Missing the point: DEFRA launches new food labelling consultation
DEFRA have launched a consultation to make food labelling âfairerâ so that consumers can make decisions that âalign with their valuesâ.
Posted 25 Mar 2024
Posted on the 9th May 2017
Undercover filming inside a Stockport slaughterhouse found a sheep being picked up by the fleece and thrown over a gate, alongside other instances of abuse and lawbreaking.
In the latest in a series of covert investigations, leading animal protection organisation Animal Aid placed hidden cameras inside the stunning and slaughter quarters of Cheshire Halal UK Limited, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for three days in March. Government rules stipulate that slaughterhouses âmust have appropriate systems in place to comply with legal requirements and achieve the required standards of animal welfareâ. However, undercover filming at the North West slaughterhouse uncovered incidents that were in clear breach of the law.
A slaughterman is shown in one clip picking up a frightened sheep by her fleece and physically throwing her over a gate. The animal was so terrified that she attempted to escape through a blood gully, only to be discovered cowering behind the bleeding-out bodies of her strung-up peers. The slaughterman also attempted to subdue a frantic sheep by deliberately placing electrical stunning tongs around the animalâs abdomen. Other incidents caught on camera include a lamb, who was hiding behind a mechanical arm, being dragged out by the hind legs. One animal was pushed with such force that they were overturned and left in this situation for some time.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which regulates animal welfare in slaughterhouses, has acknowledged that there have been non-compliances with animal protection legislation captured on film at Cheshire Halal. However, it has merely recommended that those who inflicted cruelty on animals are provided with staff retraining, without providing any credible explanation. Animal Aid has firmly appealed for the Agencyâs decision to be reconsidered, stating that the law has clearly been broken and the inexcusable actions of slaughtermen pass the necessary threshold to revoke individual licences.
Publication of the covert filming undertaken at Cheshire Halal UK Limited coincides with the release of Animal Aidâs shocking new report, âBritainâs Failing Slaughterhousesâ, which sheds light on an ongoing abuse scandal in slaughterhouses across the country. The dossier includes details of how 14 out of 15 slaughterhouses investigated since 2009 have been found breaking animal protection laws. It calls on the government to crack down on cruelty by making independently-monitored CCTV mandatory in all abattoirs.
Says Luke Steele, Farming and Slaughter Campaigns Manager, Animal Aid:
âAnimal abuse uncovered by Animal Aid at the Stockport slaughterhouse, where a vulnerable sheep was picked up by the fleece and thrown over a gate, is clearly unlawful and inexcusable. With this being the 12th slaughterhouse where we have filmed workers deliberately abusing animals, it is clear that there is a cruelty scandal ongoing in British slaughterhouses and only tough action will suffice.
‘The Food Standards Agency must revoke the licence of the slaughtermen responsible at Cheshire Halal. Moreover, the government must take immediate action to make independently monitored CCTV mandatory for all slaughterhouses to crack down on this cruelty scandal.’
Broadcast-quality footage and print-quality photographs are available on request.
Notes for editors:
DEFRA have launched a consultation to make food labelling âfairerâ so that consumers can make decisions that âalign with their valuesâ.
Posted 25 Mar 2024
We are delighted to tell you that the Scottish Parliament has just voted in favour of banning snares under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.
Posted 21 Mar 2024