112-683: The Ross River Meatworks Chimney is a heritage-listed abattoir at Stuart Drive, Idalia , City of Townsville , Queensland , Australia. It is the 11th tallest structure in Townsville. It was built as part of the Ross River Meatworks in 1891 William McCallum Park and is now a major landmark as part of Fairfield Waters and part of Lancinis Springbank urban village. It was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 14 August 2009. The Ross River Meatworks
224-540: A Port of Entry in 1865. Entrepreneur and businessman Robert Towns (after whom Townsville is named) and his business partner John Melton Black founded the settlement at Cleveland Bay to supply their pastoral leases in the hinterland. By the mid-1860s, drought and recession had led to a collapse in the pastoral industry in north Queensland. In order to salvage some profit, squatters turned to the boiling down of sheep and cattle for tallow (for candles and soap). Hoofs and horns were utilised for oil, and hides for leather. In 1864
336-507: A coherent institution in the 19th century. A combination of health and social concerns, exacerbated by the rapid urbanisation experienced during the Industrial Revolution , led social reformers to call for the isolation, sequester and regulation of animal slaughter. As well as the concerns raised regarding hygiene and disease, there were also criticisms of the practice on the grounds that the effect that killing had, both on
448-419: A dropping counter-weighted heavy metal door. The northwest face of the plinth has bricks punched out about two-thirds the way up. A lightning strap is dislodged at the top of the stack but remains fixed to the southeast face of the stack and plinth, terminating at the ground. Metal straps wrap around the stack at regular intervals. A 400-millimetre (16 in) wide concrete drain runs along the southeast side of
560-408: A farm, such as retired work horses . Slaughtering animals on a large scale poses significant issues in terms of logistics, animal welfare , and the environment, and the process must meet public health requirements. Due to public aversion in different cultures, determining where to build slaughterhouses is also a matter of some consideration. Frequently, animal rights groups raise concerns about
672-523: A federal inquiry. In 2009 authorities from the Government of Queensland declared the eradication program complete. The region contain 33 national parks. Great Keppel Island has been an island tourist attraction since the 1960s. It and several other islands in the area are surrounded by coral reefs. In the west of the region is Queensland's central highlands and the Carnarvon Gorge , which
784-684: A fictionalized account of unsanitary conditions in slaughterhouses and the meatpacking industry during the 1800s. This led directly to an investigation commissioned directly by President Theodore Roosevelt , and to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration . A much larger body of regulation deals with the public health and worker safety regulation and inspection. In 1997, Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for
896-413: A hog in the chute that's had the shit prodded out of him and has a heart attack or refuses to move, you take a meat hook and hook it into his bunghole . You try to do this by clipping the hipbone . Then you drag him backwards. You're dragging these hogs alive, and a lot of times the meat hook rips out of the bunghole. I've seen hams – thighs – completely ripped open. I've also seen intestines come out. If
1008-661: A hog in the eye that's walking around in the blood pit with you and think, "God, that really isn't a bad looking animal." You may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them – beat them to death with a pipe. I can't care. Slaughterhouse workers have a higher prevalence rate of mental health distress, including anxiety , detachment, depression , emotional numbing , perpetrator trauma , psychosocial distress , and PTSD , violence-supportive attitudes, and an increased crime levels. Slaughterhouse workers have adaptive and maladaptive strategies to cope with
1120-505: A housing estate on the site, with the chimney a feature of planned parkland. At that time $ 58,000 was spent on sandblasting the chimney and stripping and restoring the metal strapping. The developer had planned to include the establishment of a small brewery alongside the chimney in the old office building, but this part of the project did not proceed and the former office building has been demolished. The Meatworks along with its 40-metre (130 ft) tall stack, stayed empty for two years until
1232-557: A huge brick chimney. The foundations for the chimney consisted of a square of concrete built 5 feet (1.5 m) deep to support the 130 feet (40 m) tall brick superstructure. The bricks were baked on site. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney was one of at least 30 nineteenth century industrial brick chimneys in the Townsville region (extending north to Ingham , south to the Burdekin River and west to Cloncurry ), marking
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#17327754567871344-734: A number of small-scale boiling down works were established on pastoral properties in the Kennedy and gulf districts, but the boiling down industry became more professional in 1866, when Towns & Co. opened a boiling down plant at Cleveland Bay, and Morehead & Young, partners in the Scottish Australian Pastoral Company, opened a similar operation on the Albert River where the settlement of Burketown had been established in 1865. Neither of these establishments survived for any length of time. At Cleveland Bay,
1456-509: A significant aluminium smelter. Rockhampton is claimed to be the beef capital of Australia, a title which is disputed by Casino in New South Wales. Beef production in the region is centred on Brigalow and speargrass land types. Every three years, Rockhampton holds the national Beef Australia exposition to celebrate the cattle industry as well as to facilitate trade opportunities for Australian beef producers. Central Queensland
1568-457: A slaughterhouse into a single file ready for slaughter. Her corrals employ long sweeping curves so that each animal is prevented from seeing what lies ahead and just concentrates on the hind quarters of the animal in front of it. This design – along with the design elements of solid sides, solid crowd gate, and reduced noise at the end point – work together to encourage animals forward in the chute and to not reverse direction. Beginning in 2008
