This really is an important and exciting time for whale and dolphin conservation and protection. In the picture above, you can see Little White and Little Grey, the two beluga whales who will be the first to come to our new Beluga Whale Sanctuary. And in the photo below, you’ll see the plane that will take them there.
Above – The Cargolux 747 specially prepared with whale transport logo.
This project is pivotal, not only because it will give Little White and Little Grey a new, happier life in the ocean, but because if successful, it will prove that it can be done and offer hope for other captive whales and dolphins. I truly hope that the work we are doing now with the SEA LIFE Trust marks the beginning of the end for whale and dolphin captivity.
Thank you as always for your support – we wouldn’t be here without you.
On behalf of all at WDC,
Julia Pix
Find out a lot more about the Icelandic sanctuary being made ready for the whales at:
WAV Comment – the pictures in this article are not from the column written by Mr Walkom – they are taken from our own archives. Not only does Canada murder seals and try to blame them for taking humans fish stocks, but it seems they don’t really have a clue about the welfare of animals in transport either !
In Canada, the rules for transporting animals are already weak. Pigs can be trucked for up to 36 hours without food or water. For cattle, the number is 52 hours. Animals can be shipped in the freezing cold or broiling sun — as long as they do not suffer “undue exposure” to the elements (whatever that means).18 Sep 2018
Canada’s rules for transporting animals are weak — but they’re also not rigorously enforced
In Canada, the rules for transporting animals are already weak. Pigs can be trucked for up to 36 hours without food or water. For cattle, the number is 52 hours.
Animals can be shipped in the freezing cold or broiling sun — as long as they do not suffer “undue exposure” to the elements (whatever that means).
But inspection reports released to the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals has revealed another glaring inadequacy: In much of Canada, including Ontario, the rules are not rigorously enforced.
To be more specific, in 2016 and 2017 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted spot inspections of trucks carrying animals in only five provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Exactly why Ontario and other provinces were exempted from these spot checks remains unclear. A CFIA spokesperson said only that the agency’s “highway and border inspections are conducted pending the availability of law enforcement partners and appropriate weather conditions.”
The reports, released to the animal welfare coalition by the CFIA under access-to-information laws and passed on to the Star, show that the federal agency conducted 269 highway inspections over the two-year period, mainly in Saskatchewan.
In virtually all of those inspections, the truckers were ultimately found to be in compliance with CFIA regulations — even when, initially, they weren’t.
In December 2017, for instance, an unheated truck containing 45 cows in -20C weather was stopped by a CFIA inspector in Saskatchewan. The inspector wrote that he initially deemed the transport inadequate but changed his mind after the trucker agreed to put some boards along the sides of the vehicle and after he allowed his cattle to rest for five hours in a warm barn.
In February 2016, another truck transporting 26 horses to a slaughterhouse was stopped for inspection in Saskatchewan. The inspector found that one of the horses appeared too sick to get up — a regulatory no-no.
So he had the trucker unload his vehicle until the downed horse could struggle to its feet. The inspector then okayed the transport as compliant with the law and let the truck continue on.
The reports show that the CFIA became most engaged when the animals involved were slated for export. In June 2017, for instance, a truck containing 2,525 Canadian baby piglets was turned back at the U.S. border.
The Americans found the piglets were dirty and overcrowded. Seven had died.
This caused much consternation on the Canadian side. One of the problems, according to CFIA emails, was that for sanitary reasons the piglets could not be returned to the farm they came from. If the U.S. remained adamant, there was nowhere for them to go.
Eventually, however, the Americans relented and let the truck in. By the time it had reached its final destination in Iowa, eight more piglets were dead.
Similarly, in May 2016, 21 cattle were refused entry by the U.S. One calf was lame and one steer missing its ear tag. The trucker was persuaded by CFIA officials to let his cattle have food, water and a vet check. He then reloaded his trailer with all but the suspect calf and steer and made his way back to the border where, this time, he was allowed entry.
Later that month, another inspector found a dead pig in a load of 900 slated for export to the U.S. Nonetheless, he ruled that the other 899 were in compliance with regulations.
In November 2016, a truckload of 30 boars was refused entry into the U.S. The problem: two of the boars were dead. The CFIA reports are silent on what happened to the other 28.
