Sir Paul McCartney once said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls everyone would be vegetarian.” Many former slaughterhouse workers would agree. No one knows more about the suffering farmed animals endure than the workers in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, many of whom are desperate for employment and working for low-wages in horrific conditions.

Although it seems easy to think of these workers as cold and uncaring individuals who abuse and torture animals for a living, there are many who took these jobs out of desperation—or were simply unaware of the conditions inside. In many ways they too are victims of a brutal industry.

The following are true stories from former slaughterhouse and factory farm workers who have witnessed cruelty that many of us can only imagine. They wish to share their horrifying tales in order to educate those who are unaware, and more importantly, to open the closed doors and expose the industries responsible.

Note: The photos that accompany these interviews were taken at numerous farms and slaughterhouses and do not necessarily correspond to a facility where the interviewed workers were employed.

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