of what takes

0:03:02.580,0:03:07.320
place within their facilities. These so-called [br]"ag-gag" laws place severe penalties of jail

0:03:07.320,0:03:11.686
time and fees upon anyone who shows the inner [br]workings of our animal agriculture system.

0:03:11.686,0:03:16.680
Again, if there's nothing to hide, why take [br]such extreme steps to prevent exposure?

0:03:16.680,0:03:21.060
For some animal rights activists, it may [br]seem that focusing at all on the health of

0:03:21.060,0:03:25.560
slaughterhouse workers pulls attention from [br]the real victims: the animals themselves.

0:03:25.560,0:03:30.660
It's a common misconception that being vegan [br]means one has no concern for human rights.

0:03:30.660,0:03:34.560
However, even if our primary focus is non-human animals,

0:03:34.560,0:03:39.660
the psychological damage workers experience [br]from killing them is a powerful testament

0:03:39.660,0:03:44.460
to the true impact of the animals’ suffering. [br]The harm to workers flies in the face

0:03:44.460,0:03:48.000
of viewing non-human animals as objects or commodities.

0:03:48.000,0:03:54.180
Were that true, slaughterhouse workers would not[br]be so gravely affected by taking their lives.

0:03:54.981,0:03:58.620
You may wonder what kind of person would work [br]at a slaughterhouse in the first place?

0:03:58.620,0:04:03.274
Perhaps people who take sadistic pleasure in harming animals? [br]While there are people who willingly gravitate

0:04:03.274,0:04:07.519
towards slaughtering animals because they enjoy it,[br]they are by far a minority.

0:04:07.519,0:04:13.226
In reality, most slaughterhouse workers take [br]the job as a last—or only—resort for income.

0:04:13.226,0:04:16.560
Slaughterhouse workers typically come [br]from poor socio-economic backgrounds,

0:04:16.560,0:04:21.360
often with little to no education. [br]Many, if not most, are members of vulnerable populations,

0:04:21.360,0:04:24.540
like refugees, people of color, and undocumented immigrants.

0:04:24.540,0:04:28.234
Former slaughterhouse worker turned animal activist Virgil Butler

0:04:28.234,0:04:32.737
shared about the makeup of his coworkers[br]in a speech about his nine years

0:04:32.737,0:04:36.060
slaughtering chickens for the [br]multinational corporation Tyson Foods:

0:04:36.060,0:04:41.029
"Most...are very uneducated. Some of them [br]can't even read a comic book without some help.

0:04:41.029,0:04:47.110
Tyson actually employs somebody to assist with[br]job applications because most people can't fill them out.

0:04:47.110,0:04:51.463
They also have a lot of Hispanic people that[br]can't speak English so naturally they can't write it.

0:04:51.463,0:04:56.435
You've got a bunch of people here that really couldn't [br]possibly hope to get a really good job,

0:04:56.435,0:05:01.495
so they're stuck working for Tyson, and Tyson knows it. [br]They pick on rural communities for that reason."

0:05:01.495,0:05:05.880
This makeup of the workforce is echoed across [br]countries, from South Africa, to Denmark,

0:05:05.880,0:05:11.820
to Turkey, to Australia, to...really anywhere. [br]The lack of options workers face also explains

0:05:11.820,0:05:17.121
why they stay, despite facing one of the highest [br]illness and injury rates of any profession,

0:05:17.121,0:05:21.047
and having to carry out horrific brutalities [br]most people can't even imagine.

0:05:21.047,0:05:26.027
Virgil Butler describes this desperate position, [br]recounting how workers were expected

0:05:26.027,0:05:31.436
to remove improperly hung chickens [br]from the line "any way you can:"

0:05:31.436,0:05:34.560
"You get it off the line any way you can. [br]If that means ripping that chicken in half,

0:05:34.560,0:05:38.543
that means rippin' its leg off, if that [br]means rippin' its foot off—you do it.

0:05:38.543,0:05:43.920
If you don't do it, you're fired. Flat out. [br]There's no choice. They'll tell you straight up:

0:05:43.920,0:05:46.787
you are the most expendable human beings on earth."