Not all of the reports are negative. Many of the spot inspections — particularly those related to valuable show or breeding animals — indicate that some care was taken by truckers transporting them.
And at least, in those cases, federal agents were making inspections. In Ontario, they weren’t.
Animal protection action of the association against animal factories – VgT Austria
At dawn on Tuesday morning (Feb. 12),15 animal welfare activists gathered at the parking lot on which the livestock truck was parked. After sighting the animals, the thirsty pigs were supplied with water by the activists. Also documented was missing litter. The poor animals had to stand for hours on hard, ice-cold metal and lie.
Suddenly, however, the driver and business leader appeared.
The animal rights activists contacted the police to determine the illegality of the transport. The police unfortunately took almost an hour to record the data.
Martin Balluch, the chairman of the association tells:
We had tracked the illegal animal transport to the slaughterhouse. There the police arrived. But instead of controlling the van, they claimed we were holding an unlisted demo. Even if, that would not be a problem.
It is clearly regulated by law that non-indicated meetings may be held as long as they do not jeopardize public safety.
Nevertheless, the police started arresting us. Of the 15 assets, 13 were running. I stayed there, told the police my name and said I was responsible for everything. After a phone call with the district captain, I was arrested, as was the other person who had stayed behind. Another was picked up in the village. The police came with 7 (!) Police vehicles and also seized 2 banners and 4 posters.
“I have not experienced anything like this before” ( Martin Balluch).
After about 3 hours, the detainees who were taken to the police station were released.
We will, on the other hand, file a complaint.
Background
Because it is organizationally more convenient, a livestock truck from a Lower Austrian company goes to porkers every Monday evening to load animals. The immediate destination is not the slaughterhouse, but a parking lot. There are about 200 pigs crammed together in a confined space then simply turned off, also without litter and without water. The pigs were parked at 9pm on the night before and then left to their own fate! The last night they experienced, they froze and scared themselves in this parking lot!
The driver drives home and goes to sleep!!
The pigs scream all night long. Only in the morning does he come back and the completely exhausted animals continue their journey to the slaughterhouse. This scenario is repeated week after week, according to witnesses for weeks, maybe for years! Just last summer the VGT uncovered a similar case in Styria (State in the south of Austria)
My comment:“When the detection of crimes is treated as a committed crime, we are ruled by criminals”(Edward Snowden)
It is a crime that animals are exploited, imprisoned, tortured and finally killed, and those who want to prevent this crime be punished. The impact of the industries that exploit animals is frightening if they can manipulate the executive, judiciary, and legislature only to protect their financial interests.
People can fight for their freedom, animals can not. That is the big difference between all liberation movements in relation to humans and the liberation of animals. The system wants to put us off and scare us. It wants to prescribe us, as we have to demonstrate: So that the rulers can go on undisturbed as before. How should activists deal with the danger of going to jail for their just protest?
We will continue to fight against the state repression of our legitimate fight for animal rights, and we will fight harder than ever.The governments and the meat mafia are scared of us because they know what we can achieve by showing the world what crime is doing behind their closed doors.
If we work together, even with other powerful civil rights movements, if we actively fight for the animals, then we can achieve something.
Because if we do not all fight together, no one can do anything alone.
The veterinary office in Landshut (Bavaria, Germany) does not want to authorize animal transports to far away countries, because the animals are threatened with torment in some regions.A breed society wants to sue against the decision!!!
Time and again, animals are transported across Europe in vans over thousands of miles. Often in unworthy conditions. In addition – especially in some Asian countries – brutal battles are waiting for them. The journal “Official Veterinary Service and Food Control” says in one article that “it is very common practices that cause the animals to experience significant and prolonged pain or suffering before they die (bondage, a grip in the eyes, etc.)”.
The veterinary office Landshut (Bavaria) does not want to continue that. District Administrator Peter Dreier wants to put a stop to these livestock transports.
“For me it is animal cruelty, when cattle from our region are transported several thousand kilometers, to be then slaughtered in countries where there is no animal welfare.” Peter Dreier, district administrator (Landshut, Bavaria).
