Welfare of chickens at slaughter

John Fishwick, BVA President and Lewis Grant, Veterinary Public Health Association President, respond: BVA believes that all animals should be effectively stunned before slaughter on animal welfare grounds, rendering the bird or animal unconscious and insensible to pain. However, in England, WATOK Regulations do not include any parameters for effective stunning of poultry killed ‘in accordance with religious rites’. The omission of parameters for electrical waterbath stunning for these birds leaves them vulnerable to electro-immobilisation rather than an effective stun. Slaughtermen, Official Veterinarians (OVs) and Animal Welfare Officers in abattoirs are not able to tell the difference between birds that are electro-immobilised rather than effectively stunned. Electroimmobilised birds are still conscious at the time of slaughter, resulting in avoidable animal suffering. We raised an urgent question with Defra at the time the new slaughter regulations were introduced in November 2015 and have continued to staunchly campaign to ensure specific...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Tags: Letters and notices Source Type: research