WAV Comment – This (England) is ‘my patch’. Abuse like this at the family-owned G & G.B Hewitt Ltd. in Chester, England is not acceptable; it should not be acceptable anywhere. The video footage below says it all. When I have reviewed, I am going to do what I can about this – contact various parties and ask for responses; we want answers.

When the letter is written I will copy it onto the site; and any responses if we get some. Or will this be another Danish mink letter and just be ignored by all parties concerned ? – knowing animal rights in the UK; I think the lid is now off and people will be after scalps. Lets hope so. More to come on this soon.

Regards Mark

‘Shocking’ Animal Abuse Recorded At Government-Approved Abattoir, Investigation Reveals

The footage shows a torrent of illegal animal abuse on a UK abattoir despite holding a government approval rating for several years in a row…

A two-month investigation at an abattoir with government approval has revealed ‘shocking’ animal abuse.

Moreover, the 200 hours of footage uncovers illegalities inside the UK animal agriculture facility.

This is despite it holding a ‘generally satisfactory’ rating for six years.

Government-approved abattoir

Key findings included piglets appearing to be scalded in a hot water tank whilst still alive, and cows beaten with electric prods.

One particularly distressing scene shows a bull being violently prodded hundreds of times. It was filmed over January and February this year inside the family-owned G & G.B Hewitt Ltd. in Chester, England.

Moreover, the organization behind the investigation is Animal Justice Project – a non-profit working to expose animal exploitation.

They claim an Official Veterinarian was appointed by the Food Standards Agency. Their job is to ‘ensure that all animal welfare requirements are met, to ensure that animals are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering’.

However, in the footage, the professional is not present in the rooms where animals are killed.This means they will have missed ‘pre-stun shocks on animals, poor handling, failing stun equipment, insufficient stun times, and signs of consciousness’.

Findings have since been sent to the FSA.

Illegal activity

The investigation also shows stunning equipment fail, resulting in panicked pigs and sheep.

“The overall impression given is of routine poor practice in premises barely fit for purpose.”

Alick Simmons, Former Deputy Cheif Veterinary Officer

Moreover, the slaughtering process fell out of the recommended 15 seconds by the Humane Slaughter Association. And, the investigators claim no worker was seen checking for consciousness, displaying yet another breach.

Alick Simmons is a former Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer for the UK government.

In a statement, Simmons said: “There are a number of instances where apparent breaches of the law are shown: incorrect use of electric goads, cattle repeatedly struck with a stick – one appears to be pointed and the law prohibits the use of pointed sticks – a sheep dragged by the horns, severely lame cattle, and one severely lame pig being presented for slaughter. 

“Such animals are not fit to be transported. In several instances, immediately after ‘sticking’, slaughtermen are seen to start dressing pig carcasses. 

“The law requires that pigs are bled for a minimum of 20 seconds. The overall impression given is of routine poor practice in premises barely fit for purpose. 

“The circumstances are made worse by poorly trained and poorly supervised operatives. For example, the handling, stunning, and killing of piglets is barely adequate.

“The stunning equipment appears to fail on several occasions, repeated shouting by the operatives simply adds to the animals’ distress. And, at no time, are operatives seen to monitor the effectiveness of the stun.”

UK abattoirs

As a result of the footage, Animal Justice Project is calling for an ‘urgent’ independent review of UK slaughterhouses. Additionally, it urges the cessation of public funding under the new Agriculture Bill.

Currently, abattoirs nationwide are eligible for financial aid under the new act. It comes following a wealth of small-scale slaughterhouse closures in the country, with less than 100 left.

Animal Justice Project’s founder Claire Palmer declared the findings both ‘law-breaking’ and ‘extensive’ in suffering and abuse.

This was ‘right under the nose of the vet, and CCTV’, Palmer added.

Now, the charity is calling for the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, to oversee a review.

You can find out more about Animal Justice Project here

Investigation Reveals Animal Abuse At Government-Approved Abattoir (plantbasednews.org)

How they promote themselves in local business overview:

Business overview

Established over 50 years – Family run Business

G & G.B Hewitt Ltd is a well established slaughtering company that has built up an enviable reputation over the last 50 years.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to provide a professional and speedy service at all times, whilst maintaining the highest quality of work.

Ref – https://www.yell.com/biz/g-and-gb-hewitt-ltd-chester-250226/

WAV Comment:

Below – just some of the reviews that have been left by the public on the ‘professional, speedy service with the highest quality of work’ !! – ALL gave 1 star out of 5 – which is the lowest that can be given.

