Hidden cameras show horrific mistreatment of sheep in Bowood Yorkshire Lamb slaughterhouse in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. WARNING this piece contains graphic video some viewers may find distressing. Readers who remember the memoirs of James Herriot the vet, made into the TV series All Creatures Great and Small. will know that Thirsk was the centre of his practice. That was then; this is now.
Disturbing footage showing “routine abuse” of sheep in a halal slaughterhouse has rekindled the debate over whether animals should be stunned before they are killed for meat. Under halal law, animals are supposed to be killed quickly by single cut from a surgically-sharp knife.
Although 80 per cent of halal meat is stunned, the number of sheep killed without stunning is rising due to campaigning by Muslims, figures show. Secret filming in an halal abattoir in Yorkshire showed “horrifying” treatment of animals killed without stunning.
Workers were shown hacking and sawing at the animals’ throats with apparently blunt knives. In one instance the procedure, which according to Islamic law should be instantaneous, took five attempts. Halal rules also state that animals should never see the knife or witness others being killed, protecting them against unnecessary trauma.
But the footage showed a man wearing a Muslim kufi skullcap at Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk regularly sharpening knives in front of the sheep. Due to the design of the slaughterhouse, in which animals were forced on to conveyor belts, the sheep typically saw another member of the flock having its throat cut, bleeding on the floor and being hoisted and shackled.
A slaughterman teases one of the sheep as it is pushed on to a conveyor belt
Religious leaders from both communities have always insisted that halal and and kosher meat is produced in a humane way.
The film captured by lobby group Animal Aid, which has used subterfuge to place cameras in 10 abattoirs since 2009, showed evidence of repeated malpractice.
John Blackwell, president of the British Veterinary Association, said: “Slaughter without stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare at the time of death and as such we call for an end to its practice. “The Animal Aid film is truly shocking. Whether in a stun or non-stun abattoir these abuses would warrant sanctions under the current welfare legislation.”
The number of sheep and goats killed without stunning rose 60 per cent to 2.4 million last year, according to the Food Standards Agency.
On receiving the video evidence, the regulator immediately suspended the licence of the slaughtermen involved and initiated an investigation. “There is no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video and we are therefore investigating the footage with a view to prosecution,” a spokesman said.
Kate Fowler, head of campaigns at Animal Aid, said the footage was among the “most extreme” examples of animal abuse in the 10 films captured. It was the first video showing meat killed in a religious manner. . . However, she said such treatment was unrelated to religious practice and called for CCTV to be placed in every abattoir.
Earlier films at slaughterhouses that did use stunning had shown animals being punched in the head, burnt with cigarettes, beaten with sticks, given electric shocks with stunning tongs, thrown and kicked.
And if I remember correctly animal rights campaigners protested and picketed one particular slaughterhouse which specialised in pigs frequently and vigorously. I hope to hear that coachloads are heading to Thirsk this very weekend.
The Abattoir, Busby Stoop Rd, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 4EQ, Its right on the A61, about a mile from Junction 50 of the A1(M), which is the main highway through England, from London to Scotland. No excuses.
- Like
- Digg
- Del
- Tumblr
- VKontakte
- Buffer
- Love This
- Odnoklassniki
- Meneame
- Blogger
- Amazon
- Yahoo Mail
- Gmail
- AOL
- Newsvine
- HackerNews
- Evernote
- MySpace
- Mail.ru
- Viadeo
- Line
- Comments
- Yummly
- SMS
- Viber
- Telegram
- Subscribe
- Skype
- Facebook Messenger
- Kakao
- LiveJournal
- Yammer
- Edgar
- Fintel
- Mix
- Instapaper
- Copy Link
One Response
It’s easy to assume that the sadistic mohammedans going about their prophet’s business in this footage would be also quite at home going about IS’s business over there in allah’s fractious sandbox.