“Often the cattle are treated carelessly. Some die suddenly from the stress of unloading, others are brought in with serious welfare problems from their farms of origin in breach of transport laws, and a few even die on arrival.”
“Sufficient numbers of pigs have been found in extreme distress and expressing fear and pain to make it clear that this is not an isolated or rare issue.”
Undercover footage filmed in 2023 inside C&K Meats, a facility that slaughters both intensively farmed and free-range pigs, reveals a number of apparent violations of animal welfare laws.
The slaughterhouse has the capacity to slaughter approximately 1,200 to 1,400 pigs per day in a carbon dioxide gas chamber. mirrorIt supplies pork to brands such as Jolly Hog, which is sold in Tesco, The Co-op, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl. Some of Tesco’s own brand pork products also come from pigs slaughtered at the abattoir.
lame
Animal rights groups have further raised concerns about the treatment of the animals, including workers hitting the pigs with paddles, forcing them to the gas chambers using excessive force and showing signs of severe stress.
These actions may breach Article 5 of the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 which requires humane treatment and the prevention of unnecessary suffering.
Dr Alick Symonds, a former UK government deputy chief veterinary officer, reviewed the footage and said: “The footage shows several brief instances of near excessive use of the paddle. It is illegal to hit or kick animals in slaughterhouse enclosures.”
Dr Simmons also expressed concerns about the way the animals were transported, based on evidence captured on undercover footage: “Both the transport of unsuitable animals and the deaths of pigs during transport strongly suggest that sufficient care was not taken in selecting pigs for transport.”
Mr Simmons continued: “During unloading several pigs were found to be lame, struggling to breathe and with large umbilical hernias – all clearly unfit for transport. It is likely that the welfare of these animals was compromised before unloading but the problems were exacerbated during transport.”
Lux
“These animals should not have been transported and should have been treated humanely or killed in their place of origin.”
The AJP also uncovers worrying patterns of poor regulation and illegal activity in UK abattoirs.
Independent Analysis According to the government’s own statistics, the average Serious violations of law Daily reports were received from slaughterhouse operators. 229 slaughterhouses in the UK By 2023, this will affect just 0.08% of animals killed.
The Food Standards Agency 99.9 What percentage of UK slaughterhouses will meet animal welfare standards in 2023, but will there be cases of non-compliance? Decreasing between 2021/22 and 2022/23Commissioning an investigation is the highest enforcement power that a licensed veterinarian can exercise.
In 2023, 28 compliance violations Seven out of 3,843 violations of the 2015 Animal Welfare at Slaughter Regulations (WATOK) were investigated, suggesting lax enforcement.
Penalties
However, the AJP has inspected five slaughterhouses over the past five years and is believed to be finding multiple violations every day.
These cases illustrate the failure of slaughterhouse operators to address animal welfare issues. The AJP believes these violations are Over 1 billion How many animals are slaughtered in the UK each year.
Furthermore, the measures taken when violations were discovered were insufficient: “verbal advice” was the only outcome. 43% of incidents with level 4 severity.
These incidents occur despite the fact that they pose serious and immediate risks to animal welfare or result in avoidable pain, suffering or suffering.
The lack of actual penalties is due to the Food Standards Agency’s own Official Control Manual The Act provides that a WATOK Enforcement Notice (WEN) should always be considered in such cases unless the incident was an unavoidable accident or there is a lack of evidence.
Right of reply
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents many supermarkets, said: “Our members recognise how important animal welfare is to their customers and take their responsibilities for animal welfare extremely seriously, carrying out regular audits to ensure expected standards are being met.”
“This is currently under investigation and action will be taken if it is found to be a breach of the high animal welfare standards to which our members are bound.”
A Waitrose spokesman confirmed its own brand pork is not from C&K Meats, adding: “Our commitment to improving animal welfare standards extends to our branded products and we are working urgently with Jolly Hogg to further clarify these allegations.”
A Tesco spokesman said: “We take animal welfare extremely seriously and expect all our suppliers to adhere to our high welfare standards. Any poor practice has no place in our supply chain. Following our discovery of this disturbing footage we are urgently investigating with our supplier.”
An RSPCA Assured spokesman said: “Animal welfare is our absolute priority and we always investigate allegations of poor welfare. As soon as we became aware of this footage, which was filmed over a year ago, we launched an immediate and urgent investigation.”
“We take complaints about failing animal welfare very seriously and ask anyone with concerns to contact us immediately without delay at any time, as this will allow us to immediately investigate, visit the premises and address any animal welfare issues as a matter of priority.”
C&K Meats is Ecologist However, no comment has been made at this time.
This author
Brendan Montague is Ecologist.
