Four slaughter men have had their operating licences suspended after hidden cameras were used to film the alleged mistreatment of animals at a Halal slaughterhouse.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched an investigation into the footage from the Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, saying there was “no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video” and adding that prosecutions could follow.
Animal rights group Animal Aid used hidden cameras to record footage over a period of three days in December.
The footage apparently shows: A worker hacking and sawing at animals’ throats, in direct contravention of Islamic practice. In one instance it took up to five attempts to sever blood vessels.
Sheep being kicked in the face and head, lifted by their ears, fleeces or legs, and hurled into solid structures.
A worker standing on the neck of a conscious sheep and bouncing up and down.
Staff erupting into laughter over a sheep bleeding to death with spectacles drawn around her eyes in green paint.
Staff taunting and frightening animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them.
A worker holding a sheep by the throat and pulling back his fist as if to deliver a punch.
The law requires abattoirs to stun animals before slaughter to prevent unnecessary suffering, but there are exemptions for Jewish and Muslim producers.
Under the Halal code, animals are supposed to be killed quickly, with a single sweep of a surgically-sharp knife. They should not see the knife before they are slaughtered, or witness the death of other animals.
Animal Aid said it recognised that there was a risk of the video stirring up anti-Muslim feeling, but added: “Withholding release of the footage would be a betrayal of our key mission: to expose and combat animal cruelty.”
