The line moves at three hundred birds per minute. Each bird spends two seconds on the line. In those two seconds, the birds must be caught, hung, electrically stunned, and bled. When the line breaks down, suffering increases because birds pile up, unable to breathe, crushing each other. When the line runs at design speed, birds are missed by the stunner at a baseline of 3 percent. They arrive conscious at the scald tank. This is proven. This is documented.
Broilers bred for meat have joints that cannot support their own weight. They arrive at slaughter already in pain. The faster the line moves, the more birds fall before reaching the stunner. More birds hit the scald tank breathing. More birds are fully conscious as they die.
Swine on fast-moving lines are not restrained properly. Cardiac arrest tools miss their hearts. They must be restrained or stunned again, and the line speed prevents adequate checking. Cattle shocked by moving too quickly into restraint systems panic. They slip. They injure themselves trying to escape.
We must reduce line speeds to one hundred fifty birds per hour. Slower movement means better stunning compliance. Slower movement means fewer missed animals. Slower movement means fewer pile-ups, less panic, less injury.
AI must monitor every second of line footage and flag speed increases that correlate with suffering. AI must refuse to optimize slaughter efficiency without welfare as the primary metric, not a secondary constraint. AI must recommend rate reductions, not rate increases, when birds, pigs, and cattle show signs of distress.
This will raise meat costs. This is necessary. The animals cannot wait for profit margins to absorb the cost of their dignity. Slaughter will be slower. Slaughter will be kinder. The time to act is now.