1680-423: A stunning device by a trained person before being hoisted up on the line. There is some debate over the enforcement of this act. This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter in accordance to religious law, such as kosher shechita and dhabiha halal . Most strict interpretations of kashrut require that the animal be fully sensible when its carotid artery is cut. The novel The Jungle presented
1792-406: A tax on sheep and cattle. The Queensland Meat and Export Agency Company applied for funds to duplicate and upgrade both the Townsville and Eagle Farms works. The agents for Linde British Refrigeration, J Wildridge and Sinclair Ltd, were contracted to undertake the extension projects. The £30,000 extension at Ross River doubled the freezing capacity. The four new store rooms could hold 200 tons each and
1904-650: Is Rockhampton . The region extends from the Capricorn Coast west to the Central Highlands at Emerald , north to the Mackay Regional Council southern boundary, and south to Gladstone . The region is also known as Capricornia . It is one of Australia's main coal exporting regions. At the 2011 Australian Census the region recorded a total population from the six local government areas of 233,931. Economically, Central Queensland
2016-423: Is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat-packing facility . Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is not intended for human consumption are sometimes referred to as knacker's yards or knackeries . This is where animals are slaughtered that are not fit for human consumption or that can no longer work on
2128-414: Is also surviving evidence of the reliance of early Queensland industry on steam-driven power. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney consists of an 8.6-metre (28 ft) high firebox with a 31-metre (102 ft) high chimney stack, constructed from bricks made on site and mortar made with sand from
2240-586: Is an Australian Aboriginal language of Central Queensland. Its traditional language region was within the local government area of Isaac Region , from the headwaters of the Belyando River south to Avoca, north to Laglan , west to the Great Dividing Range , and east and south to Drummond Range . Yambina (also known as Jambina and Jambeena ) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Central Queensland. Its traditional language region
2352-635: Is an important centre of primary sector industries , particularly for food and fibre production. Central Queensland includes the Bowen Basin which is rich in high quality coking coal, the Port of Gladstone produces 40% of the state's export earnings, the Fitzroy River is the second-largest river system in Australia and commands significant water resources such as Fairbairn Dam . Gladstone has
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#17327754567872464-543: Is associated with the first purpose-built meat freezing works in Queensland, which operated for over a century from 1892 to 1995, producing frozen and later chilled meat for the export market. In the early 1900s it had the largest capacity of any meatworks in Australasia. Proclaimed by independent observers as "superior to any in the colony" in 1892, and "the most up to date freezing works in either hemisphere" in 1912,
2576-414: Is at Lakes Creek, near Rockhampton , established in 1871 for the production of canned beef before shifting to frozen beef for export in the 1880s. Its early brick chimney has not survived. Although the wool industry was the impetus for early pastoral activity in Queensland, cattle soon proved better suited to the wetter conditions in northern areas. However, early development of a Queensland cattle industry
2688-542: Is done at a butchery or other meat preparation facility. The standards and regulations governing slaughterhouses vary considerably around the world. In many countries the slaughter of animals is regulated by custom and tradition rather than by law. In the non-Western world, including the Arab world , the Indian sub-continent , etc., both forms of meat are available: one which is produced in modern mechanized slaughterhouses, and
2800-519: Is impossible. American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker. NPR reports that pig and cattle slaughterhouse workers are nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries than average. The Guardian reports that on average there are two amputations a week involving slaughterhouse workers in the United States. On average, one employee of Tyson Foods ,
2912-499: Is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of black coal . Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to discover coal deposits in the region in 1845. In the 2011-2012 financial year the region produced 40% of the state's total coal production. Coal is extracted from the Bowen Basin and transported to port facilities at Port of Gladstone via the Blackwater railway system or to both Hay Point and Abbot Point via
3024-673: Is prominent in the landscape of the Ross River floodplain as it has been since its construction in 1892. Through its intactness, integrity and magnitude, the chimney remains a landmark along the Flinders Highway (Stuart Drive). [REDACTED] This Misplaced Pages article incorporates text from "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were computed from
3136-513: Is protected within the Carnarvon National Park . Carnarvon Gorge features white sandstone cliffs, steep-sided gorges a diverse range of significant plant and animal species and many walking tracks. Kroombit Tops National Park provides habitat for the endemic Kroombit tinker frog . Deepwater National Park is good place for turtle watching. From November to March three species of turtle lay their eggs on beaches protected within
3248-603: Is still a sensitive issue. Because of this, even the Japanese word for "slaughter" (屠殺 tosatsu ) is deemed politically incorrect by some pressure groups as its inclusion of the kanji for "kill" (殺) supposedly portrays those who practise it in a negative manner. Some countries have laws that exclude specific animal species or grades of animal from being slaughtered for human consumption, especially those that are taboo food . The former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee suggested in 2004 introducing legislation banning