Reviews

15 Jul 2021

Holocaust

We condemned the holocaust but we allow it to happen in epic proportions here at Hewitts,this is hell on earth for these poor animals. 14 Jul 2021

Disgusting pieces of ..

Disgusting practices, untrained vet, and breaks the animal welfare laws consistently. Truly terrible people, especially the vet and manager. 13 Jul 2021

Disgusting human beings.

You should be ashamed of yourself. These poor babies deserve so much better. 13 Jul 2021

Barbaric treatment of animals

Total barbaric behaviour shown, no respect for these poor innocent sentients being sent to their deaths! You should hang your heads in shame, and I hope your action haunts you on your deathbed! Beware of KARMA 😡. 12 Jul 2021

Undercover investigation shows extreme cruelty

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for the cruel, violent abuse you have inflicted on 1000s of beautiful, living beings. You could have shown them compassion at the end of their already horrific short existence but instead you showed nothing but contempt and abuse towards these defenseless souls. Shame on you all. 12 Jul 2021

DISGUSTING TREATMENT OF ANIMALS!!!! THIS PLACE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN IMEDIATELY.

DISGUSTING TREATMENT OF ANIMALS!!!! THIS PLACE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN IMEDIATELY. 12 Jul 2021

Proud Of Their Abuse of defenceless Animals

High Standards??? Are you having a laugh
Footage has been released of the abhorrent cruelty and suffering you cause defenceless animals at the final moments of their lives. I hope you lose all your funding and your licence for the suffering you have caused. You are the worst of the worst. 12 Jul 2021

STOP THE ABUSE AND CRUELTY

When the animal rights activists get hold of them they will really regret their disgusting treatment of defenceless animals. Hope Hewitt gets his just deserts and the company suffers a severe loss of custom. Time to stop eating corpses everyone then people like the Hewitts will go out of business. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THIS TRAVESTY OF A BUSINESS!!. 12 Jul 2021

Hell Hole!

I have just read and seen undercover video footage from Animal Justice the most appalling animal abuse…
Pigs with open sores clearly in pain evident from the pain in their eyes and shallow breathing..collapsed pigs unable to walk being kicked forward by abusers…pigs covered in flies, pigs living in filth clearly suffering indescribable trauma…
CLOSE THIS HELL HOLE DOWN …YOU DISGUSTING PEOPLE SHOULF BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!!🤬🤬🤬. 12 Jul 2021

Get rid of this place as soon as possible

If I could give no stars I would. I hate animal cruelty. I hope they are prosecuted but even if they are, the punishment will likely be paltry. 11 Jul 2021

sick animal torturers

should have the option to score minus stars. psychopaths is the word that springs to mind. No man is better than any animal. You will lose business now you have been exposed to be the depraved evil animal torturers and murderers that you are. decent companies will not want to associate themselves with you. Hope you get closed down. 11 Jul 2021

Abhorrent cruelty

This company has been exposed by Animal justice Project as published in The Independent, for unspeakable cruelty to animals.
“Cows beaten with electric prods and pigs cut while still alive” by the vile criminals who own and work here.
This abhorrent and disgusting cruelty to sentient beings has to stop and people need to be educated about what is going on behind their backs. 11 Jul 2021

Appalling Cruelty

Appalled by what I have read today about the cruelty in this abattoir. I am going vegetarian. 11 Jul 2021

Sickening

Sickening footage of the most disgusting and deliberate cruelty has been released. These people need to face charges. 11 Jul 2021

These people need help!

The owners and people that work here are obviously suffering from mental health problems and need to have their freedom taken away and administered medication. 11 Jul 2021

A shameful family!.

I’m sick to my stomach that this has been ALLOWED to happen. NO business out there should be using company!!. Does make me wonder what sort of family they are!!. DISGUSTING!. 11 Jul 2021

Cruelty to the animals.

This evil place needs to be shut down and the workers jailed for the abuse the animals were subjected to. 11 Jul 2021

Slaughterhouse of horror

Just been reading about this vile company and the disgraceful, inhumane way they treat the poor animals. Beyond vile. Shame on anyone that does business with them.
Had to put one star rating in order to submit this review, but wouldn’t even give them that. 11 Jul 2021

Protect the animals you slaughter not the ones you employ.

How do you sleep at night knowing some of your employees treat the animals you slaughter, with a psychopathic fervour? Check your CCTV and start caring about the creatures your families have profited from for over half a century. 10 Jul 2021

Horrifying

Never use cruel people for anything!!!

