The law change was introduced in an attempt to clamp down on animal mistreatment following disturbing online videos showing slaughterhouse staff abusing animals.
TOM EMBURY-DENNIS: ‘Animal welfare activists say they are “appalled” after it emerged there are slaughterhouses without CCTV, despite a deadline for their installation having passed last month. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) told The Independent seven per cent of abattoirs in England still had “no CCTV system in place”… England and Wales had 278 slaughterhouses in 2016, the latest year for which figures are available, suggesting dozens could be falling foul of the legislation. The FSA and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) refused to say how many had “fully complied” in time for the deadline…
Nick Palmer, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, told The Independent: “We are appalled that, having been given ample notice, some businesses are still not compliant with the government’s requirement to implement CCTV on their premises. “These business are now operating illegally and need to comply or cease operation. We call on the FSA to enforce this requirement immediately”…
Asked if action would be taken against abbatoirs that were not in compliance with the law, the FSA said it “wouldn’t take enforcement against slaughterhouses that had a plan in place”. That response came despite a six-month “adjustment period” to install CCTV, announced in May, and a government requirement for businesses to “comply in full” by 5 November… Defra insisted action would be taken against “any slaughterhouse that is not complying with the legislation”…
The law change was introduced this year by environment secretary Michael Gove, in an attempt to clamp down on animal mistreatment following disturbing online videos showing slaughterhouse staff abusing animals… The legislation allows unrestricted access to the last 90 days of footage for FSA vets, who will highlight cases in which animals have been poorly treated. Those responsible could lose their license or face prosecution’. SOURCE…
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