Category: Farm Animals

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

France: New L214 Investigation Shows Horrifying Footage of Turkey Slaughterhouse in France.

New investigation shows horrifying footage of Turkey slaughterhouse in France

17 December 2020

L214

Today, Eurogroup for Animals’ member L214 reveals the immense suffering endured by turkeys at a slaughterhouse in Blancafort, Cher in France. Every day, 15,000 turkeys are killed in this slaughterhouse, which flagrantly violates the regulations governing the killing of animals.

The investigation which was initiated thanks to a whistleblower working at the facility, shows that as soon as the turkeys arrive at the slaughterhouse, they are hung upside down with their legs stuck on hooks. This causes acute pain to these birds, which can weigh up to 15 kg. The turkeys are forced to hold their heads up in order to not to scrape the ground. The chain they are hung on goes on for more than 50 metres, making these animals being suspended conscious for more than 2 minutes. These are two flagrant violations of the regulations.

L214 reports that they asked the veterinary services and the Ministry of Agriculture to close this slaughterhouse. Yet, the prefecture only told the slaughterhouse to put in place “immediate corrective measures and a comprehensive structural action plan” within the next 48 hours. In a public petition, L214 calls for the immediate closure of the slaughterhouse as “no immediate corrective can correct such structural problems”.

“A life of suffering, from their first to their last day” – L214 makes a case against the poor rearing and transport conditions of the turkeys:

Before arriving to the slaughterhouse in Blancafort, the turkeys are raised in huge buildings, piled on top of each other and fertilized for 3 to 4 months. In these intensive farms, there are on average 8 turkeys per square metre, often plucked or injured. They will never walk on grass, but wade through the excrement that accumulates over the weeks.

During the transport, L214 reports that they are piled up in crates that are far too small. Their heads touch the ceiling, which does not allow for good ventilation and can cause heat stress for the turkeys as they struggle to breathe and lower their body temperature. Some turkeys get their heads stuck when they are unloaded from trucks, and the slaughterhouse bins are filled with the bodies of those that did not survive the transport.

In view of the flagrant violations of the regulations, L214 reported to have filed a complaint against the transporter and the Blancafort slaughterhouse for animal abuse.

Read more at source

L214

Farm Animals

Direct Action Everywhere – Let Dairy Die

BREAKING: A new investigation and rescue exposes extreme abuse of newborn calves at a Wisconsin Land O’Lakes dairy farm #LetDairyDie

 

My comment: I don’t know what the US Animal Welfare Act says, but here the law says that anyone who tortures an animal or kills it for no good reason can be punished with up to three years imprisonment under the Animal Welfare Act.

But this penalty is practically never imposed for animal welfare violations in factory farming.
Often times there is not even a charge.

What takes place in the Wisconsin Farm is not uncommon here in Germany and in Europe in general.
The same, if not worse, scandals in German slaughterhouses are increasing every day.
Thanks to the animal rights activists’ undercover investigations, we know it.
The politicians know it too.
But we have criminal politicians who are the closest and best friends of the meat and milk mafia, with personal economic interests in the cause.

These illegal crimes against animals lead us every day more and more to the assumption that we are ruled by scammers, exploiters, and professional animal abusers.

In the name of the animals, we thank and support the group DxE.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

More Positive News: European Council Sets the Course for a Comprehensive Labelling System That Should Benefit the Whole Animal Food Production Cycle.

Putting animal welfare first: Council sets the course for a comprehensive labelling system that displays the well-being of animals over the whole animal food production cycle

14 December 2020

WAV Comment: Well done German EU Presidency for moving this issue forward. Finally; is the EU listening to what its citizens want ?

Press Release

Under the German Presidency, the Member States have agreed on a way forward in the development of an EU wide animal welfare labelling system that goes beyond voluntary labels and includes all species over their entire lifetime. Eurogroup for Animals sees the next step in introducing a mandatory EU animal welfare label for all animal-based food products.

On December 15, the Council of the European Union on Agriculture and Fisheries made considerable progress in adopting Council Conclusions that call for an EU-wide animal welfare label aimed at improving animal welfare for as many food producing animals as possible. Eurogroup for Animals welcomes the conclusions as the Council clearly sets the starting point for improving the treatment and well-being of farmed animals.

