British Agency Calls for Slaughterhouse Surveillance Cameras

Animal Aid, the U.K.'s largest animal rights group, started secretly filming inside seven slaughterhouses. In six of the slaughterhouses, they found "animals being kicked, slapped, stamped on, and picked up by fleeces and ears and thrown into stunning pens. We recorded animals being improperly stunned and going to the knife while still conscious." The videos revealed extensive animal suffering and laws being broken. Only one of the seven slaughterhouses didn't have serious violations.

We certainly have our fair share of farm animal abuse on this side of the pond. What's interesting is the difference in how government agencies respond.

You may remember the Conklin Dairy case from earlier this year, when Mercy for Animals released undercover footage of dairy farm workers sadistically abusing young cows and calves. The video went viral, prompting outrage from all sorts of people who usually don't give farm animals a second thought.

What was the fallout for Conklin and crew? Not much. One employee was fired and sentenced to a meager four months in jail, $1,000 fine, counseling, and no contact with animals for three years. The farm's owner, also seen in the video, was let off the hook from any charges, given a "notice of violation" for an open pit of dead cows on the property, and carried on with his operations, which had recently been upgraded from Grade B to Grade A, so he could start selling milk in addition to cheese. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Agriculture seem to have gone back to pretending they never saw a video of Conklin Dairy, while animal activists were threatened with charges of terrorism.

Now, back across the Atlantic. Tim Smith, chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, called the slaughterhouse videos "sickening." The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs considered legal action against several of the facilities. They ended up dropping the charges due to concerns about whether the footage would be admissible in court, but at least some of the slaughterhouses caught on video say that they've already installed cameras and are re-training staff.

Smith wasn't a big fan of the undercover subterfuge used to obtain the video, but said the end result was a good thing. "From our perspective, what we were seeing was evidence that allowed us to go directly back to the food business operators and say: 'It doesn't really matter how this footage was obtained, or how it came into our presence ... look at the footage, and here is what FSA, as the enforcer in this area, thinks.'"

Here's what FSA thinks: They want to see surveillance cameras in all of Britain's nearly 370 slaughterhouses. Of course, the meat industry objects, but the FSA is determined to better enforce anti-cruelty legislation. They can't force the installation of CCTV, but Smith plans to override industry objections with the help of pressure from consumers and supermarkets.

Join Change.org community member, Carin Zellerman, in supporting Animal Aid and the Food Standards Agency's call on British supermarkets to only purchase meat from slaughterhouses with surveillance cameras. As far as exposing the cruelty of the industry, it's the next best thing to glass walls. Maybe someday, agribusiness accountability will make its way to the States.

Photo credit: Animal Aid