The problem is not new: cattle and cows kept in trucks are transported for days, sometimes with stifling heat, without enough water. From Germany, with long-distance destinations Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Turkey and Uzbekistan.“I can no longer personally support this,” says District Administrator Peter Dreier.
What he specifically addresses is the transport of a pregnant cow about 5,000 kilometers to Uzbekistan. The veterinary office of Landshut had previously prohibited this export.
For a pregnant cow to expect the multi-day trip to the Central Asian country, was – so the reason – animal cruelty.The Veterinary Office will not agree to these transports in the future.That means: the vet rejects the “certificate”. This “certificate” is necessary to let animals from the farm ever to the cattle trading center. Only at the direction of the competent ministry are pre-certificates issued in these cases, according to the district office.
Thus, Dreier has taken on a responsibility, that actually belongs to the Environment Minister Bayers Thorsten Glauber (FW).
“The approval of animal transports is always an isolated decision of the competent district administrative authority,” writes the ministry on. “Animal welfare is a high good that enjoys constitutional status in Bavaria,” it says in a statement by the ministry.
In the future, the veterinary office on the Landshut district administration wants to deny its consent to such transports in principle, as the media continue to report.
According to it, transports to countries that are thousands of miles away or were known for allegations of animal cruelty, be denied.
This attitude in Landshut could reopen the debate on animal transports from Germany. For so far, such exports are legal with the appropriate permits – but now veterinarians refuse just this.
The breeding association Mühldorf (Bavaria) wants to take legal action against it
Josef Frank from the breeding association Mühldorf, over which the cow should be exported, can not understand this decision. He threatens with legal action. “If the requirements for export are met, this certificate would have to be issued,” said Frank to Bavarian Broadcasting. In addition, “the animal is a breeding animal and not a slaughter animal” (!!!) , so said Josef Frank.
My comment: A few years ago there was a similar case: In the district of Oberallgäu (Bavaria), a veterinarian woman had refused a transport to Uzbekistan. The case has been submitted to the European Court of Justice. In 2015, there was a groundbreaking ruling: animal welfare does not end at the external borders of the EU.
For the official veterinarians who authorize a transport of animals to such countries (…), the question arises whether they must be punished for animal cruelty.
This case is all the more important because it could join other counties Landshut and deny approvals for the transport of cattle and cows in the future, if necessary, as well.
This is what happens to farmed animals when they’re transported in freezing conditions.
These pigs have literally froze to slaughterhouse truck and need to be cut apart piece by piece in order to be removed.
These are the victims of the animal farming industry. This is happening in North America.
The meat mafia, the truck driver, the average person sees in these pictures no more animals.
They see that a product has collapsed due to extreme weather conditions. The only question is how cleaners can cleanse the body.
No one cares that sentient beings were killed by negligence and sent to their deaths.
The more consumers become desensitized to this disease, the more normal, natural, and unavoidable the crime appears to be. Therefore, the corrupt media are constantly busy with the consequences of the cold for the people.
The business has to run, and such damages lead to heavy losses in the cash register.
The band never stops on the Dachaus of this world.
On the truck, in the slaughterhouse, in the farms … The death gang never stops.
Thanks to the dull moral of those, who tomorrow will eat the frozen remains of the tortured corpses without guilty conscience.
Today, 1/2/19 is a day of great sadness for all of us who have been involved with live animal exports in the UK. Today marks the day when in 1995 our beloved Jill was crushed to death under the wheels of a livestock transporter carrying live calves into Coventry Airport for them to be flown to Europe and the crate systems that existed at the time – 1995.
On 1 February 1995, Phipps was one of 35 protesters at Coventry Airport in Baginton, protesting at the export of live calves to Amsterdam for distribution across Europe. Ten protesters broke through police lines and were trying to bring the lorry to a halt by sitting in the road or chaining themselves to it when Phipps was crushed beneath the lorry’s wheels; her fatal injuries included a broken spine.
She died on the way to the hospital accompanied by her brother Zab.[2] Phipps’ death received a large amount of publicity, being brought up at Prime Minister’s question time in the House of Commons.[1]
Jill was killed at the Coventry protests; Veal calf exports from Coventry Airport ended months later, when the aviation firm belonging to the pilot responsible for the veal flights, Christopher Barrett-Jolly, went bankrupt following accusations of running guns from Slovakia to Sudan in breach of EU rules.
