Condemned cattle

Hello,

In the book "Parrot and Olivier in America" by Peter Carey, there are two sentences containing the phrase "condemned cattle". Does it mean "damned cattle", or something else? Here are the examples:





What I understood was drawn solely from what we call the
symbolic aggregate

: that is, the confluence of the secrets, the disturbing flavour of my mother’s milk, my own breathing, the truly horrible and unrelenting lowing of the condemned cattle which, particularly on winter afternoons, at that hour when the servants have once more failed to light the lanterns, distressed me beyond belief.







By this light my admiration of Mathilde took on another hue, and I lay awake listening to the condemned cattle become restive with the dawn.

Thank you for the answers.