During my time in school on off days and school vacations my twin brother and I helped in my fathers slaughterhouse and meat processing plant. At the age of 14 my brother and I could slaughter and process meat with the best of them. So it was not that I had an aversion against becoming a butcher. It was just that I loved to be involved with live animals. Indeed my greatest joy as a boy was to accompany my father on his trips to the farmers where he would buy cattle and pigs. I have fond memories of how my father and the farmers would stand in the stable and haggle over the price of a cow or a pig. Not that my father was greedy and didn't want to pay money - haggling in those days was expected. A farmer could get quite upset if you didn't haggle with him. So from that point of view live animals attracted me and I wanted to study them and their behaviour.

My parents believed very firmly that their children should have a profession that makes them happy - not a profession to please the parents. "After all", they said, "it is your life and you have to be happy with it." However, my father did feel that it would be wise to learn a profession first that is a "proper" trade. Just in case the other doesn't work out then one has something to fall back on. That was pure common sense to me and so I chose, what else? To learn the butcher trade! Together with my twin brother, that is exactly what I did.
After my initial training I worked for one year in my fathers slaughter house, a mandatory term to become eligible for Master Butcher training. As soon as I had my Master Butcher certificate I became free to pursue my first and foremost interest - animal training. I have worked in this profession for thirty years until the year 2001. Even if I say so myself, as an animal trainer I became world famous and have traveled all over the world. My specialty became white tigers. In 1998 I made circus history by being the first western animal trainer ever to be invited to go to the Peoples Republic of China. After three yeas in China I decided that I had reached the highest point in my career and perhaps now is the right time to retire. What helped me in my decision was also that after thirty years of non-stop traveling and living out of suitcases and in hotel rooms, I longed to stay in one place for longer then just a few days. I wanted a home and so my beautiful Canadian wife Heidi and I decided that we would make our home in British Columbia, where she was born and grew up.

Throughout the years I remained close to the butcher profession. On my travels throughout the world I have visited many slaughterhouses and meat processing plants and have spoken with many people in the meat industry. This has given me a good understanding of the different aspects and traditions in different countries. I remained the Vice President of my father’s slaughterhouse until it was sold after his death. This meant that I had to go every year home for a few days to take part in meetings and consultations. On these visits I would inform my father of the things I had seen in foreign countries and what might be good for us too. In this way I helped to improve our company in many aspects. My knowledge about animal behaviour made it possible for me to design a new animal holding and chasing area with runways that facilitate better movement of animals in a natural way. This meant the animals didn't suffer the stress that was common at many other slaughterhouses. While I was at it I also designed a new animal stunning bay, incorporating my knowledge about animal behaviour. It my sound somewhat cynical to the layman, but what I strived for and accomplished was a more relaxed death for the animals, where death came suddenly and unexpectedly. This is not a contradiction in terms: a swift death resulted in a relaxed animal and a relaxed animal meant a better quality of meat - the ethical questions were neatly answered by the practical considerations.

Later, after the family business had been sold, I helped my twin brother who had moved to Brazil with his wife. Together we set up "Irmaos Vohringer Salsicheria e Carne" a sausage and meat production company in the heart of Brazil's cattle and meat production area. Eventually this company was incorporated into a larger one and transformed into a slaughterhouse where my brother now has the position of general manager. When I look back I have to say that my professional life has come to a full circle. I started out as a butcher and although I am still an adviser and consultant for animal behaviour and training, I am also back in my profession as a butcher. Looking at it I have to say I got the best of both worlds. There are surely not that many people who can say that they were able to learn two professions that they liked equally well and then also work both these professions simultaneously. The end result is that I was able to gather an immense wealth of expertise and experience.

My forte had always been the dealing with livestock acquisition and the improvement of humane slaughtering and quality meat processing. My twin brother on the other had has become one of the best sausage makers far and wide. Mind you, there are many people around that will attest to you that I make a very good sausage too! I think that simply has to do with how we have grown up and what direction we have taken in specializing within our trade. All we have learned originated from our father for whom the word "quality" was not simply lip service. We learned that quality is the beginning and end-all of every production or as my father used to say, "Quality is if I can sit down and eat what I produce without hesitation." Another favourite saying of his was, "If it doesn't taste good to me it isn't good enough for my customers." Today I fully adopt these same simple principles of work. My personal and professional behavior and conduct is governed by four basic principles.

2.      Do the best job you can.
3.      Treat others like you would want to be treated.
4.      Always use commonsense and logic.

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