Animal Equality calls for the elimination of exemptions allowing the slaughter of animals without stunning in Spain

12 November 2021

Animal Equality

An increasing number of Spanish slaughterhouses, currently 28%, are licensed to slaughter animals according to religious rites and without stunning. Many consumers are buying meat from animals slaughtered according to these rites without knowing it.

In 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union certified that Member States are entitled to ban the slaughter of animals without stunning and thus not to allow any exceptions. As part of a big campaign, Eurogroup for Animals’ member Animal Equality Spain has already collected more than 14,000 signatures calling on the government to put an end to these exceptions.

In the European Union, the Slaughter Regulation requires animals to be stunned (i.e made unconscious) before bleeding to prevent unnecessary suffering. However, the law includes religious exceptions (halal rite and kosher rite) that allow for the slaughtering of animals while fully conscious.

Currently, in Spain, animals are slaughtered without stunning in 198 (28%) of the 700 existing slaughterhouses: 51 in Catalonia, 35 in Castilla y León, 24 in Andalusia, 16 in Castilla La Mancha, 15 in Valencia, 11 in Aragon, 11 in Galicia, 7 in Madrid, 7 in Murcia, 5 in La Rioja, 4 in the Basque Country, 4 in the Canary Islands, 3 in Extremadura, 3 in Navarre, 1 in Melilla and 1 in Asturias (1). The number of slaughterhouses licensed to slaughter without stunning has been growing steadily in recent years.

Eurogroup for Animals’ member Animal Equality Spain has documented the terrible suffering that animals slaughtered in the context of religious rites without stunning. As part of their campaign MATADEROS, Animal Equality has released these harsh images.

In December 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Member States are entitled to ban slaughter of animals without stunning, regardless of the slaughter context. The Court rules that reversible stunning methods allow for the protection of religious freedom and improve animal welfare.

A number of countries, including Slovenia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and two regions of Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), have already adopted rules without exceptions to the mandatory stunning of animals before slaughter. The latest country to join this list is Greece whose Council of State has declared the decree allowing slaughter without stunning unconstitutional, null and void.

The lack of stunning causes unnecessary and extreme suffering to animals. Reversible stunning makes freedom of belief compatible with improving the welfare of animals in their last minutes of life. It is time for Spain to move forwards and join other Member States that have already banned this cruel practice. We call on the Spanish Government to prohibit slaughter without stunning.

Javier Moreno, Co-founder of Igualdad Animal

For more than fifteen years, Animal Equality has documented and denounced the abuses suffered by animals in slaughterhouses. To reduce the extreme suffering that animals endure during their last moments of life in these facilities, the organisation is calling on the government to implement various measures, including: 

The elimination of the exceptions that allow the slaughter of animals without stunning.

The elimination of the electrified bath as a measure to stun birds

The abolition of the stunning of pigs with carbon dioxide because of the suffering it causes them

The installation of chambers in slaughterhouses with independent supervision 

The drawing up of rules making it compulsory to stun fish. 

In the last month, more than 14,000 people have signed up to demand that the government implement these measures.

Read more at source

Animal Equality

Regards Mark

 

Domino’s Pledges To Improve Animal Welfare, KFC ‘Refuses’ To Follow Suit

Domino’s Pizza has signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) in Australia and New Zealand (Aotearoa). It’s in an effort to improve animal welfare within the Domino’s supply chain. Now, campaigners are calling on KFC to follow suit.

The BCC’s animal welfare criteria includes providing chickens with perches, natural light, and more space. Further, slow-growing breeds must be used in lieu of the chickens raised for food now, who are bred to grow as quickly as possible at the expense of their health and wellbeing.

According to animal rights group Animals Aotearoa, these fast-growing breeds can live for just six weeks. In their final weeks of life, they gain more than 50 grams a day. 

This leaves chickens collapsing under their own weight, and developing a myriad of health conditions such as wooden breast, whereby muscle cells die off. Further, fast-growing chickens are twice as likely to die prematurely. 