In 2002 he was charged with smuggling 271 kg of cocaine worth £22 Million from Jamaica into Southend airport in Essex, England. He was given a 20 year prison sentence. Read more:
All these years (24 to be exact) on after Jill’s death fighting for animals; ceremonies and tributes are still held at this time to remember the ‘warrior of the rainbow’ who simply wanted the world to be a better place, and for animals to be respected in parallel to the human race.
Give a minute please to remember Jill today and what she died fighting for.
Even today; I still personally get upset a the loss of this beautiful person – there is no justice ! – I have seen, heard and smelt the calf export transporters – they bring shame to us all.
1/2/19 – Still Scottish farmers try to export live calves through England to Europe !
Even today (1/2/19) , this very morning; Scottish farmers intended to send their male calves; and unwanted ‘by product’ of the dairy industry, from Ramsgate port in England, to their deaths in Europe for meat eaters. Fortunately, todays sailing has been cancelled due to snow and bad weather conditions between Scotland and Ramsgate here in Kent on the SE coast of England, my home county. As Rab says in the fil, the common link throughout is one of mothers being separated from their children – dairy cows crying for their baby calves; and Nancy Phipps being separated from her daughter Jill who was killed at the protests.
Thank You
Mark.
1/2/19 Ramsgate sailing Update:
The proposed sailing of the Joline today has been cancelled due to the weather conditions for loading in Scotland. Thank you to all the efforts of our supporters who have made this happen.
WE ARE STILL HOLDING THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JILL PHIPPS AT RAMSGATE TODAY 12 TILL 2PM AND KEITH TAYLOR MEP IS STILL COMING SO YOU CAN QUESTION THE GREENS POLICY;
We are still holding the service at Dover tomorrow (2/2/19) 12 till 3pm.
THE SHIP IS STILL COMING ACROSS, IT SET OFF 30 MINUTES AGO AND IT IS TO STAND IN RAMSGATE UNTIL EITHER SUNDAY, WHEN THE EXPORTERS WANT TO SAIL OR MONDAY WHICH THE POLICE WOULD PREFER
WE WILL LET YOU KNOW AS WE NEED TO SEE THESE CALVES WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SEVERAL DAYS NOW
For animals exported from Chile to China and the Middle East, the voyage is pure torture.
Living in filth and faeces, the animals endure excruciating heat, no veterinarian care and overcrowding that crushes them to death. Sick animals may be cruelly thrown overboard into the sea while still alive and conscious.
More than 60,000 cows, pigs and other animals have endured such live export from 2014 to 2017. Those who survived were sent to countries with little to no animal welfare laws; once off the boat, they faced brutally inhumane transport and slaughter for consumption or even sacrifices.
But there is new hope.Chilean Senator Guido Girardi, along with the nonprofit organizations ProAnimal of Chile and Animals International of Australia, plan to propose a law to the National Congress of Chile banning live animal exports by sea.
Despite evidence and international public outcry, governments worldwide continue to fail to ban live exports and refuse to protect these helpless animals from the torture they endure.
But we cannot give up; the animals need us to speak up for them now more than ever.
With your signature, you can support legislation to save thousands of animals from the horrible suffering endured during live exports, and help ensure the current efforts are not made in vain.
Please sign this petition to show Senator Guido Girardi your support of ending live animal exports, and encourage him to keep up the fight until the cruel practice has ended.
All photographs in this post are for educational reference only. No copyright infringement is intended and no financial gain made by WAV rom the showing of these images.
Religious texts set down traditional methods of slaughter; simply using a knife to kill the animal. The right to continue using these methods is strongly contested between members of the Jewish and Muslim faiths and animal rights / welfare activists.
Opponents of the practice feel that animals should be stunned before slaughter – stunning; which is a standard industry practice worldwide – if undertaken properly, this makes animals unconscious and reduces the pain as they are cut (stuck / sticking) and bled to death. We say ‘if undertaken properly’; because there is a lot of evidence and undercover footage in existence which shows that in the ‘stun usage’ environment; many animals are not being stunned correctly or for long enough; thus regaining consciousness before their throats are cut.