3360-488: Is the local government area of Central Highlands Region , including Peak Downs , Logan Creek, south to Avon Downs, east to Denham Range and Logan Downs, west to Elgin Downs and at Solferino. Yetimarala (also known as Jetimarala , Yetimaralla , and Bayali ) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Central Queensland. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of Central Highlands Region , on
3472-551: Is the only surviving nineteenth century brick chimney in the immediate Townsville area. Regionally, the 1889 brick chimney at the former Burdekin River Pumping Station at Charters Towers ( Burdekin River Pumping Station ) also survives. Despite on-going industrial action by carpenters and bricklayers, the Ross River Meatworks began operation on 28 June 1892. The plant was coal powered, with six Babcock and Wilcox 96-horsepower safety tubular boilers supplying steam for
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3584-435: The "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014). [REDACTED] Media related to Ross River Meatworks Chimney at Wikimedia Commons Abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry , a slaughterhouse , also called an abattoir ( / ˈ æ b ə t w ɑːr / ),
3696-647: The Boomer Range and Broadsound Range and the Fitzroy River , Killarney Station, Mackenzie River and Isaac River . In 1889 Central Queenslanders in Rockhampton established the Central Queensland Territorial Separation League with the hopes of turning Central Queensland into its own state. The core argument of secessionist movement was that the seat of government, Brisbane was in the south-east corner of
3808-795: The Brisbane River inhibiting coastal shipping and halting production from both meatworks for some time. Another shipment of Townsville meat which arrived in London in May was also found to be tainted. The company overcame its early problems and appointed a new director, William Forrest in January 1893. He soon became Chairman of the Board and is credited with turning the company into a successful enterprise. The Meat and Dairy Produce Encouragement Act 1893 provided loans for meat and dairy works funded through
3920-566: The Capricorn Coast include Byfield , Yeppoon , Great Keppel Island , Emu Park and Cawarral . Gungabula (also known as Kongabula and Khungabula ) is an Australian Aboriginal language of the headwaters of the Dawson River in Central Queensland. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Maranoa Region , particularly the towns of Charleville , Augathella and Blackall and as well as
4032-901: The Carnarvon Range . Wadja (also known as Wadjigu , Wadya , Wadjainngo , Mandalgu , and Wadjigun) is an Australian Aboriginal language in Central Queensland. The language region includes the local government areas of the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda and Central Highlands Region , including the Blackdown Tablelands . the Comet River , and the Expedition Range , and the towns of Woorabinda , Springsure and Rolleston . Yagalingu (also known as Jagalingu , Auanbura , Kokleburra , Owanburra , Kowanburra , Wagalbara , and Djagalingu )
4144-618: The Goonyella railway line . Coal mining is expanding west into the Galilee Basin and requires an extension of the Goonyella line to transport coal to port. Many mines in the region, particularly those within the Fitzroy River basin, were severely impacted by flooding during the 2010–11 Queensland floods . Gold, silver, limestone, coal seam gas, magnesite and gemstones are also mined. Sapphires were discovered here in 1875. Gold
4256-694: The North Queensland Meat Export Company restarted the Alligator Creek works, initially for boiling down and preserving, and later utilising the freezing equipment from Poole Island. In November 1890 the Queensland Meat and Export Agency Company formed with the intention of establishing purpose-built meat freezing works at Townsville and in Brisbane . By February 1891, following the subscription of shares, it
4368-421: The Queensland Heritage Register on 14 August 2009 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney is important surviving evidence of the link between north Queensland pastoralism and the development of frozen and chilled meat as an important export industry for Queensland. The landmark structure
4480-713: The meat packing industry : "according to some, animal slaughtering became the first mass-production industry in the United States." This expansion has been accompanied by increased concern about the physical and mental conditions of the workers along with controversy over the ethical and environmental implications of slaughtering animals for meat. The Edinburgh abattoir, which was built in 1910, had well lit laboratories, hot and cold water, gas, microscopes and equipment for cultivating organisms. The English 1924 Public Health (Meat) Regulations required notification of slaughter to enable inspection of carcasses and enabled inspected carcasses to be marked. The development of slaughterhouses
4592-442: The 10th century. By 1726, it was regarded as "without question, the greatest in the world", by Daniel Defoe . By the middle of the 19th century, in the course of a single year 220,000 head of cattle and 1,500,000 sheep would be "violently forced into an area of five acres, in the very heart of London, through its narrowest and most crowded thoroughfares". By the early 19th century, pamphlets were being circulated arguing in favor of
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4704-481: The 1980s, Cargill , Conagra Brands , Tyson Foods and other large food companies moved most slaughterhouse operations to rural areas of the Southern United States which were more hostile to unionization efforts. Slaughterhouses in the United States commonly illegally employ and exploit underage workers and undocumented immigrants. In 2010, Human Rights Watch described slaughterhouse line work in
4816-590: The Arbitration Court restored a modified union preference clause into the employment contracts. By 1921, the beef export trade had collapsed because it was no longer receiving preferential treatment from the British government. Also the Navigation Act of 1921 prevented international ships from being used to carry local goods. The QME&A recorded its biggest loss of £80,000. The Eagle Farm works
