Skin Trade * Warning Graphic Videos *

These are fairly graphic, and... it makes me sad to see this. Im not going to really complain.... because we do far worse to cows and chickens and other such things, and it would be pretty silly of me to whine about something just because i like the animals.

I dont ever like to see this sort of thing though.

So many pretty animals, gone to make that godawful ugly purse. ( I hate pocketbooks anyway! LOL)

These are pretty graphic, so if youre squeamish about seeing things killed, youre best to skip these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bFI1...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xZ2267ZLso&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jECBZKqnqsA

I have to agree, sure it may be a "necessity" to kill some animals for food, materials, etc. But if they could just do this $h!t humanely then it wouldn't be so horrible. I mean come on, they aren't even making sure they're completely dead before hanging them by hooks! Just smashing their heads in and then letting them squirm. So ridiculous. If some of these politicians would work more towards correcting issues like this, rather than trying to ban people from having these beautiful creatures as pets, then it might make sense. But no, instead they breed all of these snakes to slaughter in a horrible manner. They complain of an over run population of species of pythons in Florida? Cut down that population by using them for the skin trade but keep the "factories" up to code and do everything by the books and humanely.
I'll never understand the way so many of these people's minds work. And of course you know if that was a video of someone doing that to something cute and furry it would be on every possible news station out there. Most people hardly care about the fact that farm animals are treated nearly the same way. How about a farm of cute little puppies or kittens being tortured to make some really nice fur accessories for these people.
Ugh
Sorry for the rant but it's just so pathetic that these people are allowed to get away with things like this, yet they're trying to stop us all from something that is actually helping this particular population of animals by breeding out nice healthy specimens of these "dirty" wild creatures.

The really annoying thing is that it's actually *easy* to take cow leather and imprint fake scale marks or a fake pattern. Ever notice the "gator skin" handbags that have an uninterrupted series of back scales to belly scales to back scales, as if they came from some freaky mutant gator with 3 backs and 2 bellies?

But if they could just do this $h!t humanely then it wouldn't be so horrible. I mean come on, they aren't even making sure they're completely dead before hanging them by hooks!

This is actually the big problem with reptile skin farming - humane euthanasia of reptiles is not easy, nor is it cheap. The only humane method for snakes is overdose of anaesthetic, either inhaled or injected. The inhaled stuff is expensive and causes cancer and birth defects in humans, while the injectable forms are universally controled substances such as barbituates.

And either way it's a no win situation for anyone other than the people reaping the tons of cash from "real" reptile skin items. Too bad we can't euthanize them.

I would say that a crushed skull and brain cavity would be as close to a instant kill as you can get. The bodys are still moving, but as hard as they hit them(sorry, it's graphic), I can't see that the snake's brain would still be intact.
I hate to see gorgeous animals being killed for skins. I'd hope they eat the meat as well, but being a reptile person, it's horrid to see the reality.
People generally don't want to see cows, pigs, or goats slaughtered for food/meat. Reptiles are no different really. It's a living breathing animal, being killed and skinned. I think those were WC, as they were in rough sacks, instead of being breed for skins. Was there a thing somewhere that said they were raised on a farm?
WC makes it really sad, if the population is being depleted for skins.

While I agree that it's gruesome and I don't like seeing it.........the truth is there is no pretty slaughterhouse. Those animals are a resource to those people as much as chickens or pigs are to us. Looking at the way it was done~ it appears a minimum of stress was put on the animals considering the situation~ they were handled quickly and efficiently from the bags to crushing the skull. Once the skull was crushed the animal was "gone"~ movement after brain death is a fact of life and while it is distinctly uncomfortable to witness........it occurs in all the animal species I know of. By crushing the brain as quickly as was done~ I would say that was the most humane way to do it. Watching the following videos and see the skinned out carcasses hanging~ my guess is they would not go to the effort to hang and keep the meat clean in that way unless thier intent was to go ahead and use the meat for some purpose as well.......my guess would be consumption.

I know it's uncomfortable to see~ but it didn't look all that disrespectful or inhumane to me.

If you watch all the related videos from the poster, you'll see them cleaning out the meat. So it's a slaughthouse for meat as well as skins, and fertile eggs are kept and hatched.
Sorry.. it's kind of disgusting.. but so is a cattle slaughthouse.. where they kill cows for meat and skins. The difference here is that I still believe the snakes shown are WC, and I would hope there is a sustainable population there(which is possible). We kill deer, and they kill pythons. It's very sad to see OUR pets being considered food animals, but it's a food item there.
There's an interesting book put out by the poster of the videos on youtube, available on amazon. The Lizard King, about animal smuggling and such. One of the videos also shows a very legitimate python breeding farm in indonesia. Very awesome place.

