Animal Abuse: Workers At Slaughterhouse Recorded Graphically Abusing Animals [Video]
Four slaughter men at a Halal Slaughterhouse have been suspended for horrific acts of animal cruelty. The men were employed at the Bowood Lamb Abbattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. They were under investigation by the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency after an animal rights group secretly recorded the horrific practices that were being used against the defenseless animals. The video recordings show multiple animals being thrown, kicked, and more. According to Islamic representatives of the Halal methods of slaughter, the means used to prepare the animals for consumption were appalling and against their high standards.
Fox News reported that the released footage showed the four men, who have not been named, graphically abusing the animals prior to slaughtering them humanely. Officials from the Food Standards Agency reviewed the video as part of an investigation into the unethical practices and stated that “there is no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video.” After reviewing the conditions in which the animals were mistreated, they visited the slaughterhouse, which is approximately 215 miles north of London, and met with owners to advise them of the issues. The four men were promptly suspended from their duties.
Metro U.K. reports that the Food Standards Agency will likely move forward with prosecution on the four men.
The video may be too disturbing for some to view. Some of the horrific practices of slaughtering the animals included sawing away at the animals’ throats, taking multiple attempts at killing the animals while they writhed in pain. Some of the sheep at the slaughterhouse were severely kicked in the head and face, or picked up by their ears or fleece before being thrown into solid structures. Some might believe that the workers were doing what they could to slaughter the animals; however, one scene in the video shows a sheep bleeding to death with glasses painted, in green, over its eyes while the workers point and laugh at the spectacle.
Each of the brutal attempts at killing the animals goes beyond the standards set forth by Islamic standards for food production, which state that the animals must be stunned before slaughter to avoid unnecessary suffering.
Warning: The following video contains graphic images that some might find distressing.
When questioned about the horrendous practices, William Woodward, director of the abattoir, simply responded that he had no comment on the video. A petition is now underway, demanding all animals in the U.K. must be stunned prior to slaughter, not just at the abattoirs.
[Photo Courtesy of The Mirror U.K.]