The Council Conclusions are an important step forward toward the comprehensive “Method-of-Production” label proposed by Eurogroup for Animals. We need a label that covers the entire lifetime of animals, including factors such as transport, slaughter and all of the living conditions of the animals. Eurogroup for Animals will gladly support the Commission in the further development of any scheme moving forward.

Says Gemma Willemsen Chair of Eurogroup for Animals’ labelling  working group. 

In a report launched in October, Eurogroup for Animals asks for adoption of a mandatory “Method-of-Production+ label” based on a core set of animal welfare indicators that measure animal welfare over the entire lifetime of the animals. 

“A multi-level label required on all products and for all species by law would be most effective in harmonising practices and setting improvement targets easily identifiable for producers. But it is all about how the conclusions will be implemented. It is  important that the label clearly distinguishes between minimum as well as ambitious lower and higher standards. We commend Member States, and the German Presidency in particular, for moving things in the right direction.”

Comments Jürgen Plinz, Treasurer of Deutscher Tierschutzbund.

Putting animal welfare first: Council sets the course for a comprehensive labelling system that displays the well-being of animals over the whole animal food production cycle | Eurogroup for Animals

Etiquette Bien-Etre Animal

Consumers want the label: the Eurobarometer from 2015 showed that 82% of European consumers ask for increased welfare of farmed animals and more than half of the population actively looks for animal welfare labels. In some Member States, different voluntary labels (see Étiquette Bien-être animal from France) have been introduced. Such a label at EU level  would empower consumers to make their choice for products with the highest animal welfare scores over the animal’s lifetime, including breeding, transport and slaughter, provided that it becomes mandatory. The success story of the EU energy label which played a pivotal role in consumers’ contribution to reducing the energy consumption clearly shows the impact. 

The European Commission is going to start a study on animal welfare labelling in 2021, leading to a proposal following this, expected in 2022.

ENDS

Farm Animals, General News

Animal Welfare Victory: 17/12/20 – The European Court of Justice (CJEU) Ruling Confirms Member States Have the Right to Introduce Mandatory Pre-Slaughter Stunning.

Animal welfare victory: the CJEU ruling confirms Member States right to introduce mandatory pre-slaughter stunning

17 December 2020

Today is a historic day for animals, as the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified that Member States are allowed to impose mandatory pre-slaughter stunning.

The case raised from the ban adopted by the Flemish Government (BE) in July 2019 which made stunning compulsory also for the production of meat by means of traditional Jewish and Muslim rites.

The verdict ruled that the EU Governments can legitimately introduce mandatory reversible stunning in the framework of Art. 26.2(c) of the Council Regulation 1099/2009 (Slaughter Regulation), with the aim to  improve animal welfare during those killing operations carried out in the context of religious rites.

It clearly states that the Slaughter Regulation “does not preclude Member States from imposing an obligation to stun animals prior to killing which also applies in the case of slaughter prescribed by religious rites” .

 This judgment considers the latest development on reversible stunning as a method that successfully balances the apparently competing values of religious freedom and animal welfare, and it concludes that “the measures contained in the (Flemish) decree allow a fair balance to be struck between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion”.

Eurogroup for Animals has followed the Court case closely and in October it released an opinion poll showing that EU citizens do not want to see animals slaughtered while fully conscious.

“It is now clear that our society doesn’t support animals to unduly suffer at the most critical time of their lives. Reversible stunning makes it possible to successfully balance the apparently competing values of religious freedom, and the concern for animal welfare under current EU law. Acceptance of pre-slaughter stunning by religious communities is increasing both in EU and non-EU countries. Now it’s time for the EU to make pre-slaughter stunning always mandatory in the next revision of the Slaughter Regulation” commented Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

Throughout the years, experts have raised concerns about the serious animal welfare implications of killing without pre-cut stunning (FVE, 2002; EFSA, 2004; BVA, 2020), as acknowledged by the Court itself, in another case (C-497/17).

The case will now go back to the Flanders’ constitutional court which will have to confirm and implement the CJEU’s ruling. Furthermore, the imminent revision of the Slaughter Regulation, as announced by the European Commission in the framework of the EU Farm to Fork strategy, gives the chance to further clarify the matter by making pre-slaughter stunning always compulsory and move towards a Europe that cares for animals.