Slaughter anything is a gruesome prospect. I've only begun processing our own meat animals in the last year~ and until I did the goat that I had to have help with the actual kill (I'm still afraid of guns) I've made sure I was the only one home when I did it. I KNOW I'm being more respectful and humane than any slaughterhouse would be........but I still don't want anyone I know to see me (or worse have pictures of me) holding a chicken as I kill it. I know the public should be aware of how it's done since they EAT the meat and use the skins........but the truth is.......no matter how respectful and humane you are.......your still killing a perfectly healthy beautiful animal (YES my chickens and turkeys are beautiful animals feathered out and on the plate!) and it is gruesome no matter what. While I'm willing to do it I would never want to see myself in pictures doing it.

I guess I mostly hate the idea of efficiency being of top priority when it comes to slaughtering any creature. Even though I'm not a hard core animal activist, I am someone that feels that all creatures should be treated on the same level as humans. It would be far more efficient to kill a human, like someone that was on their deathbed by using the same methods used on most of those animals, but instead we chose to go the more expensive route involving hospitals and medications and billions of dollars. If even just a tiny portion of that went into making the conditions a little better on how the entire process took place in the slaughter of these animals it would make me feel a little better. I've seen some examples of cattle slaughter houses that were less like a waste filled warehouse and more like a moderately clean facility. Considering once the meat and other goods are removed from the animal it is then, usually, placed in a near lab type environment, I don't see why it would be so hard to make it at least close to that type of environment while the animals are still alive. Even if they are grown to be slaughtered, tossing them about like trash (not just the snakes in the videos, I've seen examples of farms doing the same to nearly any farm animal that slaughters), that would make it more tolerable. There are necessary evils, we all know that, but making them slightly less evil would be nice.
And Cheryl, I can definitely see you understanding all those points. For you it's now something you have to do, but at least you still care and try to make it as best as you can for them. I know I couldn't see you tossing them around like most "usual" slaughtering houses do. And that's what I'd really like to see(or just know) that the people working in these places still care enough to make it as easy on the animals as possible.

Aleria~ I understand what your saying~ and how you feel when you watch those videos~ but I don't think you really understand the reality of MEAT. Do you consume meat or keep animals that do? Even a dog or a cat where the meat comes conveniently in a bag or a can? I'm sure posting here that you do.

The simple fact is~ IF we treated meat animals with the same medications we use on humans the meat would be unsafe for consumption. SOMEONE is planning to eat those snakes we see in those videos~ Theresa watched the accompanying videos and explained that to us. So it is very much like they were a chicken, a pig, or perhaps more like a deer collected by hunting. Now~ imagine YOU were the end consumer of the meat in question. Would you be willing to eat it if it had been treated with morphine or an equivalent drug first? KNOWING that in order for the drug to be effective at the kill it would HAVE to be active in the bloodstream at that time and would taint the entire carcass with the narcotic? Would you be willing to feed it to your children? Your elderly grandmother? Your pregnant sister?

When we euthanize rats for our snakes we generally use CO2 which is naturally occurring in the body and adds no additional chemicals............so that would be a choice.........except that it is SLOW, expensive, and often inaccurate. If you've ever attempted to euthanize rats in this way you'll surely have incidents in which the animals clearly expeireince stress and panic when the CO2 is flooded in too quickly, or the animals fail to be euthanized because the CO2 is leaked in too slowly or not enough is used. And again~ to the meat you will feed your pets and your family........are you willing to risk that the operator was skilled enough with the CO2 to do the job quickly enough to effect a kill without being so slow as to cause the CO2 and attempts at respiration not to cause chemicals in the body such as carbonic acid to be formed (I don't know if thats true or not but I've heard that CO2 too slowly will cause the formation of carbonic acid crystals in the blood stream to form)

The most humane method that will retain the quality of the meat would be the QUICKEST method. This generally translates to separating the brain from the body as quickly as possible~ while still allowing the blood to flow if possible........the blood MUST exit the meat as quickly as possible........thats why you will almost always see any animal intended for consumption hung up in some way or the meat will go rancid if not consumed immediately.

Thats why I say that seeing them crush the skull so quickly and efficiently as they leave the bags seems to ME to be the most humane method for what they are doing.