to any drivers out there who do livestock haulage,i am curious to know how you feel [or dont] about transporting animals,this is a genuine question and not a dig at you blokes,the reason i ask is i drive up and down the M4 every day and have had at least 3 livestock hauliers go past my 52 mph truck,i really feel guilty knowing these animals are going to end up on dinner tables,i feel guilty because i like bacon myself,you blokes are at the sharp end,do they [the animals] sense whats coming to them,must be terrible if they do,a family friend once made me feel bad when i bought a packet of bacon and he said and i quote,just think that was running about a week ago, unquote,my reply was,yeah cheers for that,i know you have to take whatever is going but i dont think i could do that job,in fact i know i could not,as i said i would be interested to know how you blokes [or women] feel about it
Don’t feel guilty mate, you have eyes at the front of your head and sharp pointy teeth for one reason and one reason only!
As some wit once observed “if we weren’t meant to eat animals then why do they make them out of meat?”
Nobody would take the time and trouble to rear cows, pigs and sheep if people didn’t end up eating them, city folk tend to forget that the countryside is just a vast food factory, and not just there to make their annual car journey a little more scenic.
the maoster:
Don’t feel guilty mate, you have eyes at the front of your head and sharp pointy teeth for one reason and one reason only!As some wit once observed “if we weren’t meant to eat animals then why do they make them out of meat?”
true i suppose,cheers
I certainly couldn’t haul livestock, wouldn’t be able to get past the mass scale of it all in my head, not to mention so much of it is senseless as a lot of it will end up being wasted. Sure, they are domesticated animals, bred to be incredibly stupid, but they still feel fear, can sense death etc and a fear of impending death drives all living creatures.
No, Im not a vegetarian, I justify myself because I can and have killed, prepared and eaten animals. The difference in my mind is that I am one person killing one animal, its death will sustain me, and up untill that point it has lived the life nature intended for it. Farming/slaughterhouses and so on work on a whole different scale and to be ok with it I have to pretty much ignore their existence. Our relationship with the world has changed over time and now we’re simply parasites with a sense of entitlement and a massive superiority complex.
I know how I probably sound to most and that’s fair enough, my beliefs and opinions have always been a little bit different. Consider though, that our feelings on things are simply societal constructs. In the not too distant past humans transported others en mass to their deaths or enslavement, who were thought of little better than animals. How many of us would drive those wagons to “earn a crust”.
Rather long winded to simply say no I couldn’t drive a livestock wagon, so I apologise.
As a former farm worker, I have to say that it’s a tough one.
These re the things that used to make me feel bad.
-
Separating the new-born calf from its mother (dairy cows)
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Dehorning calves (but not as bad as I might feel if a cow or bullock with horns caught me with one of them!)
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Sending the finished cattle off to slaughter. I always thought that selling deadweight of the field was kinder than putting them though market, but really it would have been kinder still to have slaughtered them on the farm in familiar surroundings. Farmed deer get shot in the field, they never know what’s hit them. An rifle bullet in the brain is about as kind and rapid an end as you can hope for.
I used to console myself with the thought that I’d looked after them as best I could while I could.
Most, but not all, livestock drivers do have a genuine care for the animals in their charge, but they can’t be sentimental.
I drive a livestock wagon,we collect chickens from across the southern half of the UK and to be honest I really don’t feel bad about it.I get to see the birds in the sheds walking around before they are caught and it’s my job to get them back to the plant alive and healthy,once they are loaded onto the trailer and I sign the poultry transport paperwork then they are my legal responsibility until hand them over to the welfare officer at the plant
I know a lot of people say they couldn’t do it,but as long as it’s done properly and legally then I don’t mind doing it
Surely as animals have never been to a slaughterhouse before, being slaughtered would be an abstract concept to them? So perhaps they wouldn’t fear being herded into a truck?
On a practical note, there doesn’t seem much room in those triple deck trailers, how and who goes in there to muck all the ■■■■ out?
In general, I think the animals can smell what’s going on…
If they are loaded badly, or the truck is driven badly, then that is stressful for them.
bazza123:
Surely as animals have never been to a slaughterhouse before, being slaughtered would be an abstract concept to them? So perhaps they wouldn’t fear being herded into a truck?
It’s like taking lambs to slaughter idioms.thefreedictionary.com/lik … +slaughter
On a practical note, there doesn’t seem much room in those triple deck trailers, how and who goes in there to muck all the [zb] out?
