Animal Aid's undercover investigation exposes shocking cruelty
WARNING:
THIS VIDEO MAY BE TOO GRAPHIC FOR SOME TO WATCH
National campaigning group Animal Aid has released footage taken
secretly at three randomly chosen abattoirs, which offers an
unprecedented close-up of the true inner workings of typical British
slaughterhouses that kill pigs, sheep and cattle. The film convincingly
disposes of the myth of stress- and pain-free �humane slaughter�. The 40
hours of footage shows more than 1,500 animals being stunned and more
than 1,000 being killed. Animal Aid anticipates the revelations will
provoke a plain-speaking debate involving consumers, politicians,
regulators and the industry.
Pigs and sheep are seen being kicked, shoved and � in one case �
dragged into the stun room, which was packed with frightened animals. In
the chaos, animals slip, fall and cry out. The electric tongs used to
stun pigs and sheep frequently make contact for too short a time or do
not span the brain, and deliver, instead, nothing more than painful
electric shocks. Often, the suffering inflicted, the terror experienced
and the indifference of the stun operator are shockingly apparent.
Animal Aid filmed:
- Pigs and sheep going to the knife without adequate stunning
- Pigs and sheep stunned and then allowed to come round again
- Pigs, sheep and calves crying out and struggling to escape
- Pigs being kicked in the face and sheep thrown to the floor
- Pigs and sheep with illness or injury being slaughtered
- A sheep too sick to stand � or possibly already dead � being
brought to slaughter in a wheelbarrow
- A ewe being stunned and killed while her young was suckling her
- Ewes watching as their young are killed
- Pigs falling from the slaughter line into the blood pit and
being dragged out and re-shackled while other pigs look on
- An inadequately stunned young calf lying kicking on the floor
and the stun operator standing on him to keep him still
Animal Aid's film contains evidence of several potential breaches of
the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations and,
consequently, the campaign group has called for:
- CCTV to be placed in all UK slaughterhouses
- A change in the law to make ongoing training and assessment
mandatory for all abattoir workers
- One stun operator/slaughterer at AC Hopkins abattoir in Somerset
to have his licence revoked and for him to be prosecuted to answer
charges of animal cruelty
- An independent investigation to be held into the reasons for
this worker�s deficient performance
Kate Fowler, Head of Campaigns at Animal Aid, says:
�We believe that millions of animals across the country are suffering
untold torment when they are stunned and killed. In the stun rooms, we
filmed terrified sheep and pigs running crazily in circles, looking for
an exit or trying to make themselves invisible behind the hoist. Two
sheep were so desperate to escape that they leapt through the hatch into
the slaughter area where they landed in the blood pit below their
bleeding and shackled mates. Many animals were partially stunned and
left writhing or convulsing on the floor, while the stun operator
ignored their plight. Animals were kicked, hit, goaded, sworn at and
stood on. In our view, one worker in particular combined incompetence,
stupidity and callousness. But even those workers who function as best
they can, operate in a system that is pitiless.
�The film we obtained shows scenes from hell and disposes of the myth
that slaughter in the UK is, or can ever be, humane.�
WARNING:
THIS VIDEO MAY BE TOO GRAPHIC FOR SOME TO WATCH
Shocking Slaughter Footage: England's Slaughterhouse Cruelty
Shocking Slaughter Footage: England's Slaughterhouse Cruelty
www.animalaid.org.uk .
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