0:05:46.787,0:05:50.255
It's rather telling that—at least at the time of [br]my research for this video—

0:05:50.255,0:05:57.265
when typing "slaughterhouse workers" into Google, the [br]very first auto-suggestion is "slaughterhouse workers ptsd."

0:05:57.265,0:06:01.320
Studies across countries and cultures [br]show clear evidence of psychological trauma

0:06:01.320,0:06:06.212
from working in slaughterhouses, though this [br]is still a largely under-examined population.

0:06:06.212,0:06:09.960
Workers studied have exhibited and [br]reported a range of symptoms including:

0:06:09.960,0:06:14.520
anxiety, depression, recurrent violent [br]dreams, paranoia, dissociation, panic,

0:06:14.520,0:06:18.240
a sense of disintegration, an increase [br]in aggression in and outside of work,

0:06:18.240,0:06:23.093
substance abuse, amnesia,suicidal [br]ideation, and even psychoticism.

0:06:23.093,0:06:26.700
Slaughterhouse workers are particularly [br]prone to a form of Post-Traumatic Stress

0:06:26.700,0:06:30.171
Disorder (PTSD) called Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS).

0:06:30.171,0:06:35.260
The concept of PITS was first introduced by sociologist [br]and psychologist Rachel M. Macnair

0:06:35.260,0:06:41.747
MacNair describes PITS as "a form of PTSD symptoms [br]caused not by being a victim or rescuer in trauma,

0:06:41.747,0:06:44.560
but by being an active participant in causing trauma"

0:06:44.560,0:06:48.574
—meaning the psychological harm results from[br]having caused the traumatic event.

0:06:48.574,0:06:54.911
McNair argues that this resulting trauma suggests that [br]"the human mind is not well suited for killing."

0:06:54.911,0:06:58.920
This assessment is echoed in a study in [br]South Africa that created a timeline of the

0:06:58.920,0:07:03.498
emotional breakdown of slaughterhouse workers, [br]starting with the trauma of their first kill:

0:07:03.498,0:07:07.758
"During their first kill, slaughter workers [br]remember feeling upset and experiencing

0:07:07.758,0:07:11.100
physical shock manifested by shaking and [br]shivering. [... They] were also emotionally

0:07:11.100,0:07:15.890
disturbed by their first-time kill and noted [br]feeling pained, saddened, and shameful."

0:07:15.890,0:07:19.860
The study relays one worker's recounting of [br]his first kill, noting how "the traumatic

0:07:19.860,0:07:24.600
experience of the first kill is evident as [br]well as how this emotive experience fades

0:07:24.600,0:07:28.609
into detachment," a later phase of the [br]emotional timeline that we'll address next.

0:07:28.609,0:07:33.704
He recalls: "The first time when I killed it was [br]not easy for me. I feel pity for it.

0:07:33.704,0:07:37.988
I felt I just wanted to close my eyes, turn [br]around, and run away. It was really sad

0:07:37.988,0:07:42.664
but the more you do it the easier it gets. Like yesterday [br]I had to shoot cows in the kraal [an enclosure for livestock].

0:07:42.664,0:07:46.232
I climbed over the fence, walked to the cow, and just shot it.

0:07:46.232,0:07:49.847
I feel nothing anymore. In the beginning it was very bad."

0:07:49.847,0:07:54.660
This eventual dissociation and emotional numbing [br]is described time and again by slaughterhouse

0:07:54.660,0:07:59.912
workers, and is part of what the South African [br]study refers to as the "(mal)adjustment phase."

0:07:59.912,0:08:04.560
In an interview with journalist Ashitha Nagesh, [br]Dr Chi-Chi Obuaya, a consultant psychiatrist at

0:08:04.560,0:08:09.139
Nightingale mental health hospital in London, [br]spoke to the "repetitive trauma" experienced

0:08:09.139,0:08:14.278
by slaughterhouse workers. With this kind [br]of "complex PTSD," Dr. Obuaya told Nagesh:

0:08:14.278,0:08:18.960
"there’s a sort of self-loathing that tends [br]to emerge – a very strong dislike of oneself,

0:08:18.960,0:08:22.740
and loss of one’s identity. That’s what [br]one would see in this particular group,

0:08:22.740,0:08:25.440
where the repetitive nature of the exposure to the

0:08:25.440,0:08:30.861
trauma as a perpetrator then leads to this [br]breakdown in the individual’s identity."