However, there is no definitive scientific evidence that an animal does not feel pain whilst unconscious. Indeed, a counter argument put forward by ritual slaughter advocates is that stunning may only stop an animal from displaying pain.
While the Jews accept absolutely no stunning, some Muslims have accepted it as long as it can be shown that the animal could be returned to normal living consciousness.
EU law requires animals for the food chain to be stunned (made unconscious) prior to killing, so that death should be ‘painless’. Is any slaughter ‘painless’ we ask ?
Saying this, there are within the EU exceptions to stunning prior to slaughter for religious reasons, notably for Shechita (the Jewish method of killing animals for food – Kosher meat) and Muslim Halal. The Muslim and Jewish communities, totalling nearly 25% of the world population, have similar philosophies in this regard.
The recommended position which a captive bolt gun should be located on cattle’s head.
Stunning tongs deliver an electric charge. They must be positioned either side of the head to be effective.
Conventional Slaughter
Animals are generally made unconscious by stunning and then killed by cutting their main blood vessels; the carotid arteries in the neck.
Just prior to slaughter, individual animals are supposed to be separated as they are walked into a stunning box. Within seconds an operator stuns the animal. Separation is not as common as the industry would like people to think.
There are three different methods of stunning, each used for specific animals.
Captive bolt: a gun-like device delivers a concussive blow to the skull. Usually used for adult cattle and sometimes sheep and calves,
Electrical: A current is applied across a sheep’s (or sometimes cattle’s) brain allegedly rendering it senseless. Electrical stunning is undertaken using ‘tongs’ held by the slaughterman. It is essential that to produce the required result, the tongs are positioned correctly on the animals head. Again; a lot of video evidence shows that tongs are either positioned incorrectly in the first place; and / or they are not held in position for long enough time to render the animal unconscious.
There is very much a risk that some cattle, pigs and sheep may not be stunned effectively, causing them to regain consciousness before they die from blood loss during sticking Therefore, for stunning to be effective it is vital that:
the stunning equipment such as tongs are working properly – they should be regularly checked and maintained
the stunning equipment is positioned correctly on the animal’s head/head and back. In large processing facilities; this is not always correctly undertaken.
during electrical stunning, enough current is applied for a long enough period
during captive bolt stunning, the correct charge cartridge is used to fire the captive bolt
the time between stunning and sticking (cutting) is not too long to prevent an animal regaining consciousness
A sheep is electrically stunned using tongs.
Waterbath: Used for the killing of chickens. Birds are hung by their feet in metal holders (shackles) on a moving belt and their heads are supposed to be dipped into electrified water.
Above and Below – Chickens hanging on shackles.
The problems involved with the stunning of poultry are complex. Welfare concerns include the following:
the shackling of live birds – which is painful.
Waterbathing can result in some birds raising their heads and subsequently missing the water bath stunner.
Can result in the birds receiving painful pre-stun shocks as they enter the stunner.
Can result in an insufficient electrical current flowing through the bird’s body to ensure the bird is unconscious (effectively stunned).
Can be designed so birds passing through an automatic neck cutter only receive a single cut to the neck, which reduces the rate of blood loss.
Can result in birds accidentally missing the automatic neck cutter. If these birds are not noticed by the slaughter person, they may still be alive when entering the scalding tank – a tank of boiling water that helps to loosen the feathers prior to plucking.
Chickens going through the scalding tank.
Above and below – A pig still alive within the scalding tank.
Gas: carbon dioxide or other inert gases are used, mainly for poultry; but also for pigs.
Stunning with CO2 gas is in our opinion terrible, but it offers some benefits over electric stunning including the ability to stun animals in groups, with minimal restraint, less handling, and therefore potentially less stress before stunning. There is also less reliance on the skills of the people operating the equipment.
However, recent studies have revealed a number of welfare issues with CO2 stunning. These include:
the gas is very unpleasant for pigs (who are highly aversive animals)
there is variability between individual pigs’ responses to CO2
pigs are not rendered unconscious immediately
high concentrations of CO2 gas can cause significant pain and distress to pigs when inhaled (by causing acute respiratory distress)
Studies of pigs’ behaviour have found that most pigs will avoid high concentrations of CO2 gas if possible, and that almost 90% of pigs preferred to go without water for 72 hours than experience exposure to CO2 gas.
