Eyes on Animals inspected a medium-sized Dutch slaughterhouse which slaughters cattle and pigs. Upon arriving, cattle from Belgium were being unloaded. They were all fit for transport. As in all slaughterhouses we have visited so far, there was again a pen devoted to placing sick animals. Inside was a lone pig, paralyzed from her waist down. As her meat was likely "still fit for human consumption" she was transported and accepted by the plant. While the "fit" animals were being slaughtered, she had to wait to be first checked by the veterinarian and so as not to "pollute" the clean slaughter line. She was left on a wet concrete floor. Eyes on Animals will use this example to question the legality of accepting animals in this condition at slaughterhouses. We will also raise the point that these sick or injured animals are put through even more stress than the healthy ones, as they are forced to wait until the end of the slaughter day in the slaughterhouse. There must be a solution to decrease their suffering. Fortunately at this plant the handling, at least during our presence, was much better than the plant we inspected on February 25th.
Eyes on Animals -
16.03.2009 Inspection of a Dutch slaughterhouse
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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.
