Visit of Vion pig slaughterhouse in Groenlo, NL

Today a team from Eyes on Animals visited the Vion pig slaughterhouse in Groenlo, that slaughters pigs, sows and breeding boars raised on conventional farms, but also those raised under organic and free-range conditions from the label “Groene Weg”. We viewed the unloading of the pigs, the lairaging, the suspect pens, the handling and moving, and finally the stunning and slaughter of the animals. After we discussed with management the positive observations we made, but also various aspects that we think they should improve on. We exchanged ideas and discussed potential solutions. They are looking forward to reducing the stress on the pigs by further limiting noise in their plant (by, for example, installing rubber flaps on metal gates to stop some of the banging and speaking to their employees about keeping noise-making devices used to move pigs forward, to a minimum). We hope to post these improvements, as well as some others we suggested today , onto our website once we hear back from them that they took action. Some of the positive points we noted, such as an extra-long unloading ramp to avoid the pigs from having to ever walk down a steep inclination (which they do not like and sometimes have difficulty with), can be used for when we visit slaughterhouses abroad that need good examples to follow.
We appreciate their openess and constructive dialogue with us, as well as their interest in staying up to date with the latest welfare ideas. We have agreed to send them our report and stay in contact.