The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2016 - Issue 46 | Page 16

Farm News

RENEWED CALL
FOR MANDATORY
CCTV IN
SLAUGHTERHOUSES
»»THE BRITISH VETERINARY
Association (BVA) and the
Veterinary Public Health
Association (VPHA) have
repeated their call for mandatory
CCTV in slaughterhouses and
legislation to ensure official
vets (OVs) have unrestricted
access to slaughterhouse CCTV
footage.
The call came following
the recent release of
undercover filming by an
animal welfare organisation
in a slaughterhouse, which
revealed serious abuses of
animals at slaughter, despite
the fact CCTV was installed
in the slaughterhouse. The
footage is reported not to have
been stored.
According to an online
poll in 2015 conducted by
Meat Trades Journal, 92%
of respondents agreed that
CCTV should be mandatory
in UK abattoirs, with many
operators installing surveillance
equipment anyway.
According to the Food
Standards Agency, 90% of
slaughterhouses in the UK
have CCTV. Despite this, the
BVA and VPHA have “urgent
concerns that the purpose of
CCTV in slaughterhouses is
fundamentally undermined
if vets are refused access to
footage and the footage is not
monitored independently of
the slaughterhouse business
operator”.

“CCTV can only aid animal
welfare at slaughter if OVs
have full and unrestricted
access to footage as
independent monitors.”
Under the current law, OVs
have a right to request and
see the footage if they have
cause for concern that abuse
may be occurring.
BVA president Sean
Wensley said: “It is
unacceptable that there
are slaughterhouses that
are not willing to share
CCTV footage with official
veterinarians. We are lobbying
for CCTV to be mandatory
in all slaughterhouses and
for legislation to ensure that
footage is readily available
to vets. We need to foster
a culture of compassion in
slaughterhouses, coupled
with robust and effective
enforcement, so that the
animals we farm for food
have both a good life and a
humane death.”
VPHA president Lewis
Grant said: “The promotion
of good animal welfare
is fundamental to the
core values of the VPHA,
and the ability of OVs in
slaughterhouses to freely
monitor the activities at the
point of slaughter would not
only ensure good animal
welfare but also serve to
promote the integrity of the
industry as a whole.”

16 Jun/Jul 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

Poundfield
Concrete
Retaining
Walling
Scores a Hit
»»IN 2012 ANDREW AND

overall grain capacity was

Sam Phillips, the father and

also usefully increased.

son owners of Northwood

Because the farm owners

End Farm in Haynes near

were so impressed with

Bedford, replaced some old

the versatility and ease of

wooden retaining wal