The Times reports two chicken producers have found a new, more humane angle to killing: carbon-dioxide gas. The birds will be sedated before being hung upside down to await throat-slitting. A Bell & Evans rep declares, “Our system is designed so that we put them to sleep without stress and we kill them without stress.” This makes sense, but there’s something about an article whose title begins “gassing chickens” that just doesn’t whet our appetites.
And that’s precisely the fear these two bird-hawking companies have: how to market their humane process in an appealing way. “Sedation stunning” is one turn of phrase being considered, and yeah, that does sound good after a long week. And although we know carbon dioxide is the stuff of sodas, something about the idea of pumping a bird with gas just feels a little … oogy.