‘The right thing to do’

David Burness, CEO of Domino’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), said the company is “proud” to be the first fast food restaurant chain in either country to sign up. 

In a statement, he said: “At Domino’s we do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, and we recognize that doing the right thing includes taking care of our environment, and the food we source from our suppliers and serve to our customers.”

The improved animal welfare commitments will be in place at more than 850 Domino’s locations across ANZ by 2026.

‘Wake-up call’

Animals Aotearoa executive director Marianne Macdonald hopes Domino’s decision will act as a “wake-up call” to its competitors. 

“It is fantastic that Domino’s has listened to customer concerns about animal welfare and responsibly acted on the demand for change. Now their competitors must also do right by their customers and follow Domino’s responsible lead,” she said to RNZ.

But according to the publication, KFC has “refused to say if it will sign up” too. Instead, the fried chicken chain has maintained that its suppliers stick to industry welfare codes. 

Regards Mark

Organic Dairy Farm Could Face Criminal Charges Following Violent Animal Abuse

The BC SPCA is examining more than 300 video clips of alleged animal abuse at the facility

An organic dairy farm in British Columbia, Canada, is being urged to close down following reports of animal cruelty.

Cedar Valley Farms became the center of an investigation after covertly filmed footage of the facility was sent to the BC SPCA – the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

The videos, taken from May this year until a few weeks ago, captured workers kicking cows in the face and violently beating them with wrenches and pitchforks. 

Cows were sprayed in the face with high-pressure hoses, dragged by heavy machinery, and were filmed limping and collapsing. 

In other clips, newborn calves are pulled away from their mothers and thrown into wheelbarrows. Mother cows could be seen bellowing and chasing after their babies. On at least one occasion, a worker kicked a cow in the face to prevent her from reaching her calf.

Other footage showed workers illegally shooting the animals in the head, leaving them to die slowly for several minutes.

It’s a far cry from Cedar Valley’s animal welfare claims, and has resulted in its license being suspended. 

Criminal charges

Marcie Moriarty is the BC SPCA’s chief prevention and enforcement officer. She says the footage indicates that Cedar Valley has violated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.

“… We received video footage that appears to be depicting very serious instances of animal abuse on this farm,” Moriarty commented. “We immediately attended the farm on an unannounced visit and are reviewing more than 300 video clips as we prepare our case to present to Crown counsel.

“This is a high-priority investigation and we are building a very strong case to present to Crown counsel with a recommendation for charges.”

Craig Daniell, BC SPCA chief executive officer, took a thinly veiled swipe at the government’s inaction on the matter, naming it “absolutely unacceptable.”

“The BC SPCA is extremely concerned about the lack of accountability on commercial farms and has reached out repeatedly to the provincial government and industry for more than a year about the need for a third-party auditing system on farms to ensure that proper animal welfare practices are being upheld,” Daniell said.

“This would include video monitoring on farms with a third-party system of reviewing footage. Despite repeated calls for action, there has been none and animals are continuing to suffer.”

BC SPCA leads nearly 9,000 investigations into animal cruelty and neglect across the province every year. But if the government and industry remain immobile, the abuse will continue, Daniells said.

Calls for closure

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is campaigning for the closure of the facility. 

Last week, the animal rights charity penned a letter to Lana Popham, the British Columbia Minister of Agriculture, and Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Federal Minister of Agriculture. 

In it, PETA pressed the ministers to shut down the farm for good. 

“Workers showed little regard for the animals, many of whom were emaciated and had mobility issues … The gentle giants, who can feel pain and suffer just as dogs, cats, and other animals, were traumatized,” the letter reads.

The industry as a whole “treats cows as mere milk machines instead of the complex, feeling beings they are,” it adds.

Organic Dairy Farm Could Face Criminal Charges Following Violent Animal Abuse – Plant Based News

Hope this video link works ok:

They need to prosecute every animal abusing shit that works there;

Regards Mark