How can Hewitt family sleep at night or eat at anyone’s table given their complacency in the suffering caused????

10 Jul 2021

Abhorrent cruelty to animals

Abhorrent cruelty to animals from disgusting psychopaths. Should be shut down with immediate effect. 10 Jul 2021

Shameful

This is a minus one star review…appalling. This establishment needs to be shut down and prison sentences issued. Horrendous. 10 Jul 2021

Disgusting cruelty

Disgusting cruelty to animals. They should be closed down. Please do not use them. 10 Jul 2021

Animal abuse on an obscene scale.

Disgusting. Unbelievable cruelty shown to living creatures. This place needs to be shut down and the owners jailed. See the report in The Independent. 10 Jul 2021

THE UNSPECIFIED VERMIN SPECIES WHO RUN THIS NEED A SERIOUS WAKE-UP CALL….

PLEASE REVIEW THE JULY 2021 ‘INDEPENDENT’ NEWS ARTICLE COVERING THIS ABHORRANT, HEINOUS AND ILLEGAL SO-CALLED BUSINESS, THEN UTTERLY RIP INTO & BOMBARD THE BREED OF NON-HUMANS WHO RUN THIS VIA THEIR PERSONAL EMAIL USING THE WEBSITE COMPANY ADDRESS… 10 Jul 2021

Abusive and uncaring.

Cause deliberate unnecessary suffering to innocent creatures. Business should be closed down and owners/employees involved in the abuse be put down. There is no place in society for those who think that it is OK to inflict suffering. Such people are obviously wired incorrectly and should not be allowed to pass on their genes. 10 Jul 2021

Abusive creeps

Illegally abuse animals while they are still alive, whoever works there deserves the same treatment. 10 Jul 2021

Author Peter Robinson clearly gottit right

Inhumane treatment of living creatures will only turn more of us off to eating flesh & turning to a healthier diet. 10 Jul 2021

an unspecified species, nonentity breed of callous vermin that exist in this hell-hole….

There is a special kind of hell for all you unspeakable race of non-humans operate this trash can (so-called ‘family’?) business!! Upon this recent newsfeed, I’m keeping the faith that anger and fury is now mounting far & wide – everyone knows just how despicable and abhorrent you vermin operate there – justice will be served no doubt and hopefully sooner rather than later with like-for-like treatment for you all during your final gasps of breath..!! Roll on your much-deserved demise, then may you all rot even further in the darkest of hell that is reserved especially for the loathsome ‘breed’ that you are – how dare you even breath the same fresh oxygen as the standard human race…. 10 Jul 2021

Cruelty to animals in their slaughter house

The hidden cameras at family-owned G & GB Hewitt in Cheshire captured 200 hours of footage that AJP says reveal shocking animal abuse and suffering, extensive breaches of the law and a failure of a government vet to prevent cruelty. 10 Jul 2021

Worthless animal abuse c unts.

Worthless animal abuse c unts. Karma will be calling on you soon. 10 Jul 2021

Evil

Vile evil torturers of innocent animals
Real men would never do that
Real men would treat the animals with dignity and respect. Professionals would respect the law and standards.
You heinous evil men…… 10 Jul 2021

Shutdown immediately

This place should be shut down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Discusting!!!!!!!!! 10 Jul 2021

Abuse of animals.

The footage of the abusive and disgusting way animals are treated in your facility was upsetting and shocking but not surprising. This is what happens in abattoirs and occasionally they are caught out, all involved should hang their heads in shame but they have no shame, I hope for prosecutions. 10 Jul 2021

Animal welfare crimes.

This place needs to be shut down and the perpetrators prosecuted. 10 Jul 2021

High standards?

“The highest standards?” Indeed. The highest standards of atrocious animal cruelty conceivable. Their approach to their work is one of utter disregard for animal suffering, any legislation to mitigate this suffering and an evident policy of sadistic violence to animals. 10 Jul 2021

Wicked violence

There’s video footage revealing scenes of atrocious animal abuse and gross negligence by the staff of this place, including the slaughterhouse manager – a character called Mark Hewitt.

In a scene lasting 40 minutes, a fat man can be seen tormenting two docile bulls with an electric device and a pointed stick, prodding them more than 200 times. The unfortunate animals are trapped in a confined space, unable to avoid their abuser’s implements – clearly terrified, their torment only ends when they are shot.

Hewitt was caught on film abusing tiny piglets. As the pigs kicked and jolted after having their throats cut, Hewitt can be seen cutting their ankles down to the bone and snapping them, far sooner than than the the length of time stated within slaughter legislation. The agony that these piglets must have endured during their final moments is beyond imagination.