0:08:30.861,0:08:36.360
In his book The Nazi Doctors, psychiatrist Robert [br]Jay Lifton coined the term "doubling" to refer to the

0:08:36.360,0:08:42.533
"formation of a second, relatively autonomous [br]self, which enables one to participate in evil."

0:08:42.533,0:08:48.191
Doubling is essentially the act of dividing [br]oneself into separate "selves"—one self to kill,

0:08:48.191,0:08:52.251
the other self to maintain one's sense [br]of humanity and identity.

0:08:52.251,0:08:57.530
It's the mind's survival mechanism for carrying out acts [br]that are contrary to one's moral compass.

0:08:57.530,0:09:02.244
Doubling could explain the disturbing duality [br]I observed in the slaughterhouse worker in Virginia,

0:09:02.244,0:09:05.112
showing affection for a pig just prior to killing her.

0:09:05.112,0:09:10.931
This dissociation is echoed in a striking account from [br]Ed Van Winkle, a long-time slaughterhouse worker:

0:09:10.931,0:09:14.539
"The worst thing, worse than the physical [br]danger, is the emotional toll.

0:09:14.539,0:09:18.180
You develop an attitude that lets you [br]kill things but doesn't let you care.

0:09:18.180,0:09:22.101
You may look a hog in the eye that's walking [br]around down in the blood pit with you

0:09:22.101,0:09:26.922
[and] you may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor[br]have come up and nuzzled me like a puppy.

0:09:26.922,0:09:31.534
Two minutes later I had to kill them-beat [br]them to death with a pipe. I can't care.”

0:09:31.534,0:09:35.855
Activist Virgil Butler writes in his moving post [br]"Inside the mind of a killer":

0:09:35.855,0:09:39.886
"The sheer amount of killing and blood can really [br]get to you after awhile [sic],

0:09:39.886,0:09:44.992
especially if you can't just shut down all emotion completely [br]and turn into a robot zombie of death.

0:09:44.992,0:09:48.738
You feel like part of a big death machine. [br]Pretty much treated that way as well.

0:09:48.738,0:09:53.835
Out of desperation you send your mind elsewhere [br]so that you don't end up like those guys that lose it.

0:09:53.835,0:09:57.197
Like the guy that fell on his knees [br]praying to God for forgiveness.

0:09:57.197,0:10:02.536
Or the guy they hauled off to the mental hospital that kept [br]having nightmares that chickens were after him."

0:10:02.536,0:10:07.903
In many ways, the dissociation experienced by [br]slaughterhouse workers is an extreme version

0:10:07.903,0:10:11.698
of the dissociation experienced by most [br]people who consume animals.

0:10:11.698,0:10:17.434
No one wants to think they have a hand in overt cruelty [br]towards animals. So we as a society distance

0:10:17.434,0:10:22.645
ourselves as much as possible from the actions [br]we pay others to do to animals in our names.

0:10:22.645,0:10:26.792
This dissociation is easier when you don't have [br]to see what the animals go through.

0:10:26.792,0:10:32.656
When you don't have to literally have their blood on your [br]hands. For those doing the killing for consumers,

0:10:32.656,0:10:36.608
the dissociation becomes extreme out of necessity.

0:10:36.608,0:10:40.054
There's no arguing that the work of a [br]slaughterhouse employee is violent.

0:10:40.054,0:10:42.937
But are slaughterhouse workers more prone to violence as a whole?

0:10:42.937,0:10:48.567
As a society, we have long acknowledged cruelty towards animals[br]as an indicator of budding psychopathy.

0:10:48.567,0:10:53.625
Yet slaughterhouse workers are paid and expected [br]to carry out what amounts to torture upon

0:10:53.625,0:10:58.159
thousands of sentient beings, day in and day out. [br]How could that not have an effect?

0:10:58.159,0:11:02.772
Studies have found links between slaughterhouse [br]work and increased crime rates, including:

0:11:02.772,0:11:08.109
domestic violence, sex offenses, murder, assault, [br]burglary, arson, rape, theft, and larceny.

0:11:08.109,0:11:12.851
So, is it their work that makes them violent, [br]or are violent people more drawn to that kind of work?

