Abattoir – Double L Ranch
Double L Ranch in Altamont NY (12 miles west of Albany) is run by Lowell Carson and his two sons.  On a busy day they will slaughter a few steers and around 20 lambs. We send all of our beef, lamb and pork to Nichols as no one gets close in quality and reliability. Customers travel from as far as Rhode Island to come to Nichols.
Lowell Carson
Lowell began his career as a chef in the 70s in the Albany area. He moved to the meat business when restaurant hours became too tough while raising a family. Since then he’s worked in every part of the business – deboning cull cows for the hot dog business; door to door meat sales; grading and butchering veal; retail butcher shop; teaching slaughter and butchering at SUNY Cobleskill; custom cutting of venison during deer season; and now runs the processing side of Nichols. Lowell and his son Lowell Jr run the cutting room, while son Zack runs the kill floor.
[...] in years. This weekend, one of the students on our upstate trip, standing in the kill-room of a small-scale slaughterhouse, asked (clarified, really) that “this was the sort of place where the meat in the supermarket [...]
Hi,
I have been having a discussion with a friend about the way cows are slaughtered. I have been reading about it online and would like to know how your cows are slaughter. I have read that there are two ways. The first is to “stun” the cow and then slit its throat and let it bleed – exsanguination. The second is the kosher and halal way which is to slit the throat without stunning the animal and let it bleed. My friend believes that both ways are painful and I have been raised Jewish and taught that the kosher way is less painful for the animal. He disagrees. I would really appreciate an answer/your opinion and also what is your way of doing this.
Thank you.
Carole Honig
Thanks for your question -
Our slaughterhouse for beef, pork and lamb is a standard USDA slaughterhouse, without a Halal or Kosher certification. As such, by regulation all animals must go through a ‘stunning’ phase rendering the animal ‘senseless’ before the throat is slit. Having worked in this facility, I believe this to be the more humane way. I believe this is currently supported by most modern meat scientists and research. More important than the method though, is that slaughter happens in a calm setting, without undue stress to the animal and practiced by an experienced, trained professional.