To Whom It May Concern:

In your recent article “Animal Advocacy Nonprofit Wants Animal Science on Chopping Block,” there was some terminology that was incorrect.

The term “slaughter room” was used in the article by one of your writers and this is not correct. While the subject of the story used the term “slaughterhouse” in his letter, this too is not correct. In the agricultural industry, the harvesting of animals can be referred to as humane slaughter; however, in an attempt to better educate individuals, people in the industry call it harvest because it has a better connotation and citizens who are not familiar with agriculture can associate the humane harvesting of animals in the same sense of harvesting a crop. On the NDSU campus, the meat processing facility is referred to the NDSU Meat Lab.

As an agricultural student that attends an agricultural school, it was disappointing to see that students who write for the campus newspaper use incorrect terminology; as one of the SPJ Code of Ethics says, “Seek Truth and Report It.” Unfortunately, it does not seem that the proper research was done to find the correct terminology. The agricultural industry, like most industries, is under constant scrutiny and when incorrect information is portrayed through the media, it only adds fuel to the fire.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Lisa Hochhalter, agricultural communication junior