ENDS

Notes

Opinion poll on slaughter 

Summary of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case C-336/19

Amicus Curiae on CJEU case

Advocate General opinion

Additional from WAV:

Electrical stunning

An electrical stunning device (applied to the head only) must pass sufficient current through the brain of the animal to interrupt normal brain activity and render the animal immediately unconscious. Electrical stunning (or electronarcosis) is reversible as it disrupts normal brain function for a short time only. An electrical stunning system requires the correct voltage, current and application time to be delivered for the stun to result in instantaneous and painless unconsciousness.

How are animals stunned prior to slaughter?
Farm Animals

India:”Not one slaughterhouse fulfilled the legal requirements”

In India, 1.3 billion people are affected by the curfew due to the corona pandemic. Also in Bantala, where millions of people work in the leather industry.

Leather is the skin of animals, which is chemically preserved through tanning. The chemicals come from China and, like in China, dogs are also to be slaughtered here for the leather industry.

Although China is the largest leather producer and exporter itself, it imports cheap leather from India.

In the end, it is no longer possible to determine where the leather really comes from

India is the largest producer of cheap leather in Asia.

From here, a great demand for finished leather and leather goods is exported to Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France. And for the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the leather comes from India.

Since India exports leather worth billions of euros, cows are simply caught on the streets, but so are dogs. Since everything has to happen very quickly, their legs are chopped off so that they can no longer run away. Then the skin is torn off their bodies while they are alive.

The fact that dogs and cats are also slaughtered for the leather industry in India was rather unknown, especially since dog and cat meat are prohibited. But after the police in Calcutta confiscated 20 tons of dog and cat meat, there is great fear that this meat will also be sold in restaurants.

Slaughtering cows is legal in Kerala and West Bengal. Therefore the animals are carted there.

Excruciating transport

At the markets, the animals are given liters of water before they are sold so that they look plump and can be sold for more money. Cows and calves that are far too young are also sold to traders, contrary to the law, and crammed onto overcrowded trucks to the slaughterhouse. This often leads to the animals falling on top of one another, trampling on one another, or injuring one another with their horns. Cows that collapse on a march are rubbed chili in the eyes, hit with sticks, or their tails are broken to get them to stand up again.

Ingrid Newkirk, President of Peta, followed one of the caravans of cattle stumbling towards Kerala.

“It’s a hideous journey,” she writes “To keep them moving, drivers beat the animal across their hip bones, where there is no fat to cushion the blows. The cows are not allowed to rest or drink. Many cows sink to their knees. Drivers beat them and twist their battered tails to force them to rise. If that doesn’t work they torment the cows into moving by rubbing hot chili peppers and tobacco into their eyes.”

 

Millions of cows are imported into Bangladesh from neighboring India every year. Although these are “sacred” in India, the workers there quickly forget and kill the cows on the street or in slaughterhouses – without prior anesthesia.

Continue reading “India:”Not one slaughterhouse fulfilled the legal requirements”” →

Farm Animals, General News

New Zealand: Demand the Government Now Follows the Court Victory and Has a Commissioner for Animals. All Links Below for Action.

WAV Comment:

17/12 – We have had the following in to us from SAFE, New Zealand. 

They have achieved major wins legally for animals over the last few weeks; now it is time to ramp up the pressure even more and get the government to act.

From SAFE:

Kia ora Mark

We achieved victory for mother pigs, now we need Government action 

Today SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) have published a full-page open letter in the New Zealand Herald, asking the Prime Minister to appoint a Commissioner for Animals. 

Last month, the High Court found that the Minister of Agriculture and his advisors from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) acted illegally when they failed to phase out farrowing crates and mating stalls for mother pigs. 

Now that the Government has accepted the Court’s decision, it is time to take animal welfare seriously. We need you to add your voice to ensure this happens. 

TAKE ACTION – Demand the government now has a commissioner for animals.

The High Court has ruled that the Minister of Agriculture and his advisors from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) acted illegally when they failed to phase out farrowing crates and mating stalls for mother pigs.  

The Court’s decision shows that NAWAC did not perform its legal duty well and was biased, consciously or unconsciously, towards industry interests. It also highlights that although New Zealand has some of the best animal welfare laws in the world, there are significant shortcomings with regulation and enforcement of the law. 

The Government has accepted the Court’s decision, and we are now asking for some essential changes, starting with the appointment of a Commissioner for Animals. 

A Commissioner for Animals should be appointed to oversee NAWAC, advocate for animals and ensure that NAWAC is accountable. 

The Government must now take the Court’s decision seriously and show respect to animals and our animal welfare laws. With the appointment of a commissioner for Animals, New Zealand could once again be a world leader in animal welfare.

