Horror-Halal-abattoir-Covert-footage-slaughterhouse-brutality-sparks-call-crackdown.html

Campaigners calling for CCTV to be installed in all abattoirs across the UK
Also want a ban on the practice of killing animals without stunning first
Comes after secret footage showed brutal treatment at Yorkshire abattoir
One worker now sacked and three others suspended as a result of CCTV
Footage showed workers taunting animals and smacking them on head

Published: 00:01 GMT, 4 February 2015 | Updated: 00:09 GMT, 4 February 2015

The brutal treatment of sheep at a halal abattoir led to demands for a crackdown on slaughterhouses yesterday.

Shocking undercover footage of workers ‘hacking and sawing’ at animals’ throats has provoked a public outcry.

Last night, campaigners called for CCTV to be installed in all abattoirs to prevent similar cruelty, and a ban on the practice of killing animals without stunning them first, which is allowed for Jewish and Muslim producers.

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Shocking: The CCTV film at the Bowood Lamb abattoir near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, shows a clench-fisted worker manhandling a sheep. One worker has been sacked and three others suspended pending an enquiry

The law requires abattoirs to stun animals before slaughter to prevent unnecessary suffering, but there are exemptions for Jewish and Muslim producers. Pictured: A worker throws an animal onto the conveyors

Slaughterhouse horror - sheep have throats cut without stunning

The secret filming by Animal Aid took place in December at the Bowood Lamb abattoir near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, where sheep did not appear to be killed according to Islamic law.

One worker has been sacked and three others suspended pending a Food Standards Agency investigation that could lead to prosecutions.

The controversy has fuelled concerns that similar abuse could be going on across the country.

All abattoirs must be approved by the FSA, but the regulatory body does not check whether halal meat is prepared according to religious rules. Many certify themselves as adhering to halal standards or are accredited by unofficial halal organisations.

Halal rules state that animals must be killed with a single sweep of a surgically-sharp knife through the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe while a Muslim recites a prayer. They should not see the knife or witness the death of other animals.

But the Animal Aid video shows many of these practices being flouted. Its secretly installed spy cameras showed staff laughing as a sheep bled to death after a worker allegedly drew spectacles around its eyes in green paint.

They were filmed taunting animals, waving knives in front of them, smacking them on the head and shouting at them.

More than 100,000 people have signed a British Veterinary Association petition demanding a ban on slaughtering animals without stunning them first – but the Government has refused to outlaw the practice.

Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion In World Farming, said: ‘I am shocked by the abhorrent cruelty to animals in the slaughterhouse in question.

‘Whilst I fully support Animal Aid’s call for mandatory CCTV, we need the Government to close the loophole and to ban slaughter without stunning.’

Fuseini Awal, of the independent Halal Food Authority, which monitors the halal meat trade, said of the Bowood abattoir: ‘What happened there has nothing to do with halal because the animals were abused well before they were slaughtered.

Campaigners are now calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in all abattoirs to prevent similar cruelty

Slaughtermen at the Bowood Lamb abattoir are allegedly seen ‘hacking and sawing’ at animals’ throats

‘It is to do with the lack of training of the operators and their appalling behaviour. The level of animal-welfare problems in our slaughterhouses is appalling.

'It is not restricted to one type of slaughterhouse or just to halal. It is across the board. Until CCTV becomes mandatory it will continue unabated.’

The abattoir was operating as normal yesterday. Owned by Northamptonshire farmers Robert Woodward, 67, and his son William, 29, the parent company Bowood Farms Ltd had a turnover of £29million in 2013.

A spokesman said the abattoir was accredited with a halal organisation and insisted animal welfare was its ‘highest priority’, adding: ‘Everyone working for us knows and understands the standards we require.’

All abattoirs have an FSA vet on site. However, Animal Aid said secret filming at ten slaughterhouses over six years revealed cruelty and illegal actions in nine and proved officials were not doing an effective job.

Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler said none of the filming showed any vets, and described the standard of supervision as ‘hopeless’. He said the staff allegedly caught mistreating sheep worked in ‘a killing factory’.

In one horror killing at the abattoir, it appears that the men erupted into laughter as a sheep bled to death

Campaigners did not want to stir-up anti-Muslim feeling but felt withholding the footage would be a 'betrayal'

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain called for a national accreditation system for halal meat production.

He added: ‘There are urgent questions this case raises. Since each abattoir is under veterinarian supervision, how were these practices overlooked? These revelations will undermine Muslim consumer trust.’

Ukip angered Jewish groups last night by backing plans to outlaw animal slaughter without stunning, which is necessary for meat to be kosher.

The party said it would ‘not allow the demands of religions to override the UK’s compassionate traditions of animal welfare’.

Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard said Ukip’s stance meant ‘Jews may not keep kosher and remain in the UK’.