Eyes on Animals made an unannounced visit to a slaughterhouse in Holland that specializes in the killing of young calves, adult cattle and sheep. The plant made a good impression as the workers were calm with the animals and the plant also insisted that the animals be stunned first (even though most of the meat was going for halal but they felt that slaughtering without pre-stunning caused a lot of suffering). However, while observing the stunning of the calves, we were shocked to see the employee apply electricity to a very young calf and then wait 52 seconds before continuing with the slaughter process. During this time, the little holstein calf regained consiousness, made desperate attempts to stand back up, and finally ran out of the stunning box and onto the kill floor in an attempt to escape. The employer had to re-shock him with electricity. We mentionned this serious welfare problem to the owners of the plant, who said that they had not observed this problem before but will take note of our concern.
Eyes on Animals -
03.04.2009 Welfare concern at a slaughterhouse in northern Holland
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Slaughterhouses
The lives of "farmed" animals, from fattening pig to breeding sow, and from veal-calf to dairy cow, end at the slaughterhouse. According to European law, animals must not endure unnecessary suffering when slaughtered. Sadly this is not always the case. Crippled animals are sometimes dragged or kicked towards the kill floor. Many are left to shiver in the winter on cold concrete floors for hours before being killed. At some plants the workers are not skilled or the equipment is faulty, leading to animals being improperly stunned and cut. Desensitized workers can be found hitting the animals and repeatedly using electric prods on sensitive areas. Slaughterhouses specializing in ritual slaughter (Halal and Kosher), do not stun the animals first and this causes additional pain. Eyes on Animals regularly visits slaughterhouses, unannounced and announced, to check on the condition of the animals arriving at the plant, how they are handled by staff workers, the quality of the installations and housing environment for the animals prior to slaughter, and the effectiveness of the stunning prior to slaughter. Eyes on Animals is in dialogue with the slaughterhouse about their observations and together with them tries to reach improvements to decrease animal suffering.