0:11:12.851,0:11:17.231
While the latter may be true in some [br]cases, studies and stories from slaughterhouse

0:11:17.231,0:11:22.015
workers illustrate severe changes in personality, [br]deadening of empathy, and increased aggression.

0:11:22.015,0:11:26.479
For her harrowing book Slaughterhouse, [br]Gail A. Eisnitz spoke with Donny Tice,

0:11:26.479,0:11:30.351
a hog "sticker" (meaning the worker who [br]cuts the pig's throat). Tice recounted:

0:11:30.351,0:11:34.443
"Down in the blood pit, they say that the smell of [br]blood makes you aggressive [...] And it does [...]

0:11:34.443,0:11:38.982
Another thing that happens is that you don't [br]care about people's pain anymore. I used to be

0:11:38.982,0:11:44.867
very sensitive about people's problems-willing to [br]listen. After a while, you become desensitized."

0:11:44.867,0:11:49.720
Slaughterhouse workers often turn to substance [br]abuse and other maladaptive ways of coping with

0:11:49.720,0:11:53.815
the trauma of their work. Ed Van Winkle, [br]whom we heard from earlier, told Eisnitz:

0:11:53.815,0:11:58.749
"Every sticker I know carries a gun, and every [br]one of them would shoot you. Most stickers I know

0:11:58.749,0:12:03.199
have been arrested for assault. A lot of them [br]have problems with alcohol. They have to drink,

0:12:03.199,0:12:07.825
they have no other way of dealing with killing live, [br]kicking animals all day long."

0:12:07.825,0:12:12.000
Activist Virgil Butler and many other former [br]and current slaughterhouse workers recount

0:12:12.000,0:12:16.142
horrifying "games" workers would play with [br]the living beings they were employed to kill

0:12:16.142,0:12:19.741
Whether ripping the head off of a chicken [br]and placing it on their finger like a puppet,

0:12:19.741,0:12:24.325
or purposefully not stunning a pig just to make [br]it harder for the next worker to shackle them,

0:12:24.325,0:12:28.751
or a number of other atrocities I'll spare you from, [br]but about which you can read for yourself

0:12:28.751,0:12:31.733
in the works I've cited throughout the article for this video

0:12:31.733,0:12:36.000
For many workers, this sadistic behavior [br]developed from the severe emotional

0:12:36.000,0:12:39.901
detachment and stress of the job. [br]While we like to think that abuse and cruelty

0:12:39.901,0:12:44.560
within the animal industries are isolated [br]events—a result of a few aberrant workers,

0:12:44.560,0:12:49.678
this is simply not the case. I have multiple [br]videos, articles, and even full-length speeches

0:12:49.678,0:12:54.573
showing the reality of humane regulations [br]and what the "highest standards" really mean

0:12:54.573,0:12:58.285
for the animals themselves, all of [br]which are linked in this video's article.

0:12:58.285,0:13:03.303
The line that we draw between abuse and [br]standard industry practice is arbitrary at best.

0:13:03.303,0:13:07.545
Tossing live, conscious baby chicks [br]into a meat grinder? Completely legal.

0:13:07.545,0:13:12.719
In fact, it's the standard method dictated in the [br]European Union's landmark humane regulations.

0:13:12.719,0:13:18.350
Slamming piglets into the concrete floor then tossing[br]them into piles while many are still alive and twitching?

0:13:18.350,0:13:21.364
Completely legal. [br]Tearing off the testicles of piglets and calves,

0:13:21.364,0:13:24.901
cutting their teeth, notching their [br]ears, searing brands into flesh,

0:13:24.901,0:13:29.083
chopping off their tails—all without [br]any pain relief—completely legal.

0:13:29.083,0:13:33.811
As you heard from Virgil Butler, [br]even clear violations of the limited regulations

0:13:33.811,0:13:40.382
or standards that may exist are not only allowed, [br]but actually required for employees to keep their job.

0:13:40.382,0:13:44.473
Nothing can slow the speed of the line. [br]I've personally spoken with slaughterhouse workers

0:13:44.473,0:13:48.493
—as well as read numerous accounts[br]—about cows regularly still being conscious

0:13:48.493,0:13:53.806
as their skin is removed and they are dismembered. [br]Nothing can slow down the line.