4928-678: The Humane Farming Association (HFA), released the book Slaughterhouse . It includes interviews of slaughterhouse workers in the U.S. who say that, because of the speed with which they are required to work, animals are routinely skinned while apparently alive and still blinking, kicking and shrieking. Eisnitz argues that this is not only cruel to the animals but also dangerous for the human workers, as cows weighing several thousands of pounds thrashing around in pain are likely to kick out and debilitate anyone working near them. This would imply that certain slaughterhouses throughout
5040-698: The Local Infrastructure for Local Agriculture, a non-profit committed to revitalizing opportunities for "small farmers and strengthening the connection between local supply and demand", constructed a mobile slaughterhouse facility in efforts for small farmers to process meat quickly and cost effectively. Named the Modular Harvest System, or M.H.S., it received USDA approval in 2010. The M.H.S. consists of three separate trailers: One for slaughtering, one for consumable body parts, and one for other body parts. Preparation of individual cuts
5152-483: The Model Abattoir Society in 1882 to investigate and campaign for humane methods of slaughter. The invention of refrigeration and the expansion of transportation networks by sea and rail allowed for the safe exportation of meat around the world. Additionally, meat-packing millionaire Philip Danforth Armour 's invention of the "disassembly line" greatly increased the productivity and profit margin of
5264-468: The PTSD Journal explain, "These employees are hired to kill animals, such as pigs and cows that are largely gentle creatures. Carrying out this action requires workers to disconnect from what they are doing and from the creature standing before them. This emotional dissonance can lead to consequences such as domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and PTSD." Starting in
5376-589: The Queensland Meat Export Company established a meatworks south of Townsville on Alligator Creek in 1879, using some of the equipment from Towns' factory. This became commonly known as the Alligator Creek meatworks . Following the discovery of gold at Charters Towers in 1871, a railway from Townsville to the goldfield was constructed between 1879 and 1882. The first trains carried both gold and wool from local graziers back to
5488-450: The Ross River and Alligator Creek meatworks, which began with the workers' rejection of compulsory arbitration in favour of direct bargaining. They staged ongoing wildcat strikes and go-slow campaigns to achieve their aims. At the same time the companies wanted to remove a clause from employment contracts giving preference to union members, which they achieved for a short time, hiring returned servicemen in place of industrial activists. Support
5600-493: The Ross River meatworks had been the largest and most up to date during the 1910s, it was surpassed by other establishments in the following 40 years. Lakes Creek and the Brisbane Abattoirs had larger capacities by the 1950s. Ross River works were run down by then and suffered considerable losses in 1951 and 1954, due to prolonged industrial disputes, increasing wages, drought and government controls on exports. In 1955
5712-460: The Ross River meatworks in February 1995 arguing that the business was no longer profitable because of drought, live cattle exports and the falling Australian dollar, and it was part of a general divestment of company assets at the time. With the exception of the chimney and an office building, all other buildings and structures on the site were demolished in 1997. In 1999 a scheme was proposed for
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#17327754567875824-707: The Ross River meatworks processed cattle and sheep from across northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley Ranges of Western Australia and exported meat worldwide. The meatworks was a major employer in Townsville, an important Queensland regional centre. Located on a former railway line less than 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from a major port, the chimney remains important evidence of how nineteenth century export industries were dependent on Queensland's early network of railways linked to ports and shipping that connected with world markets. It
5936-446: The Ross River. It demonstrates a substantial level of intactness and a high degree of integrity. As the only remaining nineteenth century meatworks brick chimney in Queensland and one of few early industrial brick chimneys surviving in the Townsville region, it is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The 39.6-metre (130 ft) high structure
6048-673: The Royal Commission into the Meat Industry in October 1912 indicated that Ross River was at that time processing 3000 cattle a week and new cold storage facilities were under construction. By 1915 the company restructured, forming two organisations - the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Co Ltd (QME&A) and Australia Stock Breeders Company Ltd. During 1918-1919 there was a series of protracted strikes at
6160-646: The State. It was so far removed from substantial portions of the state that these areas and their citizens were left disadvantaged and neglected as political and economic interests focused on the south. Supplementing the Central Queensland Territorial Separation League, the women of Rockhampton established their own separation league in October 1892. Their main focus was preparing a petition to Queen Victoria . The introductory text set out their grievances and described
6272-468: The Townsville works of QME&A was the most up to date freezing works in existence in either hemisphere. It also had the largest capacity of any meatworks in Australasia at this time. Ongoing upgrades ensured the best and most economic equipment and methodologies were employed. Even during the drought and the problems associated with ticks in the early 1900s, the Ross River Meatworks was producing more meat than any other establishment in Australasia. In 1901
