Supported by half of all Welsh Assembly member
Over 100 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in all UK slaughterhouses, according to animal welfare charity Animal Aid.
Coventry South's Jim Cunningham became the hundredth MP to sign the Early Day Motion, tabled by Easington MP Grahame Morris.
The motion now has the support of MPs from across the political spectrum and is supported by more than half of all Welsh Assembly Members.
The call for mandatory CCTV was made by Animal Aid after they installed fly-on-the-wall cameras inside UK slaughterhouses. Over six years, the cameras revealed that nine of the ten randomly selected slaughterhouses were breaking animal welfare laws.
They recorded animals being slapped, kicked and stamped on. In one non-stun slaughterhouse, the conscious animal's throats were hacked with a blunt knife. Elsewhere, animals were punched in the face, had shackle hooks embedded in their heads, and were mocked and tormented as they suffered abuse.
The CCTV campaign has been widely supported, with the public showing their support via a YouGov poll and a Number 10 petition, which received over 112,000 signatures. It has also been backed by UNION, the union representing meat hygiene inspectors and slaughterhouse vets.
Vets including Emma Milne, Pete Wedderburn and Marc Abraham and animal protection groups such as the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming have also backed the campaign.
The leading supermarkets, along with Freedom Food and Booker, all insist that their suppliers have CCTV cameras in operation. However, Animal Aid say that the footage is not yet monitored thoroughly by an independent body that can take action should welfare breaches be revealed.
Animal Aid's slaughter consultant, Kate Fowler , said: "There is no excuse for the savagery we filmed inside slaughterhouses, and yet it went on right under the noses of vets who are stationed there to monitor welfare.
"Currently, taxpayers are charged millions of pounds every year for a welfare system that is failing animals. Clearly, things must change. We need a more robust system, and CCTV – if independently monitored – can play an important part in deterring and detecting welfare breaches."
She adds: "We are very grateful for the support of these compassionate MPs, who can see that action must be taken to hold the industry properly to account."
Image (C) Hustvedt/Wikimedia
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