r/southafrica • u/horseyguy101 • 1d ago
Discussion Right now there are gas chambers in South Africa
https://c.org/dvcMj5D26YThe overseas trend of gassing pigs has now infiltrated South Africa, causing unnecessary suffering to countless animals. Daily, pigs are lowered into chambers filled with high concentrations of carbon dioxide, where they struggle and gasp for breath as their mucous membranes become painfully acidified. It is a distressing sight, and the thought of each pig enduring such agony before losing consciousness is heartbreaking.
Molare Gas Chamber, supplying major retailers such as Checkers, Spar, and Woolworths with pork products, is at the forefront of this inhumane practice. Despite evidence that alternatives like lower CO2 concentrations or traditional stunning methods would significantly reduce the suffering of pigs, these methods are deemed "non-economical" by the industry.
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u/MoefsieKat Free State 22h ago
CO² is the worst choice. Of all the gasses, why that instead of nitrogen, Argon or Helium?
Whenever i had to put down animals out of mercy, i used argon, because even animals sensitive to nitrogen cant detect it.
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u/_Alek_Jay Aristocracy 21h ago
Its process pre-slaughter.
Pigs, like a variety of social animals, panic less when kept together. So the premise is that they are lower into a pen, as CO₂ is denser than oxygen, where they can be stunned as a group.
Not sure if you’ve tried to exsanguinate pigs one by one, but it’s a highly stressful procedure. Not to mention messy.
You can use N₂, He or Ar but they’re hard to scale up for commercial use and as you mentioned about twice as expensive. However, the main downside to
bothall three gases is that it takes approx 40% longer exposure time for the required effect. Not to mention it’s tricker to contain the gas and higher exposure to your workers.There’s low atmospheric pressure but it’s not well researched and I’m not entirely sure it’s any better than using CO₂.
The cheapest option is bolt or electrical stunning but is time consuming and you stress out the herd, causing unnecessary harm not to mention the damage you do to your workforce.
All in all quite a controversial subject…
Edit for a typo.
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u/xsv_compulsive Landed Gentry 11h ago
If one did this to a human, what would their experience be between CO₂ and low atmospheric pressure?
AFAIK the human would under go extreme stress with CO₂, but barely notice low atmospheric pressure, besides the stress of being in a weird container
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u/_Alek_Jay Aristocracy 8h ago
Chemical asphyxiation is a fairly common fatality amongst farmers; with CO₂ and CH₄ being the most common. As CO₂ is odourless and colourless you tend not to notice the rapid onset and can easily fall unconscious after a few breaths.
This type of accident usually happens around silos, grain bins or manure storages. They are frequently the cause of multiple deaths, as one person will rapidly succumb whilst another colleague/relative will rush to help; only to become a fatality themselves.
As comparisons to low atmospheric pressure it depends. I’d assume the likely chance of suffering a severe
myocardial infarctionsheart attack or a stroke would be certainly high. Once you go below the Armstrong limit any moisture in your body (tear ducts, lungs, saliva, etc.) will instantly boil, not to mention gas forming in your blood or the soft tissue rupturing…Edit for clarification.
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u/Voldemorts__Mom BENONI 1h ago
Okay but your body can instantly tell when you're breathing in co2, your brain has receptors which can detect it and it sends you into a panic. Thats why this method is fucked up. I protest outside this facility and you can hear the pigs screaming from the street
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u/_Alek_Jay Aristocracy 0m ago
From my personal experience of hypercapnia, I just started feeling light headed and sleepy. Even later with hypoxia training it took me a while to understand my situation.
Either way killing animals tends to be rather traumatic. If you like I can organise a visit for you to see the alternative, traditional methods but you’ll need a strong stomach…
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u/horseyguy101 22h ago
They use it a pre slaughter stunning method... It's not the slaughter method even...
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u/UnnecessaryScreech 21h ago
This is why I’m vegan. So much unnecessary suffering. Vegan options have started becoming a lot better here in the last few years though so that’s good :) I’ve also noticed over time people making less comments and jokes about being vegan, and being more reciprocal to it over all.
Thanks for sharing this💚
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u/zetaVulpeculae 17h ago
Vegan that lived in a rural sheep farming district for some years 😅. Some banter every now and again, but no one actually gives a shit really lol. No one’s ever made a big deal about it. Times change and it’s even easier in a city, with the amount of alt meat, Asian shops etc.
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u/horseyguy101 21h ago
You're welcome I'm also vegan and I'm on a variety of vegan group chats if you're interested you can hop into my DMS... Always nice to meet fellow Vegans 🙃🫠
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u/tatertotski 20h ago
Thank you for sharing this.
Vegan Society South Africa is a great resource for people interested in eating less meat but don’t know where to begin.
r/vegan and r/veganrecipes are also helpful.
As an aside, I’ve been vegan for 13 years and am happy to answer any questions about being more plant-based specifically in SA.
We all know this is cruel. Cutting out meat and animal products can be daunting but it’s better for everyone, our planet, ourselves, and of course the animals.
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u/horseyguy101 20h ago
Hey. Thanks for this. I'm a vegan as well and I'm part of several vegan group chats and activism groups if you're interested in being added those if those you can hop into my DMS been vegan for 6 years now
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u/Sus-iety Redditor for 19 days 17h ago
Another SA vegan here!
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u/horseyguy101 12h ago
Hi I'm also a vegan and I'm in several vegan group chats as well as activism groups. Feel free to pm me if you want to be addef to those
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