In Photos: Slaughterhouse Fire Aftermath

these shots are insane. reminds me of the sick shit in House of Wax, sadly this is real.

as Tina Turner would say "simply the best!!"

I'm hungry now!!! :-P

Most. Delicious. Fire. EVER!

From the Globe and Mail article:
"No living animals were caught up in the blaze, said CFIA provincial spokeswoman Marilyn Taylor"

Chris: Actually the article said over 700 pigs.

It was the only fire in Toronto's history to be extinguished using massive quantities of barbecue sauce.

i must ask, why didn't they hold a porkfest for the homeless, since the meat was already cooked?

this place is one of the reasons i became vegg (i'm not the militant one). my mum works beside the place and i'd often see the hides and parts loaded onto open trucks. i decided if i couldn't come to terms with this stuff and i wasn't willing to hunt and kill animals myself i wasn't going to eat them. seems others can and that's cool.
btw I think these photos are brilliant and evocative. the juxtaposition of meat and metal is extremely unsettling, something great photography should aim to do.

in case you missed the link from Hamish, the fire itself made for some crazy interesting night pics. flickr slideshow <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicesmooth/sets/72157594364585582/show";>here</a>.

I've witnessed the slaughter of pigs from start to finish, and it's not pretty. The sights, sounds, and smells are difficult to observe, to say the least. I learned first hand the origins of the phrase "kick the bucket". I now eat much less meat, but mainly for energy and environmental sustainability reasons.

Something that activists don't take into account is that, in terms of factory slaughter for food purposes, it is counterproductive to have the subject animal suffer during the killing process as such methods are highly likely to adversely affect the quality of the meat due to shock. It's been proven that in large mammals like cows and pigs anything but a quick death will cause the meat to go 'off' and become inedible. In all likelihood the pigs were killed using a bolt to the spine (knocking), which kills them instantly and painlessly.

And as to whether the carcasses in the fire could have been given to the poor, that couldn't happen due to health concerns - the animals might not have been graded yet, for one, and they were involved in a major fire where the building was disintegrating around them, creating clouds of destabilized materials like insulation, etc, as well as freed gasses and chemicals used in the firefighting process. Don't kid yourself - the animals WILL be used - just not in the food chain.

I would agree that most slaughter is done as humanely as possible, but I saw some video of a slaughterhouse where there is the odd live pig hanging on the assembly line(that was suppose to be dead) being dumped in hot water (to soften skin off from carcass) ... there's grey on both sides of this argument.

Sookie, What do you consider suffering? Transport in closed quarters? Guess people on planes qualify.

I think its funny that anyone is concerned about the animals dying in the fire - they were at the slaughter house already, which is not any more humane than burning to death. if you really cared about animal cruelty you wouldn't be eating meat in the first place.

I agree with Rachel!!!!!

Oh, and Rachel.......pitttty is spelled with 4 t's.

i love eating animals. i love slaughter houses. men need slaughter houses to live healthy lives. who's with me!