Further research is urgently needed to develop stunning systems which retain the benefits of CO2 stunning while minimising the disadvantages. Evidence suggests that potential alternatives to be investigated may include:
non-aversive (not unpleasant and do not cause pain) gas mixtures such as argon, nitrogen, or nitrous oxide
a combination of argon with CO2
anaesthesia with non-aversive gases, followed by killing by CO2 or electrical methods
genetic selection for pigs which do not find CO2 to be painful.
The RSPCA (in the UK) recommends that stunning/killing pigs with high concentrations of CO2 should be phased out quickly, and replaced with a more humane alternative. The development of more humane gas mixtures and suitable equipment should be urgently prioritised.
Pigs being killed by the use of CO2.
Bleeding out comes from having at least both carotid arteries in the animal’s neck severed (“sticking”) to ensure maximum blood loss.
Cutting actions required
In poultry and sheep the throat is cut behind the jaw.
The knife cut for chicken cuts muscle, trachea, oesophagus, carotid arteries, jugular veins and major nerves.
For cattle, the skin is opened at the neck through a 30cm longitudinal cut. A clean knife is then used and inserted at a 45° angle to cut the jugular and carotid blood vessels.
Slaughtered Cattle hung and bleeding out.
According to the ‘system’, the knife should be ‘very sharp’, without blemishes or damage and be at least double the width of the neck. It should be used in a fast, aggressive cut across the throat with the least number of strokes in order to bring about immediate and massive blood loss.
The animals are then inverted, having been shackled by a back leg – attached using a metal fastener – just after stunning (except poultry which are already inverted), to allow the blood to drain away faster.
Religious
Halal slaughter
For cattle there was no stunning in Italy and most Belgian and French slaughterhouses, unlike in Germany and the UK. Cattle were restrained upright in Italy, the UK and 80% of abattoirs in Belgium, but turned on their back in a pen in Spain. The most common stunning method was the penetrating captive bolt.
For sheep, there was no stunning in Belgian, Dutch and most of the Italian, French and Spanish abattoirs surveyed, whereas stunning was the most common practice in the UK and Germany. The animals were upright in the UK, on their sides in Belgium, France and Italy and mainly hoisted in Spain. The most common stunning method was head-only electrical stunning,
Sheep hoisted for Halal slaughter.
Poultry were not stunned in Italian abattoirs surveyed, but stunned in Germany, Spain and the UK. The stunning method used was the waterbath.
Shechita slaughter
Data from French, Italian, Spanish and UK abattoirs showed that no stunning (pre- or post-cut) was used. For cattle, slaughter was in the upright position in Italy and the UK and with animals on their backs and restrained in Spain and France. For animals such as sheep, they were turned on their sides in the UK, but hoisted in Italy.
Of importance for any slaughtering, but more so for Halal and even more for Shechita, is secure restraining. This particularly relates to the head and neck since movement results in a poor cut, slowing death, reducing meat quality and possibly retaining blood and ‘spoiling’ meat.
Religious customs
Muslim
The Qur’an sets out the rules with respect to animals and slaughter and teaches that animals should be well treated:
Restraining equipment should be comfortable for the animal, whatever ‘comfortable’ is for an animal about to die !
Invoking the name of Allah immediately before the slaughter is either compulsory or highly encouraged, although (in the UK) it is known that the name of Allah is simply continuously played via a tape during the daily process.
The cut must sever at least three of the animal’s trachea, oesophagus and the two blood vessels on either side of the throat,
Multiple acts of slaughter on one animal are allegedly prohibited, so the knife must not be lifted off the animal during the act of slaughter: a single continuous back and forth motion is required, and animals should not be shackled and hoisted before bleeding, and further actions on the carcass must wait until there are no more signs of life.
It has been claimed that the Qur’an contains nothing forbidding the consumption of stunned animals. However, there is no single authoritative body that can definitively rule as to the Muslim law on the issue of stunning before slaughter. Some Muslim authorities have approved stunning so long as the animal can regain consciousness and eat within five minutes.