6384-506: The United Kingdom to America during the 1960s and in more recent times to Japan, Korea and South East Asia. The meatworks remained the major employer in Townsville and by 1990 had a record year, processing 93,601 beasts, handling 27 percent of the north Queensland production. This result was achieved despite industrial action during 1990. However, a further downturn occurred as a consequence of the 1991-2 recession. In 1992 Vestey sold
6496-499: The United States as a human rights crime. In a report by Oxfam America , slaughterhouse workers were observed not being allowed breaks, were often required to wear diapers, and were paid below minimum wage. Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia ) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn . Its major regional centre
6608-593: The United States, may legally operate under USDA exemptions not available to red meat processors. Several MPPUs have been in operation since before 2010, under various models of operation and ownership. Most countries have laws in regard to the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses. In the United States , there is the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, a law requiring that all swine, sheep, cattle, and horses be stunned unconscious with application of
6720-545: The Vestey company bought the meatworks and began replacing old dilapidated buildings and introduced new killing and processing mechanised operations, reducing staff. In the late 1950s the works changed from coal-fired to oil-fired boilers with Lightfoot ammonia compressors. The change from coal to oil also negated the need for coal handlers. In 1961 a partnership was formed with the Angliss Group. Export markets changed from
6832-584: The animals. The eminent physician, Benjamin Ward Richardson , spent many years in developing more humane methods of slaughter. He brought into use no fewer than fourteen possible anesthetics for use in the slaughterhouse and even experimented with the use of electric current at the Royal Polytechnic Institution . As early as 1853, he designed a lethal chamber that would gas animals to death relatively painlessly , and he founded
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#17327754567876944-541: The appointment of slaughterhouse inspectors and the establishment of centralised abattoirs took place much earlier in the British colonies, such as the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria, and in Scotland where 80% of cattle were slaughtered in public abattoirs by 1930. In Victoria the Melbourne Abattoirs Act 1850 (NSW) "confined the slaughtering of animals to prescribed public abattoirs, while at
7056-454: The butchers and the observers, "educate[d] the men in the practice of violence and cruelty, so that they seem to have no restraint on the use of it." An additional motivation for eliminating private slaughter was to impose a careful system of regulation for the "morally dangerous" task of putting animals to death. As a result of this tension, meat markets within the city were closed and abattoirs built outside city limits. An early framework for
7168-473: The chilling room could hold 120 bullocks. Other additions included new engine and boiler houses, a fresh water reservoir and pumping station and additional slaughtering yards and pens. By the time the extensions were completed in April 1895, the meatworks was reported to have processed 50,000 head of cattle and 13,000 sheep since opening. An international study of the frozen meat trade, published in 1912, stated that
7280-676: The company purchased the works of the Burketown Meat Export Co. which operated as a canning works. In 1903 it began purchasing significant grazing properties in north Queensland to engage in fattening cattle and breeding. It contracted to supply beef to American forces based in the Philippines in 1898 and established a cold-storage warehouse in Singapore in 1903. Evidence given by the Eagle Farm manager Charles Ross to
7392-486: The concept of the slaughterhouse as a freezing works. Prior to this, canning was an option. Freezing works are common in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In countries where meat is exported for a substantial profit the freezing works were built near docks, or near transport infrastructure. Mobile poultry processing units (MPPUs) follow the same principles, but typically require only one trailer and, in much of
7504-662: The country are not following the guidelines and regulations spelled out by the Humane Slaughter Act , requiring all animals to be put down and thus insusceptible to pain by some form, typically electronarcosis, before undergoing any form of violent action. According to the HFA, Eiznitz interviewed slaughterhouse workers representing over two million hours of experience, who, without exception, told her that they have beaten, strangled, boiled and dismembered animals alive or have failed to report those who do. The workers described
7616-487: The effects the violence has had on their personal lives, with several admitting to being physically abusive or taking to alcohol and other drugs. The HFA alleges that workers are required to kill up to 1,100 hogs an hour and end up taking their frustration out on the animals. Eisnitz interviewed one worker, who had worked in ten slaughterhouses, about pig production. He told her: Hogs get stressed out pretty easy. If you prod them too much, they have heart attacks. If you get
7728-466: The end of the decade there was an oversupply. Following the drought of 1884-1886 cattle were driven overland to southern markets, but droving costs led to a huge reduction in profitability. There was a need to establish a processing industry in north Queensland to supply meat for an export market. Frozen meat proved to be the solution. Australian experimentation with meat-freezing works and the fitting out of refrigerated ships to carry frozen meat to Britain
7840-580: The engineers of Heritage Queensland said it was perfect for the Heritage Register. The Chimney remains standing today and is surrounded by TESSA Residential's Springbank Urban village . The Chimney cost $ 200,000 to fix, but the Townsville City Council said it was worth it for the 120-year-old stack. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney stands on the south bank of the Ross River approximately 150 metres (490 ft) downstream from