[NB: No stars at all would be preferable – but it’s not an option available here.]

Yesterday, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Representative Ro Khanna of California reintroduced their landmark legislation, the Farm System Reform Act. This crucial bill would decrease the number of farmed animals kept in extreme confinement and subjected to brutal mutilations, as well as reduce the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture.

Animals raised on factory farms are among the most abused in the world. Yet, there are hardly any federal protections for them in the United States. Big corporations turn massive profits by cramming these animals into barren sheds and massive feedlots. As a result, billions of them suffer miserable lives, not to mention the environmental toll factory farming has on our planet.

We need your support to pass the Farm System Reform Act, which would create the first-ever nationwide ban on large factory farms, helping to end one of the greatest sources of cruelty to animals in the world.

In addition to reducing the number of animals raised in low-welfare factory farms, the Farm System Reform Act also calls for uplifting independent family farmers, protecting workers, rural communities and public health, and overhauling our broken food system.

We’ve made it incredibly easy to contact your members of Congress with just one click.

Please act now for farmed animals, the environment, and America’s family farmers. Urge lawmakers in Washington to support the Farm System Reform Act.

Donate to World Animal Protection and protect animals! (everyaction.com)

Sincerely,

Joe Loria Meat Reduction Campaign Manager

Please Support – Thanks

Regards Mark

Photo – Essere Animali.

New investigation on dairy farm producing Grana Padano cheese: “calves in unacceptable conditions, regulatory revision required”.

Essere Animali – Organizzazione per i Diritti Animali

13 July 2021

Press Release

New investigation by Essere Animali on a dairy farm producing milk for Grana Padano. The footage documents the treatment of calves, separated from their mothers at birth, isolated in small pens and brutally treated by farm workers.

The organisation Essere Animali today released a new video investigation documenting the conditions of calves on a dairy farm located in Lombardy, in the province of Bergamo.

The farm under investigation is a producer of Grana Padano cheese, the most widely consumed P.D.O. cheese in the world, with the cheese plant located next to the barns which house 2,700 animals, including cows and bulls, as well as some 300 calves.

The investigation documents the first weeks of the calves’ lives, from their birth to their confinement in small pens, casting a dark shadow over the conditions in which they are kept on dairy farms.
The undercover investigation released by Essere Animali shows:

• Calves being separated from their mother
• Insults aimed at male calves
• Housing in individual pens
• Feeding of the calves, deprived of their mother’s milk
• Rough behaviour by workers and alleged irregularities

For the production of milk, even that intended for products of “Italian excellence” such as Grana Padano, calves are raised in conditions of social deprivation and are subjected to stress and suffering. Change is possible, also in view of the growing number of European citizens demanding higher welfare standards for farm animals. For this reason, together with 77 NGOs all over the world, we are urging the European Commission to undertake a complete revision of the legislation on the protection of farm animals.

Simone Montuschi, President, Essere Animali

By disseminating this investigation, Essere Animali is relaunching the No Animal Left Behind campaign, coordinated by Eurogroup For Animals, an organisation that brings together 77 NGOs for animal protection in 27 EU Member States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Serbia, Norway, Australia and the United States.

The organisations are calling on the European Commission, committed with the Farm to Fork strategy to make the European food system fairer, healthier and more environmentally friendly, to revise the legislation on the protection of farm animals, which is currently considered seriously inadequate to guarantee them a life free from unnecessary suffering.

One of the demands made to the Commission isthe application of farming conditions that would allow all farmed species to express their natural behaviours, including the intake of real food.

With regard to the conditions in which calves are reared, Essere Animali and Eurogroup for Animals are calling for a revision of EU animal welfare laws in order to:

• Allow contact between the calves and their mothers for at least the first eight weeks of age, during which the animals must be kept in a half-day  contact system – at least – with suckling permitted.
• Provide housing conditions and a diet that meet the behavioural and physiological needs of calves, who should be raised in groups with appropriate spaces and have access to outdoor areas.

This hard-hitting investigation provides a harsh wake-up call regarding the conditions in which calves are reared on dairy farms. However, we have a unique opportunity: by September, we can convince the European Commission to undertake a complete revision of the legislation on the protection of farm animals, and provide much better protection to calves and other species. It is incredible that the current legislation still permits the isolation and confinement of newly born animals: these are cruel and avoidable practices. We are asking for truly higher welfare standards which leave no animal behind.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

ENDS

Regards Mark