Jewish
Jewish rules are set out in the Talmud and Midrash:
Shechita slaughter, necessary for orthodox Jews, always requires no pre-stunning. This reflects a need for animals to be healthy and without injury at the time of slaughter. No pre-stunning for the Shechita method has yet been accepted,
Appropriate animals must only be slaughtered by a specially trained person, and traditionally slaughter has been with the animal on its back, but an upright position has been approved.
Animal suffering
Correctly performed conventional slaughter procedures (stun then cut) results in animals rapidly becoming unconscious, and remaining so during cutting, until their death by bleeding out.
However, animals can feel stress when being prepared for slaughter, for example during restraining, and in the case of poultry there are concerns about their shackling before stunning.
In large, high-volume slaughterhouses with a focus on fast, cost-effective throughput; some personnel can be poorly trained and animal welfare regulations simply ignored, with low levels of inspection. Religious slaughter brings extra challenges to these abattoirs since it requires more attention in animal handling, specialised equipment, greater slaughtering skill and overall the process is slower.
In practice, animals may suffer pain, a slower death and stress through procedures in religious slaughter not being carried out as laid down:
A sheep is slaughtered on the street during Muslim Eid.
Stunning procedures in ‘normal’ slaughter procedures are also not always performed correctly,
During slaughter, operator and general factory competence is very important,
A lack of experience or skill may mean that more than the required one or two movements of the arm for cutting. There have been reports of 3.2 cuts being required for Jewish and 5.2 for Halal slaughter.
Death for the animal takes longer where arteries were not correctly severed (generally reported as occurring for one out of ten animals).
Pain
The determination of the exact point; if any; when an animal becomes insensible to pain is the key animal-welfare issue. Though it is clear that animals do not lose sensitivity to pain immediately on stunning, the state of consciousness of an animal and its level of insensibility cannot be quantitatively measured.
One side argues that although science cannot provide a definitive position no-stunning slaughter is more likely to cause pain given the many nerve receptors in the neck and time taken to bleed whilst the animal is not unconscious.
However, some counter arguments put forward are that stunning:
may only paralyse an animal, preventing it from displaying pain,
Does not always work – due to operational problems, and
May be painful and the process cause stress to the animal involved.
Certainly, most people observing the process would suffer less discomfort through seeing animals first stunned.
Consciousness
A concern is that after stunning, animals regain (some) consciousness. This is particularly so for electrical stunning. Periods of less than one minute are considered desirable for “stun-to-stick”, though the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council considers the maximum legal interval should only be 15 seconds.
In ritual slaughter, non-stunned animals can be conscious after neck-cutting for up to 2 minutes for cattle, 20 seconds for sheep and 2.5 minutes for poultry, according to the European Food Safety Authority.
If correctly and properly performed, Shechita results in calm cattle collapsing within 10 to 15 seconds. Observation shows in 30% of cases however, that animals remain conscious for more than 30 seconds.
Alternatives
Most people would never want to witness and animal being slaughtered; yet meat eaters are seemingly happy to let someone else do the job for them behind high walls.
Fortunately, many people in the Western world especially have now decided to ditch meat for a plant based diet instead. Religious slaughter is one reason why so many people are opposed to live animal exports – all Australian sheep exported live to the Middle East are slaughtered using the Halal method. The general treatment of live animals is another.
A Major Cause of Concern – Australian sheep on a ship destined for the Middle East.
According to PETA, 198 animals are saved each year, per vegan person, but technically, none are. Animals are not saved or spared due to the amount of vegans in the world. However, less animals are “produced” to be slaughtered. So, maybe 198 animals per vegan are not produced to be killed is a very reasonable statement.
And get this: One person who goes vegan can save approximately 219,000 gallons of water a year. It takes 1,000 gallons of water to produce just one gallon of milk, and beef has an overall water footprint of roughly 4 million gallons per ton.
So, make the change to a plant based diet and do not have this terrible suffering on your conscience.
Dozens of horses on the Spanish island of Mallorca are forced to pull heavy tourist carriages through busy streets, day in and day out.
Photo PeTA.