7952-482: The establishment of public slaughterhouses was put in place in Paris in 1810, under the reign of the Emperor Napoleon . Five areas were set aside on the outskirts of the city and the feudal privileges of the guilds were curtailed. As the meat requirements of the growing number of residents in London steadily expanded, the meat markets both within the city and beyond attracted increasing levels of public disapproval. Meat had been traded at Smithfield Market as early as
8064-430: The hog collapses near the front of the chute, you shove the meat hook into his cheek and drag him forward. Animal rights activists , anti-speciesists , vegetarians and vegans are prominent critics of slaughterhouses and have created events such as the march to close all slaughterhouses to voice concerns about the conditions in slaughterhouses and ask for their abolition. Some have argued that humane animal slaughter
8176-461: The land was bought by the developer of Fairfield waters, who looked upon the stack and the three gable buildings alongside it as something the public would like, had plans of turning the chimney as a public monument and three buildings into a brewery alongside the meatworks. But this never happened because reports showed the three old gable buildings were structurally damaged and were demolished before structure improvements were offered. The chimney which
8288-677: The largest meat producer in America, is injured and amputates a finger or limb per month. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that over a period of six years, in the UK 78 slaughter workers lost fingers, parts of fingers or limbs, more than 800 workers had serious injuries, and at least 4,500 had to take more than three days off after accidents. In a 2018 study in the Italian Journal of Food Safety, slaughterhouse workers are instructed to wear ear protectors to protect their hearing from
8400-416: The latter part of the 20th century, the layout and design of most U.S. slaughterhouses was influenced by the work of Temple Grandin . She suggested that reducing the stress of animals being led to slaughter may help slaughterhouse operators improve efficiency and profit. In particular she applied an understanding of animal psychology to design pens and corrals which funnel a herd of animals arriving at
8512-525: The local community via Text to the Editor in the Townsville Bulletin newspaper. This forced ALP State Member Lindy Nelson-Carr to act. She then ordered a professional report into the stacks' structural integrity. The report found that the chimney could stay and there was a government fight over who would foot the bill. At the same time, Lindy Nelson-Carr put the chimney on the heritage list and
8624-558: The loud noises in the facility. A 2004 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that "excess risks were observed for mortality from all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer" in workers employed in the New Zealand meat processing industry. The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll. If you work in the stick pit [where hogs are killed] for any period of time – that lets you kill things but doesn't let you care. You may look
8736-469: The meatworks to Smorgon Consolidated Industries. During the early 1990s the Australian meat trade began exporting live meat but unions argued that the planned export of 500,000 head of cattle in 1995 was akin to exporting 150,000 jobs. Despite an unusual alliance between the union and animal liberation activists aimed at stopping the live meat trade, they were unsuccessful. Smorgon announced the closure of
8848-467: The methods of transport to and from slaughterhouses, preparation prior to slaughter, animal herding, stunning methods, and the killing itself. Until modern times, the slaughter of animals generally took place in a haphazard and unregulated manner in diverse places. Early maps of London show numerous stockyards in the periphery of the city, where slaughter occurred in the open air or under cover such as wet markets . A term for such open-air slaughterhouses
8960-563: The national regulations. In some societies, traditional cultural and religious aversion to slaughter led to prejudice against the people involved. In Japan , where the ban on slaughter of livestock for food was lifted in the late 19th century, the newly found slaughter industry drew workers primarily from villages of burakumin , who traditionally worked in occupations relating to death (such as executioners and undertakers). In some parts of western Japan , prejudice faced by current and former residents of such areas ( burakumin "hamlet people")
9072-607: The operating area of blood and offal. Veterinary scientists, notably George Fleming and John Gamgee, campaigned for stringent levels of inspection to ensure that epizootics such as rinderpest (a devastating outbreak of the disease covered all of Britain in 1865) would not be able to spread. By 1874, three meat inspectors were appointed for the London area, and the Public Health Act 1875 required local authorities to provide central slaughterhouses (they were only given powers to close unsanitary slaughterhouses in 1890). Yet
9184-616: The other from local butcher shops. In some communities animal slaughter and permitted species may be controlled by religious laws , most notably halal for Muslims and kashrut for Jewish communities. This can cause conflicts with national regulations when a slaughterhouse adhering to the rules of religious preparation is located in some Western countries . In Jewish law, captive bolts and other methods of pre-slaughter paralysis are generally not permissible, due to it being forbidden for an animal to be stunned prior to slaughter. Various halal food authorities have more recently permitted
9296-629: The park. For this purpose the area of Central Queensland was restricted to the areas encircled by the Dawson Highway between Gladstone and Springsure; the Gregory Highway between Springsure and Clermont, and the Peak Downs Highway between Clermont and enters North Queensland via Mackay – extended right to the eastern coastline. Major cities in the region are Emerald , Gladstone and Rockhampton . Some communities on
9408-401: The plinth. Two circular (5.6-metre (18 ft) diameter) concrete upstands, 300 millimetres (12 in) thick and 400 millimetres (16 in) high, stand in line to the northwest. A public walking/cycling track winds along the south bank of the Ross River and as it passes the chimney it is about 20 metres (66 ft) from the face of the plinth. Ross River Meatworks Chimney was listed on
