I'm actually old enough to have witnessed the killing of a pig on a farm when I was around 10. It wasn't done "with no problems".

For one, it was horrible. The pig, which is quite big an animal, had to be caught in its den by three people. Then it was attached to a wooden ladder with rope, all the while shouting and crying, very much like a person.

And then its throat was cut open with a big knife and it was let to bleed in a big steel bucket, still crying and shouting.

I wasn't allowed to watch but managed to hide and do it anyway (and even if I hadn't been close I would have heard the noise from afar).

People were sad and hated doing it; they actually postponed the deed every day for a week because they liked the pig in question.

Today we see nothing and so it's much easier for us to completely forget about it; farm people were much more involved and cared a lot more.