ACT NOW:  Go to –

Demand a Commissioner for Animals and an independent NAWAC – SAFE | For Animals

Demand a Commissioner for Animals

Write a polite email to Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor telling them why you want a Commissioner for Animals.

Key points you can make:

  • Following the High Court’s decision on farrowing crates, it’s time for the Government to take animal welfare seriously and appoint a Commissioner for Animals.
  • New Zealand needs a Commissioner for Animals to oversee NAWAC, advocate for animals and ensure that NAWAC is accountable. 
  • New Zealand has some of the best animal welfare laws in the world, however we need to ensure that these laws are properly enforced.  
  • If New Zealand wants to consider itself a world leader on animal welfare, then it’s clear that NAWAC needs oversight from an independent commissioner that reports directly to Parliament. 
  • NAWAC must undergo structural and cultural changes to be able to exercise its legal duty, starting with a Commissioner for Animals to oversee NAWAC and ensure the needs of animals are met.   

Thanks – it time for action and demands to be met;

WAV.

Farm Animals, General News

Scottish Salmon Farming Exposed – A Viva ! Investigation.

Alarming scenes captured at Scottish salmon farms supplying Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and M&S reveal putrid conditions that lead to invasions of parasitic sea lice. Painful non-medicinal lice management systems that breach basic animal welfare standards on the treatment of farmed animals were also filmed – one of which was operating in a designated Special Area of Conservation and Marine Protected Area famous for its rare flame shell bed.

Around 70 per cent of Scottish salmon farms are RSPCA Assured, while the remainder conform to other supposedly ‘high welfare’ certification schemes such as Best Aquaculture Practices, Marin Trust, GGN Certified Aquaculture and GlobalG.A.P.

More images from the investigation can also be publicly viewed on Flickr.

Promoted as a ‘sustainable’ solution to overfishing, modern aquaculture confines fish in fetid cages by their thousands, creating a breeding ground for disease and causing widespread suffering.

Whilst adult wild salmon are well adapted to coping with the odd sea louse – a parasite that naturally occurs in the sea – the intensification of salmon farming has led to fundamental changes in the density and occurrence of lice in coastal waters. Although one or two lice per salmon may not sound like a real threat, when you multiply that by hundreds of thousands within a sea cage, the consequences are catastrophic.

The lice reproduce rampantly, feeding on skin, mucus and blood, which produces white ‘death crowns’ of exposed flesh on the salmon. Clearly suffering, the infected fish are regularly seen jumping up to 30 centimetres in the air and skimming along the water surface with their tails in attempts to dislodge the bugs. Large numbers of these lice can be devastating, causing skin lesions, loss of scales, secondary infection and ultimately death.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, huge numbers of juvenile sea lice also escape to the local marine environment, causing significant damage to wild salmon and sea trout smolts, whose fragile skin is not yet adapted to coping with parasites on this level.

In response to the invasion of sea lice, the aquaculture industry breeds millions of lumpfish ‘cleaners’ that feed on sea lice, in futile endeavours to control the outbreaks. Other techniques include chemical washes or mechanical treatments such as hydrolicers and thermolicers.

Hydrolicers

During a hydrolice treatment, fish are drawn into a ‘washing machine’ type device through two lines by live fish pumps. Each system line includes a fish counter, two hydrolicer combi units, fish pumps, water separating units and a filtration system to ensure that all the lice can be removed from the water and destroyed.

As the salmon pass through the system, they are sprayed with freshwater jets to dislodge lice that are not adapted to non-seawater conditions. Eye damage, increased stress levels and death are all consequences of the process.

According to the Scottish Government, fish farms have reported killing 269,674 salmon in hydrolicers between 2016 and 2019. That’s an average of 67,418 a year.

Thermolicers

Like with hydrolicer treatments, salmon are herded and pumped up from the sea pen through a tube. Exiting the tubes the fish pass through a tank of warm water, before being ejecting back out into the opposite side of the sea cage. The water is heated up to 34 degrees, which can be 20 degrees above the seawater temperature. It takes around 25-30 seconds for the fish to pass through the entire ‘processing loop’.

Sea lice are sensitive to sudden changes in water temperature and so die and fall off once the salmon hit the heated water. They are then collected and destroyed.

