Call for Compulsory Video Cameras in Slaughterhouses
Following the revelation through undercover video footage of cruelty at an abattoir in Yorkshire in the UK, pressure has started mounting for video cameras to be installed in all slaughterhouses.
Shortly after the incident in Yorkshire, a debate took place in the UK parliament calling for compulsory video monitoring of the activities in slaughterhouses as a deterrent to cruel practices.
The MP who called the debate, Henry Smith, said that an all-seeing eye and independent monitoring would ensure the maximum quality of animal welfare conditions in slaughterhouses.
He said that the vets, who are on site in slaughterhouses, are not everywhere at once, and too many incidents have been missed.
Mr Smith said that given the scale of the industry, only a small amount would be needed to install CCTV across all slaughterhouses in the UK. He said that earlier recordings revealed animals being kicked, slapped, stamped on, picked up by fleeces and ears, and thrown into stunning pens.
“They recorded animals being improperly stunned and coming round again, or suffering painful electrocution instead of being stunned.
“Cameras have also captured animals being deliberately and illegally beaten and punched, and burned with cigarettes. Workers have been caught hitting pigs in the head with shackle hooks, and using the stunning tongs deliberately to cause pain by sending electric shocks through animals’ ears, noses, tails, legs and abdomens, and even, in one case, through an open mouth.
“The key point I wish to convey is that not one of the illegal acts filmed was detected by the Government-appointed on-site vets or the slaughterhouse operators, who have ultimate responsibility for animal welfare.” Mr Smith said that the current regulatory system fails animals badly.
In reply agriculture minister George Eustice said a report on CCTV in slaughterhouses by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee had been published that shows that there are benefits to CCTV.
And he added: “My conclusion is that CCTV can only ever be part of the answer to improving animal welfare and preventing abuses. It needs to be backed up with other monitoring methods.”
He said that the government will review the compulsory use of cameras in slaughterhouses, but he said that at present the view was for a voluntary code rather than compulsion.
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