cruel abbatoir workers - sign epetition for cctv in slaughterhouses

Most slaughterhouses in the Uk are fitted with CCTV. I've visited a fair few in the UK and a couple abroad and I can safely say we have some of the best abbatoirs in the world. Professional and careful in my experience.
ETA - the way most slaughterlines work by the time the animal is disembowelled it will certainly have been bled out and skinned and quite possibly have had its head removed.
 
nicnag, thanks for that information - I suppose the point is two fold.

Firstly it won't make any difference to well run abbatoirs, but will hopefully stop bad practices - which sadly does happen - becoming commonplace in the lesser places.

Secondly, by signing the petition it keeps all animal welfare on the political agenda.

I used to keep my horse on a pig farm - they are great animals and deserve to be respected from birth to death - and I am not always convinced that they are.

And yes, it is a Compassion in World Farming sponsored link.

So many thanks to everyone who has signed.
 
I most certainly will. I had a massive row with the supervising vet at Potters the only time I went there, as one youngster had never travelled before I asked them to keep the first horse I unloaded at the bottom of the ramp. They went out of sight, the youngster went ape and rolled down the ramp on his knees. They jumped forward and started hitting him on the floor with blue pipes! The damn vet did nothing. I was furious and told them so. They then wanted to euthanise both stood side by side.
Yes, CCTV would be a good way forward, though it could easily be wiped so records need to be kept.
One horse was a wobbler (bought in as a yearling) the other an old mare belonging to a client. The whole thing traumatised me so much I have since had every horse pts by injection. People need to see not all abbatoirs are run decently.
 
H_H,

I'm staggered and saddened at your experiences, and no, it really isn't good enough. I've never been to the abattoir which you've mentioned, but still, within a "factory" condition, I don't understand the need for a ramp. From my experience, it's a very short walk from the lairage, or yard, into a room, and one which is set aside for the start of the process.

I agree, without question, that CC TV should be installed in all slaughter halls, and at all stages of the killing process. Tachographs are installed in lorries, and they are the property of a government agency, so why not a monitoring of the slaughter process? Any abattoir which has nothing to hide, should be accepting.

A dignified end costs very little, perhaps a little time, but with a properly installed system, even that could be minimised. I do accept though, that as we've effectively killed off the trade in horse meat, in this country, there would be very few who would be prepared to invest in a modern, correct and ethical system. As horse owners, in this country, we've rather shot ourselves in the foot, if you see what I mean!

Alec.

Ets. I do understand that you farm, H_H, and take a realistic approach to life, and that if you were angered at the treatment meted out, then your complaint should be considered beyond question. a.
 
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Alec the ramp was our own, with having to unload single handed I asked them to hold the first horse at the bottom whilst I opened the partition for the next. I was doing fine until they walked round the corner with the first and the second leapt over me and pushed the partition which flew open, it fell and rolled down the ramp. What I didn't say was despite having a specific appointment time booked (this was always the case with the Cheshire Abbatoir) I was made to wait in a queue of boxes . The horses on mine started kicking and leaping about and it was only then I realised they could actually see straight into the killing pen, and were terrified watching horses being shot one after the other. The two lorries in front held TBs most still with their racing plates on. I couldn't eat horsemeat myself but have no objection to it provided they are killed with respect and no fear. There was little respect and a lot of fear that day due to the windows on the box sides all facing the pens.
The abbatoir in Cheshire was one I used more than once, and they never ever behaved like that. You led your horse through pens of others eating haynets, and a huge steel door opened into a wet room. The horse was led into stocks and whilst I held a bucket for it, the slaughterman killed it. I then left, and the entire floor rotated dropping the horse into the cutting room below. The room was then washed and there was no smell of blood. The Bristol abbatoir was a shock, and I stopped half way home I was so upset I had let those horses down. Probably the vet angered me the most, he was so uncaring and cold. When they started beating the horse on the floor with the pipe I shouted at him to stop them, and he sort of suggested they do so, but looking at me as if I was a maniac. I am afraid I told him he was an utter disgrace to his profession..
 
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