PEOPLE who eat meat like to think that animals are killed "humanely".

Viva!'s new investigation reveals that, each year, five million sheep and almost two million pigs are improperly stunned and regain consciousness as they bleed to death.

Slaughterhouses operate like any other factory production line and animals are treated as if they were no more than cheap plastic toys. They are unloaded from crowded trucks and herded through industrial buildings, often with electric goads. Then they are stunned and hoisted up by their legs to have their throats cut.

Viva!'s film shows conscious animals on the slaughter line. One pig struggles so violently that she slips out of her shackles and falls into the blood pit below. She is hung back on the line to be packaged for the supermarket. How can this cruelty be justified when we don't even need to eat meat?

Modern chicken abattoirs aim to kill thousands of birds in an hour, so there's no time for individual welfare. Many birds "swan-neck" -- lifting their heads and missing the electric waterbath stunner. Their heads are sliced off while they are conscious.

When you see meat products in the supermarket, please spare a thought for the animals by choosing a veggie meal instead. In your lifetime, you will eat about 900 animals so, by going vegetarian, you'll be saving lives!

For free information on going veggie, contact Viva! at 12 Queen Square, Brighton BN1 3FD; tel: 01273 777688.

Rebecca Smith

Campaigner