Recent scientific research has found that salmon exposed to water temperatures above 28 degrees centigrade behaved as if they were in pain. Marine and veterinary researchers in Norway observed fish swimming faster, crashing into tank walls and shaking their heads.

According to the Scottish Government, fish farms have reported killing 177,601 salmon in thermolicers between 2016 and 2019. That’s an average of 44,400 a year.

“In my expert opinion and based upon scientific studies from other laboratories, [hydrolicers and thermolicers] contravene the FAWC five freedoms, the RSPCA (2018) welfare standards for farmed Atlantic salmon and the Animal Welfare Act (2006) resulting in harm and poor welfare and should not be employed within the Atlantic salmon farming industry.”

– Dr Lynne Sneddon (Senior Academic, University of Gothenburg)

Share our investigation graphics

Download one of the graphics below and share with the following text:

Putrid conditions and severe overcrowding on Scottish salmon farms lead to parasitic sea lice invasions that kill fish and destroy the surrounding environment. End Factory Farming, Before It Ends Us.

  viva.org.uk/scottish-salmon

#EndFactoryFarming #EFF

Investigation: Scottish Salmon | Viva! – The Vegan Charity

Farm Animals

Down isn’t a by-product – it’s a bloody business

Down can be obtained:

a) from plucked animals that have already been slaughtered (dead plucked) or
b) from the much more brutal live plucking

Most down come from plucking, in which the down and feathers are torn from the animals’ skin during their lifetime. Sometimes this is even done automatically.
Live plucking is banned in Germany and the EU but most of the down used in Germany comes from China, Hungary, and Poland, where plucking by living things is common.

“Plucking troops”– hired for this alone- often injure the animals when they ruthlessly pluck live chords, especially when the feather of the down is still immature, which tears and tears the skin during plucking.
Larger wounds are sutured immediately and broken wings are only sparsely tied without anesthesia.

Plucking live birds is prohibited in the EU – unless the animals lose their down on their own when changing their feathers.
During this time they are allowed to strip them from their plumage (“feather change-molting”).

In many farms, this means that the plumage of the entire herd is plucked under the pretext of molting – even if the animals do not all change feathers at the same time, of course.

Most of the down comes from Asia (80% from China), where it is common to tear the feathers out of birds while they are alive. In Europe, a lot of down comes from Hungary and Poland

So far there are no independent certificates or seals that exclude live-plucking from down products. The existing seals and certificates were introduced by the down industry itself to reassure customers.

Since the retail and production chains for down are very opaque and there are hardly any controls, a buyer can never be sure whether the down of a product comes from live-plucked birds or whether geese and ducks were killed to get their feathers.

And with the purchase of down products, the cruel foie gras industry is also supported, because many foie gras farms benefit not only from the production of foie gras but also from the sale of the feathers of ducks and geese.

German bed manufacturers “officially” condemn live-plucking but let it happen from the back door.

A few years ago a “down dealer” from “Report Mainz” shot a false sales pitch with a leading German bed manufacturer on video.
The footage suggests that bed makers are actually still interested in plucking live animals.
The managing director announced the following to the alleged “Downtrader” – “Report Mainz” reports:

“Officially, I only buy from” Change Feathers “. Live plucking is never official. That is nonsense. We know that it has to be plucked. But under no circumstances can I buy it officially. If someone asks, just tell them it’s from “change feathers”. Who can check this? “(= That is why we reject the product” Down “in general and without compromise).

Not only “normal” abattoirs that are cruel to animals are supported with the purchase of down, but also the foie gras industry in particular.
Apart from the fact that most of the animals had to live in terrible conditions before they were slaughtered.

Live plucking for economy

The practice of live-plucking is banned in the EU (except when the geese are on feather change). Nevertheless, it has been proven several times in Hungarian companies in recent years. Live plucking seems to be particularly widespread in China, where a large part of the down sold in this country comes from.

Stopfmast und Lebendrupf: Daunen sind kein Nebenprodukt

And I mean…Every year around 10,000 tons of down and feathers are imported to Germany, mainly from Poland, China, and Hungary. Live plucking has a long tradition in Hungary and around 300,000 animals are plucked every year.

During live-plucking, the geese’s feathers are pulled out while they are still alive.
That hurts a lot, and it’s animal cruelty
For the poultry industry, this practice is many times more lucrative than plucking after slaughter, as an animal can be plucked four to seven times until it dies before it is slaughtered.