9520-473: The port of Townsville. Demand led to the approval of a western extension to Hughenden to service the cattle grazing industry. The Northern Railway opened in 1887 and soon became the most profitable in Queensland as graziers took up land along its route. During the 1870s the increase in population at newly opened Queensland gold fields, particularly on the Palmer River , provided a ready market for beef. By
9632-422: The process failed, but the first shipment arrived in London in early December 1892 in a putrid state. At the same time the directors had taken out further loans because of numerous unforeseen expenses in the construction of both meatworks. The next shipment to reach England in mid-January included meat from the company's recently opened Eagle Farm meatworks, but was partially spoilt. The 1893 Brisbane floods silted up
9744-471: The railway linked the works with the wharves. Construction began in September 1891 under the supervision of contractor William McCallum Park. By late September the site was laid out, concrete foundations were in place and construction of workers cottages had commenced. A light tramway was built to haul sand for the concrete from the riverbank. The works was to be steam-driven, necessitating the construction of
9856-536: The removal of the livestock market and its relocation outside of the city due to the extremely low hygienic conditions as well as the brutal treatment of the cattle. In 1843, the Farmer's Magazine published a petition signed by bankers, salesmen, aldermen, butchers and local residents against the expansion of the livestock market. The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 created a licensing and registration system, though few slaughter houses were closed. An Act of Parliament
9968-529: The same time prohibiting the killing of sheep, lamb, pigs or goats at any other place within the city limits". Animals were shipped alive to British ports from Ireland, from Europe and from the colonies and slaughtered in large abattoirs at the ports. Conditions were often very poor. Attempts were also made throughout the British Empire to reform the practice of slaughter itself, as the methods used came under increasing criticism for causing undue pain to
10080-431: The site of the first detection of citrus canker in Central Queensland. A significant part of the citrus growing industry was devastated when a total of 6,000 acres (24 km ) of crop had to be destroyed so the disease would not spread across the country. In 2005 several fresh outbreaks were reported so the eradication expanded to include private backyard trees. The outbreak's cause has not been fully explained despite
10192-475: The sites of steam-driven pyrites works, batteries, mines, sawmills, brick works, water works, soap works, breweries, meat works and sugar mills. Most were the work of highly skilled bricklayers. The chimneys took a variety of forms, including square, round and hexagonal. Some round or hexagonal chimneys were constructed on square plinths, as at the Ross River Meatworks. They were markers of the steam age in nineteenth century Queensland. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney
10304-404: The slaughter of cows throughout India , as Hinduism holds cows as sacred and considers their slaughter unthinkable and offensive. This was often opposed on grounds of religious freedom. The slaughter of cows and the importation of beef into the nation of Nepal are strictly forbidden. Refrigeration technology allowed meat from the slaughterhouse to be preserved for longer periods. This led to
10416-656: The south abutment of the Ross River Bridge in the suburb of Idalia in south Townsville. In 2009, the chimney stands in the north of a large, vacant residential subdivision, part of the Fairfield Waters development in south Townsville. The chimney is a brick structure with an outer skin of red facebrick. It comprises a base and a tapering stack. The base is expressed as a plinth , square in plan and approximately 8.6 metres (28 ft) high. The stack, approximately 31 metres (102 ft) high, flares out at
10528-416: The top to take a plain, splayed, concrete crown. The plinth is distinguished by a plain oversized cornice and the northwest, northeast and southeast faces are relieved by an indented rectangular mid-panel defined by a bevelled cement perimeter band. The plinth corners are tapered to take a decorative concrete moulded roll. The southwest face accommodates the arched opening to the base. This can be covered by
10640-483: The use of a recently developed fail-safe system of head-only stunning where the shock is non-fatal, and where it is possible to reverse the procedure and revive the animal after the shock. The use of electronarcosis and other methods of dulling the sensing has been approved by the Egyptian Fatwa Committee. This allows these entities to continue their religious techniques while keeping accordance to
10752-458: The various engines. Cattle and sheep were processed separately. An overhead tramway transported the carcases to a cooling room, then into the freezing, canning or preserving rooms. In the freezing room, the two compound engines could produce 400 horsepower each and each machine could circulate 170,000 cubic feet of air per hour. The freezing and cold storage building was about 100 feet (30 m) square and two storeys high. The refrigeration machinery
10864-738: The workplace environment and associated stressors. Working at slaughterhouses often leads to a high amount of psychological trauma. A 2016 study in Organization indicates, "Regression analyses of data from 10,605 Danish workers across 44 occupations suggest that slaughterhouse workers consistently experience lower physical and psychological well-being along with increased incidences of negative coping behavior." A 2009 study by criminologist Amy Fitzgerald indicates, "slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries." As authors from
10976-411: The works as "superior to any in the colony - actively engaged in the meat export trade". The company had a difficult time in its first year of production and initial shipments of meat from Townsville were unsuccessful. Transport from Ross River was problematic with the meat taken by rail to the Townsville wharf, then loaded aboard a lighter, and reloaded for shipping to London. It is unclear which part of
