“Right to Painless Death”: The Fight for Humane Animal Slaughter in the Cold War United States
Issue Date
2021-05-31Author
LaGue, Ariel Szaks
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
259 pages
Type
Dissertation
Degree Level
Ph.D.
Discipline
History
Rights
Copyright held by the author.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
During the 1950s, animal welfare advocates launched a campaign for the passage of a law to require the use of improved slaughtering methods in packinghouses across America. The campaign ignited a widespread debate between animal welfare advocates, religious communities, and the packing industry, all of whom held differing positions on the proper role of the federal government. While animal welfare organizations and citizen activists argued for Congress to create a moral standard through legislation for the treatment of farmed animals, representatives of the nation’s Haredi Orthodox Jewish community feared a humane slaughter law would impede on their religious freedom to practice shechita, or Jewish ritual slaughter. The packing industry also opposed regulation, claiming that federal intervention in the slaughterhouse was a government overstep. This dissertation features these claims and argues for the significance of the 1958 Humane Slaughter Act in understanding the U.S. during a time of increased modernization, scientific innovation, production, and consumption following World War II. The fight for humane slaughter represents a growing intolerance of suffering among some Americans and demonstrates a crucial moment in U.S. history when Americans became increasingly aware of their relationship with food animals. It also illustrates heightened fears of increased government involvement in business and religious practices while stressing the importance of the U.S. as an exemplar of a humane, democratic society. It places the ethical, business, and religious arguments concerning a humane slaughter bill at the center of its analysis by focusing on how these beliefs manifested during the Cold War period and examines how Congress navigated these realms of concern. This contributes to a broader understanding of how ethical, economic, and religious values influenced political decisions and led to an expanded role for the federal government—one that regulated the human-food animal relationship.
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