The fact that the geese are allowed to pluck when their feathers fall on their own does not mean that this procedure is followed consistently because this time is difficult to determine and individually from animal to animal. It is unlikely that an institution can determine this for each individual bird.

We regard this animal product in the same way as milk, leather, fur, or meat because it is also associated with painful origins.

Any consumer with a basic conscience and brain has to boycott this product; There are great variants of down that warm and protect just as well.

This is the only way we can damage the bloody down-industry and significantly reduce the suffering of these animals

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

EU: The EU Commission Publishes its Progress Report – Is There Any ? – Not With Live Animal Exports !

WAV Comment:  Click on the ‘full report’ at the end and be impressed with all the charts and information.

Then click on the following Netherlands (EU): Dutch cattle documented going for slaughter in Lebanon and Libya – EU Shambles As Always. – World Animals Voice  – and read our comment if you wish.

The EU talks the talk; is very good at producing endless reams of reports and paperwork; charts etc; but the reality is it never enforces what is says it is going to enforce.   Tell the young Dutch cattle exported to Lebanon and Libya that the EU is good at enforcing the rules.

Antimicrobial resistance

AMR : Commission publishes its progress report on the EU’s Action Plan

Today, the European Commission published its 5th progress report on the implementation of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance, which was adopted in June 2017. The key objectives of this plan are built on three main pillars: making the EU a best practice region; boosting research, development and innovation as well as shaping the global agenda. Addressing AMR through a One Health approach is also a priority for this Commission, as flagged in Commissioner Kyriakides’ Mission letter in November 2019.

The progress report shows that a number of AMR initiatives have been continued or put in place in recent months. For example, the Commission has adopted in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy a target aiming to reduce by 50% the overall EU sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture by 2030. This objective will be supported by the implementation of the recent Regulations on Veterinary Medicinal Products and on Medicated Feed for which implemented and delegated acts are currently being drafted.

Another of the main updates of the Action Plan includes the new Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1729 on the monitoring and reporting of AMR in zoonotic and commensal bacteria. The recently adopted Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe also flagged the fight against AMR as a key objective. The next progress report is planned to be published in mid 2021.

Full report

Regards Mark – 2 of the very best – Enjoy !

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Netherlands (EU): Dutch cattle documented going for slaughter in Lebanon and Libya – EU Shambles As Always.

WAV Comment:  The UK has now left the EU and is currently undertaking a consultation with overwhelming support to ban all live exports.  EU member states are not allowed to ban the trade despite the wishes of most EU citizens.  Does then dog wag the tail or the tail wag the dog ? – does anyone learn that all the time they continue to be in the EU, this abuse will go on ?

How many years have we sat and watched all this ? – that the EU is not enforcing its own regulations. And how many more years are Europeans still going to be shown and told this ? – the UK left the EU a year ago – now it is taking action for a ban. Learn European nations – learn !! – if the EU allows you to that is !

Dutch cattle documented going for slaughter in Lebanon and Libya

11 December 2020

Animals International

New investigation conducted by Eyes on Animals – in collaboration with Eurogroup for Animals’ members Animals International, Animal Welfare Foundation and Welfarm – exposes the fate of Dutch cattle exported out of the country’s territories.

Footage shows Dutch males bovines – born on dairy farms in Dwengeloo and Friesland – in a slaughterhouse in Beirut: animals were tied up, forced to fall down, and then had their necks sliced open, back and forth, with a knife. Moreover, this summer, Dutch cattle have been seen while loaded onto a vessel at the port of Cartagena (Spain) heading to Libya for slaughter.

Despite the good will of the Netherlands in not approving extra-EU export of its animals for slaughter, the export towards other Member States often means that these Dutch animals end up in non-EU abattoirs. 

Slaughter conditions in Lebanon and Libya are known to be brutal. After having been transported for many days, very often animals arriving in the non-EU port, are in such bad condition that they cannot walk anymore. They clearly become unfit to continue their journey. However, instead of being euthanized, they are hoisted alive via a chain tied to one leg to be unloaded by the vessel. Once in the abattoirs, animals are chased, jumped on, have their tendons slit and eyes poked in order to keep them to the ground, chain them, and then cut their throats while fully conscious and fully sensitive to pain.

Eurogroup for Animals is urging the European Commission to ban any export of live animals from the EU to non-EU countries and to favour the slaughtering of animals close to the place where they are born.

Read more at source

Eyes for Animals