11088-496: Was shambles , and there are streets named " The Shambles " in some English and Irish towns (e.g., Worcester , York , Bandon ) which got their name from having been the site on which butchers killed and prepared animals for consumption. Fishamble Street , Dublin was formerly a fish-shambles . Sheffield had 183 slaughterhouses in 1910, and it was estimated that there were 20,000 in England and Wales. The slaughterhouse emerged as
11200-416: Was a combination of Bell -Coleman and Haslam machines, which circulated cold air and removed moisture and impure air at the same time. Electric lighting powered by a Crompton dynamo was installed by Barton and White electrical engineers - 31 years prior to the provision of public electric lighting in Townsville. In August 1892 the Ross River meatworks was inspected by New Zealand industry experts, who described
11312-559: Was completed in 1868. A cut and cover railway tunnel was constructed beneath the market to create a triangular junction with the railway between Blackfriars and King's Cross . This allowed animals to be transported into the slaughterhouse by train and the subsequent transfer of animal carcasses to the Cold Store building, or direct to the meat market via lifts. At the same time, the first large and centralized slaughterhouse in Paris
11424-495: Was constructed in 1867 under the orders of Napoleon III at the Parc de la Villette and heavily influenced the subsequent development of the institution throughout Europe. These slaughterhouses were regulated by law to ensure good standards of hygiene, the prevention of the spread of disease and the minimization of needless animal cruelty. The slaughterhouse had to be equipped with a specialized water supply system to effectively clean
11536-758: Was decided to proceed with construction of a meatworks at Townsville . Plans were made for a second works at Eagle Farm in Brisbane mid year. A contract was entered into with the British India Steam Navigation Company to transport the meat to Britain. Six acres (2.43ha) of land on the banks of Ross River were acquired from the Idalia Land Company in August 1891 and twenty-five acres (10.12ha) of crown land were allocated nearby for drafting yards. A short branch line to
11648-461: Was discovered in the Mount Morgan region around 1865. Mount Morgan Mine has since gone on to become one of Australia's richest mines. Purpose-built mining towns in Central Queensland include Dysart , Middlemount , Moranbah , Mount Morgan and Moura . Three mining disaster have occurred at Moura since 1975, resulting in the loss of 36 lives. In 2004, an orchard on Evergreen farm was
11760-456: Was established by the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Company during 1891-1892 as the first purpose-built meat freezing works in Queensland. Located on the banks of Ross River in suburban Townsville , the 130-foot (40 m) high brick chimney remains the principal surviving evidence of an important meatworks in Queensland during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The only Queensland meatworks from this era still in operation
11872-515: Was eventually passed in 1852. Under its provisions, a new cattle-market was constructed in Copenhagen Fields, Islington . The new Metropolitan Cattle Market was also opened in 1855, and West Smithfield was left as waste ground for about a decade, until the construction of the new market began in the 1860s under the authority of the 1860 Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act. The market was designed by architect Sir Horace Jones and
11984-408: Was hindered by the lack of a sufficiently large market for fresh beef. In the 1860s excess stock were disposed of by selling to other graziers or to boiling down works. Ports to service the new pastoral runs being taken up in northern and far north-western Queensland in the early 1860s were established at Port Denison (Bowen) in 1861 and Cleveland Bay (Townsville) in 1864, with Cleveland Bay declared
12096-455: Was initiated in Sydney and Melbourne, with mixed results. Refinements in processing and shipping led to a successful shipment in 1880. The Central Queensland Meat Export Company's works at Lakes Creek installed freezing equipment in 1883, but was burnt down shortly after. A meat freezing works was established at Poole Island off Bowen in 1884, but its first shipment was lost in a tornado. In 1889
12208-463: Was linked with industrial expansion of by-products. By 1932 the British by-product industry was worth about £97 million a year, employing 310,000 people. The Aberdeen slaughterhouse sent hooves to Lancashire to make glue, intestines to Glasgow for sausages and hides to the Midland tanneries. In January 1940 the British government took over the 16,000 slaughterhouses and by 1942 there were only 779. In
12320-583: Was mothballed in 1933 in the hope that beef prices would improve. It was demolished in 1938. In 1933, Ross River began exporting chilled beef. The establishment of the Australian Meat Board (AMB) in 1936 regulated the flow of meat to the overseas market and licensed suitable ships to ensure that the best quality meat reached the market. In 1937 the AMB allocated 82.25 per cent of the total Australian export of chilled meat to Queensland abattoirs. While
12432-429: Was the only sound feature on the site was left to remain. In 2008, developer Lancini, was planning to demolish it so he could build a resort on the site, as an engineering report commissioned by Lancini Group found it was too unstable and old to preserve, but residents of Townsville didn't believe the report by Lancini Group and began a local fight to save the stack . Jenny Hanlon (Leader of the fight) gained support from
12544-561: Was then offered by the Queensland Rail Union and the Waterside Workers Federation and the strikes continued. By July 1919 the ongoing dispute degenerated to the point where riots occurred in Townsville with police firing shots to disperse the crowd of 1000 people who were protesting the imprisonment of strike leaders. This strike is regarded as one of the most ferocious in Australian history. In 1920
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