There’s plenty of room in a 3 decker, some of the 4 deckers used in the 70’s and 80’s were a bit tight 
but they’re better now !
It’s usually the drivers job to muck out, get your waterproofs and knee pads on
This is something I’d genuinely like to do for a while, only started driving CE in January though so one day in the future when I’ve a little more experience.
No idea of companies around my area ’ Edinburgh’ and Central belt who deal with it though…
What are the hours like plenty I guess? Currently averaging 60 p/w day shift containers just wish they would keep me on to 9pm more often lol…
Oh and the possibility of nights out with the sheep? Haha, slap the Wellies on and stick their back legs in em so they can’t run away. JK that was a
little too far 
Ryy86:
This is something I’d genuinely like to do for a while, only started driving CE in January though so one day in the future when I’ve a little more experience.
If you haven’t got any experience handling livestock you might struggle, unless you can help out at a market or farm a bit.
No idea of companies around my area ’ Edinburgh’ and Central belt who deal with it though…
It’s out of my area, but there’s RW Stewart somewhere close
If you are handling anything other than caged birds any reputable livestock haulier will be looking for someone with livestock farming experience. It’s an old cliche, but you can teach a stockman to drive a truck easier than you can teach a truck driver to be a stockman.
You have to have a sort of sixth-sense as to what the animals are going to do, or how they will react.
Even an angry sheep can knock a man over keepbusy.net/play.php?id=dir … der-vs-ram
I did it for a while to help someone out, pigs are fine, enjoyed cattle carrying lovely beasts.
I enjoyed it, something you can take a pride in doing well, driving considerately and making sure the animals are stressed as little as possible gives great job satisfaction.
As with other farm and country work, you meet genuine people, about as far removed from RDC/warehouse drones they could be from another planet.
Juddian made me grin. I was imagining the average RDC monkey being thrown into the agricultural environment! Physically hard graft for ten or fifteen hours a day, all in pouring rain, driving sleet, hurricanes or in the middle of a sixty acre field with no shade on the odd “proper” summer’s day. Weekends as well, with no coffee machine or brew room. And the never-ending mucking out, every day.
Wouldn’t they just LOVE it 
I used to work on a farm with cattle, pigs, and sheep. As long as they’re handled considerately, then no problem. A lot better than driving a bus, as someone on here once remarked, at least you get to eat the buggers when they *&$t in the corner 
Ryy86:
This is something I’d genuinely like to do for a while, only started driving CE in January though so one day in the future when I’ve a little more experience.No idea of companies around my area ’ Edinburgh’ and Central belt who deal with it though…
What are the hours like plenty I guess? Currently averaging 60 p/w day shift containers just wish they would keep me on to 9pm more often lol…Oh and the possibility of nights out with the sheep? Haha, slap the Wellies on and stick their back legs in em so they can’t run away. JK that was a
little too far
Sure there are a couple of firms down the borders area transport livestock.
livestock haulage is covered by a raft of welfare legislation. eg pre-planned route showing watering, feeding and resting stops and transit time restrictions. You should be able to track all this down with a search of the .gov.uk websites. But I do agree with you. Its odd that we, as a species with highly developed empathy, still retain our carnal heritage.
I’d happily become a vegetarian if I could still eat meat!
The Pariah:
I certainly couldn’t haul livestock, wouldn’t be able to get past the mass scale of it all in my head, not to mention so much of it is senseless as a lot of it will end up being wasted. Sure, they are domesticated animals, bred to be incredibly stupid, but they still feel fear, can sense death etc and a fear of impending death drives all living creatures.No, Im not a vegetarian, I justify myself because I can and have killed, prepared and eaten animals. The difference in my mind is that I am one person killing one animal, its death will sustain me, and up untill that point it has lived the life nature intended for it. Farming/slaughterhouses and so on work on a whole different scale and to be ok with it I have to pretty much ignore their existence. Our relationship with the world has changed over time and now we’re simply parasites with a sense of entitlement and a massive superiority complex.
I know how I probably sound to most and that’s fair enough, my beliefs and opinions have always been a little bit different. Consider though, that our feelings on things are simply societal constructs. In the not too distant past humans transported others en mass to their deaths or enslavement, who were thought of little better than animals. How many of us would drive those wagons to “earn a crust”.
Rather long winded to simply say no I couldn’t drive a livestock wagon, so I apologise.
not long winded at all,a fair point i think