0:13:53.806,0:13:57.488
When undercover videos come out documenting [br]the inner workers of a slaughterhouse,

0:13:57.488,0:14:03.178
the public is outraged and appalled. But what is [br]never made clear in such exposes is which horrific

0:14:03.178,0:14:07.644
acts captured are abuse, and which are standard legal practice.

0:14:07.644,0:14:17.579
When the line between cruel, psychopathic sadism and an [br]everyday job task is so profoundly indistinguishable,

0:14:17.579,0:14:20.212
shouldn't that at least give us pause?

0:14:20.212,0:14:24.175
So what, you may ask, is the solution? [br]Some animal rights activists distribute

0:14:24.175,0:14:28.847
flyers directly to slaughterhouse workers with [br]information about finding alternative employment,

0:14:28.847,0:14:33.022
crisis lines, addiction support, and legal [br]help. Labor rights advocates propose things

0:14:33.022,0:14:37.498
like stronger union representation and legal [br]reform. In her book Slaughterhouse, Gail Eisnitz,

0:14:37.498,0:14:41.602
in wondering why workers continued to [br]put up with psychically dangerous and

0:14:41.602,0:14:46.895
psychologically damaging conditions year after [br]year, asked "Wasn't that what unions were for?”

0:14:46.895,0:14:51.418
So she asked a union official, who informed [br]her he'd raised many complaints about the

0:14:51.418,0:14:55.818
extreme conditions and overt violations [br]over the years, all to no avail.

0:14:55.818,0:15:01.237
The local union president wrote to the state, saying [br]"These are human beings and they need help!

0:15:01.237,0:15:08.216
It's inhumane to subject man or beast to these conditions." [br]Inspectors came, but took no action, saying they

0:15:08.216,0:15:14.289
"observed slaughter procedures and have seen [br]no problems with sticking hogs at this speed.”

0:15:14.289,0:15:19.970
However, even if officials were to listen and [br]take action, even if we were to implement better

0:15:19.970,0:15:24.863
worker safety—the fundamental reality [br]of the job does not change.

0:15:24.863,0:15:32.156
The psychological toll of taking hundreds to [br]thousands of lives every day does not change.

0:15:32.156,0:15:37.284
And the reality for the non-human [br]animals certainly does not change.

0:15:37.284,0:15:42.962
The solution for humans, non-humans, our planet, [br]and our society as a whole is the same:

0:15:42.962,0:15:46.606
to stop exploiting sentient beings.

0:15:46.606,0:15:51.544
If nothing else, the deep and lasting [br]psychological damage slaughterhouse workers

0:15:51.544,0:15:57.209
experience is a testament to the profound [br]impact of non-human animal suffering.

0:15:57.209,0:16:07.495
The fact that their deaths can so devastate the [br]human psyche must mean that their lives matter.

0:16:07.495,0:16:12.027
I wish I had a quick and simple solution to offer[br]for the immense toll our animal products industries

0:16:12.027,0:16:14.246
take upon human and non-human animals alike.

0:16:14.246,0:16:19.412
Perhaps you wish I could offer absolution from even having[br]concern for the humans in these industries at all.

0:16:19.412,0:16:24.826
What I can offer is what I always do: the reality of [br]what you support when you purchase animal products.

0:16:24.826,0:16:27.541
I can offer you the facts such that you can decide

0:16:27.541,0:16:32.356
whether it's in line with your values to [br]continue paying others to kill in your name.

0:16:32.356,0:16:37.738
My hope is that you'll choose to go vegan. [br]If not for the animals, then for your fellow humans.

0:16:37.738,0:16:40.437
You can get started with my free How to Go Vegan Guide,

0:16:40.437,0:16:43.762
available under the Get Started menu at BiteSizeVegan.org.

0:16:43.762,0:16:49.413
To support educational content like this, please consider [br]making a donation by clicking "Support" at BiteSizeVegan.org.

0:16:49.413,0:16:53.051
To stay in the loop about new Bite Size Vegan content [br]and updates, please sign up for the newsletter

0:16:53.051,0:16:55.895
or follow the Telegram channel [br]for the most reliable notifications.

0:16:55.895,0:16:58.150
Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.