In one of the ancient Greek mystery religions, the initiate stood under a grating while a bull had its throat cut above. He was thus bathed in the cascading blood. This and all other primitive forms of animal sacrifice seem quite barbarous to us today. Yet our civilization runs by the shedding of literal rivers of blood from millions of animals sacrificed to satisfy our demand for meat.

I don't want to be dramatic, nor do I wish to offend. However, what follows may well disgust some and anger others. It's an objective report of how the meat we see so neatly wrapped or hanging in our food stores is slaughtered.

As a journalist concerned with religion and ethics, I was keen to visit an abattoir and see for myself how steers, calves and pigs are killed. As a person who once hunted, but gave it up years ago after hearing a wounded rabbit scream, and who now has normal sensitivity to bloodshed, I was reluctant to go anywhere near a slaughterhouse. Eventually, however, I visited-three. I don't recommend it even supposing you were able (and it's far from easy) to get the necessary permissions.

First, the good news. I came away from all three meat-packing plants with their killing floors, impressed by the following observations:

The meat industry is highly regulated. The largest facility had 13 federal inspectors and four or five veterinarians always on hand watching over every stage of the process. The other two had the same system scaled to match their size.

Great attention is paid to the health of the animals before killing and to the quality and hygiene of the final product.

The people working in such places, as cutters, packers, or whatever, work very hard. They stand or sit shoulder to shoulder, their hands flying to keep up with the endless hooks or frays on conveyor belts bearing carcasses or parts.

Observing the sawing, cutting, snipping and hacking, I was struck by the aptness of the remark by one official: "It's just like an assembly plant only it's in reverse. Here, we take things apart"

Those who do the actual killing are decent, humane people who try to see that the animals don't suffer unnecessarily. They are doing a dirty, smelly, unpleasant job for the rest of us in a society that would prefer not to think about this aspect of diet at all. You won't see what I saw on your TV set.

There was little waste. Everything, noses, lips, tongues, feet, hides, fat and bones - even blood in some plants - goes for food or some industrial purpose.

My first visit was to one of the largest beef-packing plants in the country. (the stench outside was horrible.) Here, daily, hundreds of steers arrive, are kept in large pens and then herded and prodded into a tightly confined conveyor where, struggling and in obvious panic, they are stunned by a bolt fired into their skulls. As I watched, one steer took three shots from the gun before falling and being spewed forth on the floor. Many are still kicking - just nerves? - as they are strung up by a chain around one leg and hoisted to be moved along to where their throats are cut. Gouts of blood splatter on the grating below.

These animals did not suffer long. But they plainly sensed what was coming before it happened. I will never forget the eyes of about five steers who stood like deer at bay before being driven into the fatal chute. It was the look of fear in beings that realize they have been lethally betrayed.

Next I visited one of the largest pork producing plants in Ontario. Some 20,000 pigs a week enter its doors to be turned into bacon, ham, or chops. I thought the killing was slightly more humane than with the cattle. The pigs, two at a time locked in a small cage, were dropped about 9 meters (30 feet) below the killing floor and given a whiff of carbon dioxide. They were brought up unconscious, rolled out on the floor, strung up by one foot, and had their throats cut so as to bleed to death before regaining consciousness.

However, I can't soon forget the screams and struggles of these pigs as they had to be driven up the final ramp to the gas chamber. Pigs are very intelligent animals with highly sensitive noses. It was clear they could smell the blood and could tell they were about to die. They too, were filled with terror at the end.

The worst experience was a the third site, a packing plant for veal. The people were nice; the plant was clean; there was a veterinarian and federal inspector. But, these 400- to 450- pound calves were being slaughtered kosher. This means their throats were sliced open while they were fully conscious.