sft responds to animal welfare groups on cctv cameras · sft responds to animal welfare groups on...
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PRESSRELEASE:FORIMMEDIATERELEASESFTRespondstoAnimalWelfareGroupsonCCTVcamerasFriday7thDecember2018TheSustainableFoodTrustrecognisesthepotentialbenefitsofCCTVinabattoirsinpreventingwelfareabusesbutiscallingonanimalrightsandanimalwelfaregroupswhichhavecomplainedthatsomeabattoirshavenotyetinstalledCCTV,[1]torecognisethegenuineproblemscurrentlyfacedbymanysmallerabattoirs.RichardYoung,SFTpolicydirectorsaid,“AnimalwelfaregroupsarenotactinginthebestinterestsofanimalwelfareinpilingyetmorepressureonthefewremainingsmallabattoirsthathavestilltoinstallCCTV.Ifullyunderstandtheirconcernaboutthefactoryscaleoftheslaughteringindustryandtheabusesthathaveoccurred,anditisclearthattheGovernmentisverysensitivetotheirdemands.Buttheyareactuallyhelpingtodrivethelastfewsmallabattoirsoutofbusiness.Thesearesmallfamily-runbusinesseswhereanimalsaretreatedasindividualsanddonothavetoendurelongjourneys.”TheUK’ssmallestabattoirsarecurrentlyfacinganunprecedentedcrisis.Manyofthemarelosingmoneyandfindithardtoseehowthiswillchange.ThismeansthatasignificantproportionofthosethathavenotyetinstalledCCTVneedGovernmentassistancetopreventthembeingforcedtoclose.Therearenowonly56smallredmeatabattoirsleftintheUK,withathirdhavingclosedbetween2007and2017andafurthersevenclosingthisyear.Smallabattoirsslaughterverysmallnumbersofanimals,butprovideanessentialservicetoproducersofhighwelfarelocalmeat,forwhichpublicdemandisgrowing.[2]Thecrisisisdueinparttoacollapseinthevalueofhidesandskins,withsmallabattoirscurrentlybeingpaidaslittleas£4.50forcattlehidesand10pforsheepskins,comparedwith£35and£6.50respectivelyafewyearsago.[3]Atthesametime,wastedisposalcostsformostsmallabattoirshaveincreasedsignificantlyduetoconsolidationintherenderingindustryandhigherminimumchargesforsmallquantities.Smallabattoirsalsofacearangeofothercostswhichmakeitdifficultforthemtocompeteeconomicallywithlargeslaughterhouses.[4]Thisputssmallabattoirsatamajordisadvantagecomparedwiththeverylargeslaughterhouseswhichprocessanimalsformultipleretailers.Largeslaughterhouseshavereceivedtensofmillionsofpoundsofpublicmoneyingrantsandalsobenefitfromeconomiesofscale,buttheanimalstheyslaughtergenerallytravelmanyhundredsofmilesatthecostoftheirwelfareandtheenvironment.[5]
TheSustainableFoodTrustiscallingforsmallabattoirstoberecognisedasa‘publicgood’andforgrantstobemadeavailabletohelpwiththecostofinstallingCCTVandadditionalstructuralimprovements.Atpresent,theseareonlyavailabletothe15smallestabattoirsinWales,withtheWelshGovernmenthavingprovided£1.1millioninfundingspecificallyforthispurpose.[6]ThecostofinstallingCCTVinsmallabattoirsisverymuchhigherperanimalthaninlargeabattoirs.[7]RichardYoungadded,“We’dreallywelcomeitifanimalrightsandwelfareorganisationswouldmeetwithusanddiscusstheseissuesopenly.Theyhavedonesomegoodinshiningalightontheabusesthathaveoccurred,butiftheyreallycareaboutanimalwelfaretheywillcometounderstandthatthesmallestabattoirsdesperatelyneedpublicsupportatthemoment,notfurthercriticismjustforcheapheadlines.”ENDSForfurtherinformationcontactMeganPerry,CommunicationsManager,SustainableFoodTrust07761804341megan@sustainablefoodtrust.orgNotesforEditors[1]Animalwelfareactivists‘appalled’asslaughterhousesfailtoinstallCCTVdespitedeadlinehttps://www.independent.co.uk/environment/animal-welfare-cctv-slaughterhouses-abattoir-michael-gove-farm-meat-dairy-defra-a8637391.html[2]Onlythesmallestabattoirs,mostlythoseslaughteringlessthan1,000livestockunitsperyear,butalsosomeofthe48abattoirsslaughteringbetween1,000and5,000livestockunitsperyear,areabletoslaughtercattle,sheepandpigsforproducersandreturnthemeatandoffaltothemforsalelocally.Thisispartlybecausethelairagepensinlargeslaughterhousesaretoolargetomakeiteconomicaltodealwithsmallnumbersofanimalseachweekfromindividualproducersandpartlybecausetheprocessingmethodsmakeitimpossibletokeeptheoffalseparate,somethingwhichisvitallyimportantfororganicandpasturefedlivestockproducersandtheircustomers.[3]Thereasonsforthecollapseinhidesandskinpricesarenotentirelyclear.ItseemstheUKhaslostmostifnotallitsmajortanneriesandfellmongersandhasbeenexportinghidesandskinstoChinawhichnownolongerwantsthem.Itissuspectedthattheincreaseinveganismandthetrendawayfromnaturalfibres,essentiallywoolandleather,tosyntheticoil-basedmaterialforshoes,clothesandotherfabricsiscontributingtofallingdemand.
[4]Theverylargeamountofpaperworkfallsmoreheavilyonsmallabattoirsbecausetheydealwithmuchsmallernumbersofanimalsineachconsignmentandthereforeeachsetofformsmustbecompletedfordifferentagencies.TheEUregulationsusedintheUKwerealsodrawnupwithlargeexportabattoirsinmindandarebasedonthestrictimplementationofrulesratherthananactualassessmentofrisks.Manyoftherulesareunsuitedorunnecessaryinsmallabattoirs,wheretheownerisalsooftentheprincipalslaughterman(orwoman)aswellasthepersonwiththeresponsibilityforbutcheringthemeatforretailfillinginalltheformsanddealingwithallotheraspectsofcompliance.[5]WhilesmallabattoirscouldpotentiallyapplyforEULeaderfunding,thisisnotavailableinallregions,manyregionshavespenttheircurrentallocationandthequalifyingcriteriaofcreatingextrajobswoulddisqualifymostsmallabattoirsatthepresenttimessincetheyhavenopotentialtoexpandinthecurrentclimate.[6]‘£1.1mgrantaidschemeforsmallandmediumsizeslaughterhouses’https://gov.wales/newsroom/environmentandcountryside/2018/180322-1.1m-grant-aid-scheme-for-small-and-medium-size-slaughterhouses/?lang=en[7]SomeofthereasonswhyinstallingCCTVismorechallengingforsmallerabattoirsarebecause:
a)smallabattoirsonlyslaughteroneortwodaysaweekwithsingleshiftswhereaslargeabattoirsslaughtereverydayoftenwithmultipleshifts;
b)whilelargeabattoirstendtobeopenplan,mostsmallabattoirswereconstructedmanyyearsagoandhavealotofsolidstonewallswhichmakeitimpossibletouseWIFItransmission;
c)eachlairagepenmusthaveitsowncamera,butsmallabattoirsgenerallyhavemuchsmallerlairagepenssothatindividualorsmallgroupsofanimalscanbepennedwithoutstress.Incontrast,largeabattoirshaveasmallnumberofmuchlargerlairagepenswithamuchhigherthroughputofanimalspercamera.