England: CCTV in abattoirs

The UK Government yesterday announced plans to implement mandatory CCTV in England’s abattoirs.
We commend our friends in the South who’s hard work and personal risk has led to this being placed on the table.

While we welcome the move we’re concerned by proposals that any footage may not be independently monitored but, instead, accessed only by slaughterhouse vets and Food Standards Agency inspectors.
This falls short of our position of support for independent scrutiny to ensure proper safeguards.
Indications are that these authorities are often unable to properly enforce welfare legislation in abattoirs effectively. If legislation is enacted any monitoring must be multi-layered, slaughter can’t continue to be kept ‘in house’.

While wheels are turning in England the Scottish Government and Civil Service has opposed, and continues to oppose, calls from Scotland for Animals and the Scottish public to bring about the implementation of mandatory, independently monitored CCTV.

We hope that Scotland’s politicians will now somehow find the bottle to act.

Visit our webpage to support SfA’s campaign.

Exposed: Demand that the Scottish Government moves urgently on abattoir CCTV

From May 2015 to January 2017 the body responsible for monitoring welfare in Scottish slaughterhouses recorded 181 breaches.

These were only the breaches that were actually picked up.

It has become so bad the authorities have set up what is effectively a crisis committee to attempt to manage the situation.

Last year Scotland for Animals exposed the nature of offences including ineffective stunning, injured animals being left to suffer and animals waiting to die in overcrowded pens.

SfA can also now reveal that we have discovered that out of the 181 recorded, 143 of these crimes were committed in slaughterhouses where there was already self-regulated CCTV in operation.

Scotland for Animals has consistently argued that the position of government, and perhaps more shamefully some alleged animal welfare groups, of supporting voluntary CCTV uptake managed by the abattoir operators themselves, is useless.

This reluctance to take on a very powerful industry is causing suffering on an unimaginable scale.

The governing party in Scotland, the SNP, has had support for mandatory CCTV agreed at it’s annual conferences. There has been no action to implement this to date.

Please take a few minutes to write to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and demand immediate action.

Sample message:

Re: CCTV in slaughterhouses.

Dear Ms Sturgeon,

I am appalled to learn that the situation in Scottish slaughterhouses has become of such concern that a crisis committee is being convened by Food Standards Scotland to investigate the issue.

I am further aware that your administration has repeatedly rejected calls for mandatory, independently monitored CCTV at slaughter establishments and has instead chosen to support self-regulation.

As the charity Scotland for Animals has now revealed that the vast majority of breaches recorded in the past two years were in establishments where your favoured system was present I would ask that you now take urgent action to have mandatory and independent monitoring put in place.

I note that at your party conference last year delegates voted to support this policy but your government has done nothing to carry this through.

Please be reminded that as there is an election next month, and that there is great public support for legislative change, then failure to act will reflect badly on your party and candidates.

I await your reply.

Thank you in advance.

Contact here: scottish.ministers@gov.scot

As the the Scottish Government has been increasingly relying on the votes of Green MSPs to get legislation through please also contact Co-Convenor Patrick Harvie: Patrick.Harvie.msp@parliament.scot

You can ask him why, as the Greens also have a commitment to mandatory CCTV, he and his party have done nothing make this a condition when providing support at Holyrood.

CCTV campaign: Please act now

Media have been running excellent articles today highlighting abuse in Scotland’s abattoirs.

Last year Scotland for Animals exposed the extent of breaches at slaughter including animals with fractures, injuries being ignored, repeated stuns, Stunning by unapproved methods and animals regaining consciousness while being killed.

We handed this dossier to the delegates who went on to move the successful motion to support slaughterhouse CCTV at the 2016 SNP conference.

This is only a matter of time now. We’ve fought long and hard so keep pushing.

Share and Contact your MSPs to ask that they support mandatory, independently monitored CCTV in Scotland’s slaughterhouses.

SNP adopts policy of mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses

On Thursday 13th October 2016 the SNP party conference voted to support mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses as policy.

The motion, co-proposed by Scotland for Animals Patron the Dowager Duchess of Hamilton, indicates that the Scottish Government position of opposition to mandatory CCTV is becoming increasingly untenable.

Kay Hamilton, Dowager Duchess of Hamilton “We have had our resolution passed to make CCTV mandatory but we cannot stop there. We must have have it put into legislation”

John Patrick, SfA Co-Convenor “We congratulate all involved in the proposal of this motion and the members who supported it.”

“Scotland for Animals has led the campaign for mandatory, independently monitored slaughterhouse CCTV in Scotland in the face of both industry and political resistance. A recent Freedom Of Information request by our charity showed an alarming level of breaches in abattoirs with what appears to be little or no sanction. This is unacceptable.”

“The last consultation on slaughter legislation showed overwhelming support for mandatory CCTV from respondents. We call on the Scottish Government to listen to not only their party’s membership but also to the people of Scotland and move to enact real protections for animals at the time of killing.”