Yet more evidence of illegal animal abuse inside UK slaughterhouses

Posted on the 30th August 2016

Reports released to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism have revealed that more than 4,000 severe breaches of animal welfare regulations took place in UK slaughterhouses over the past two years. The shocking incidents detailed in the reports include chickens and pigs being put into scalding water while still alive; a cow being slammed against a wall and three bulls being beaten with a wooden stick and electric prod.

Animal Aid’s undercover investigations have already found evidence of lawbreaking and cruelty in nine out of ten randomly chosen UK slaughterhouses. These new revelations add yet more weight to the ever-strengthening case for mandatory, independently monitored CCTV in all slaughterhouses. Earlier this month, a report commissioned by Animal Aid and authored by a team of independent experts found that the cost of independently monitoring CCTV in English slaughterhouses is both ‘cost-effective and feasible’.

Says Isobel Hutchinson, Head of Campaigns at Animal Aid:

‘Over and over again, we see the consequences of a toothless, unmotivated regulatory regime that fails animals when they are at their most vulnerable. Meaningful protection for animals from the violence and incompetence that has repeatedly been exposed can come only from mandatory, independently monitored CCTV in all slaughterhouses.

‘The government has dragged its heels for too long on this issue. But these latest revelations, combined with the findings of a new independent report, leave it with no choice but to act without delay.’