Campaigners to mount vigil at Lancashire slaughterhouse exposed for cruelty

What: Carrying flowers and banners which read ‘Stop the Slaughter’, campaigners from Animal Aid and the Save Movement will hold a peaceful vigil outside the Malik Food Group slaughterhouse near Burnley on Tuesday (25 April). Their goal? To document the final moments of life for sheep and cows being transported into the site for slaughter and offer the animals water.

The vigil comes in response to an undercover video taken at the slaughterhouse by Animal Aid, which shows sheep having their throats hacked at – in one case seven times – and animals being thrown. The Food Standards Agency, which regulates animal welfare in abattoirs, has launched an urgent criminal investigation into animal cruelty after being alerted to what it describes as “serious non-compliances with animal welfare legislation.” One slaughterman has already had his license revoked and been suspended. However, despite widespread instances of lawbreaking being found, the company is still trading.

Says Luke Steele, Farming and Slaughter Campaigns Manager, Animal Aid:

“Campaigners will lay flowers and show some compassion to animals being transported to slaughter during a peaceful vigil. Shocking undercover footage captured at the slaughterhouse by Animal Aid shows barbaric and deliberate scenes of cruelty being inflicted on animals. A criminal investigation is underway but, contrary to what many may believe, the slaughterhouse is still trading.

“We want to ask caring people everywhere to stop the kind of suffering filmed by simply swapping animal products for a meat-free alternative. Never before has it been so easy to enjoy a cruelty-free meal.” 

Where: Malik Food Group, Dunnockshaw Farm, Dunnockshaw, Burnley, BB11 5PP

When: Tuesday, 25 April 2017, 07:30 am – 12:00 midday. 

Your coverage is invited.

RSVP to Luke Steele at: +44 (0) 1732 364546 Ext 233 or Luke@AnimalAid.co.uk

For more information, please visit www.AnimalAid.org.uk