Cruel carriage rides like these have already been banned in Oxford, Barcelona, New Delhi, and Tel Aviv – and for good reason. In Mallorca, many horses collapse from exhaustion – especially in summer, when temperatures regularly reach 40 degrees.
Some horses get caught up in noisy traffic, which often leads to accidents. The honk of a car’s horn or even just an insect bite can be enough to trigger their instinct to bolt.
Several cities that prohibit horse-drawn carriage rides instead offer animal- and eco-friendly means of transport such as electric vehicles, which are a much safer way for tourists to explore local sights. There’s no reason why Mallorca can’t do the same.
Mark, horses belong on pastures where they can rest in the shade, move about freely, and interact with members of their own species.
Will you urgently send a message asking Mallorca’s mayors to ban horse-drawn carriages?
Around half a billion poultry, pigs and cattle are transported on European highways every year. Just so that the animal can be slaughtered cheaply, it is transported to a low-wage country and then back as meat back to the meat counter.
EU Commission rejects the 8 hour transport limit.
The EU promotes cruel practices in the meat industry with subsidies.
A tragic consequence of globalization and global trade is the increase in animal transport and the expansion of transport distances. The specialization in the agricultural sector, the liberalization of markets, the international orientation of companies and the new information and communication technologies make it possible today to market animals internationally. Animals have long been piece goods in the consciousness of producers and suppliers.
The German government is running a kind of “greenwashing” to support the meat industry, as it is making every possible effort to grow. Alone the transport to the slaughterhouse are cruel, but although there is so much evidence that the guidelines are very often not respected in animal transports, the EU has rejected in mid-March a committee of inquiry into live animal transports! A black day for the animals, a cessation of tormenting animal transport conditions is therefore not in sight.
So it is known. The accidents on the transports continue to increase.
On March 08, 2018, cruel images of dozens of dead calves appeared. Victim of a collision between two trucks. They were Irish calves. On the way to Groningen. Because Ireland and the Netherlands are member states of the European Union, there are free shipments of goods or animals. At the moment of their early death, these calves had already made a long journey. First through Ireland, then crossings by ferry and another trip of about three hundred kilometers. Why are a few hundred calves carting across Europe? Now these calves are dead. Again and again, accidents occur when one considers the cruel reality: Annually, around 170 million livestock transports take place in Europe alone.
But the EU Commission rejects the 8 hour transport limit.
Although animal welfare violations in animal transport have increased, the EU is fully supporting the meat and milk mafia. They are cruel pictures and you often hear them screaming: the animals in trucks.
Every day you see them driving, the trucks with their cargo: live animals!
September 2018, Germany: 109 piglets have died. According to the ministry, the carrier must be overloaded. Altogether 180 piglets were loaded. The pigs did not die due to illness. How exactly they came to death and who is responsible, is not known and was not explained to us until today. According to previous findings, the driver of a delivery service has transported 180 piglets, 109 were already dead. The operator had discovered the dead animals fortuitously and then notified the authorities, it said.
And here are (some) the damages inflicted directly by the oligarchs of the EU – Germany on animal welfare during the five years of their rule:
-Ministers of Agriculture, who run their own horror slaughterhouses
-Criminalization of covert work in slaughterhouses
-Ex-Minister of Agriculture Christian Schmidt (CSU) had given the controversial pesticide glyphosate single-handedly its vote
-Extension of piglet castration without anesthesia
-Mass murder of wild boars (99,000 in 2018)
-Killing millions of chickens and other poultry as bird flu protection.
-Chicks should be further shredded
-No prohibition of wild animals in the circus, although other countries, even from the Third World, have done so long ago
-No ban on transporting animals over 8 hours a day.
And many, many more…
Animal abusers at all levels, that’s the EU.
EU is animal hostile.
It supports slavery, exploitation and brutal trade with animals.
It deserves no respect, no voice.
It eserves only contempt.
With the taxpayers’ money, it pursues a dirty, disgusting policy in favor of the meat and milk mafia, the transport mafia, the hunters, the laboratory crime.
The EU no longer has a right to exist.
I do not go vote and would recommend it to anyone.
But the EU Commission rejects the 8 hour transport limit.
World Animals Voice 