On the journey to the slaughter-house, the animals face nearly all weather conditions. Once the animals have arrived to the slaughter-house, they are sent to the arbatoir specified to their animal type. The chickens are shackled by their legs and their throats are cut even if they are unconscious or conscious. The pigs are hung by the hind legs and their throats are slit. The workers patiently wait for the pigs to bleed out and meet with death before they cut them down and repeat the same actions over again. The process for slaughtering cows is known as kosher slaughter. It is known as this because it is the slaughter of animals for food according to the Jewish dietary laws. Kosher slaughter is to be carried out by a specially trained person known as a shochet, who is educated and instructed about the requirements of shechita. What the shochet are skilled to do so is make a quick, deep stroke in the throat, and if performed correctly, it makes the animal become unconscious quickly. Kosher slaughter is also a federal law known as the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, or HMSA. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act is enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food Safety and Inspection Service. This act states that animals are to be properly treated and there has to be humane handling of all animals for slaughter in the USDA slaughter houses.
When the slaughtering of the animals is complete, the next step is skinning the carcasses. When all of these extensive steps have been taken care of, the carcasses must be passed by a qualified professional, specifically a veterinarian. Any actions said to be taken care of about the carcasses must be completed. Carcasses that pass the inspection should go into a cooler as soon as possible. When in the coolers, they must be hung by their legs and must never come in contact with the floor. The carcasses deep muscle temperature must be lowered to 6-7° celcuis or else it will result in rapid multiplication of bacteria in the meat. When transporting the chilled carcasses, workers must use vehicles that have refrigerated storage. The carcasses must be at 0°celcuis before loading onto the vehicles, and the vehicle must be kept at 0° celcuis throughout the trip. The meat should be sold and proccessed as quick as possible, but if they are not, then they must be held in a well-cleaned area that has high-quality ventalation.