During our visit to the JFamco slaughterhouse in Accra (December 2022), we witnessed deeply distressing treatment of chickens. They were subjected to very brutal killing methods, which entailed having their throats cut first and then being thrown into a deep container while still conscious. Due to inadequate restraint during the cutting process, the cuts were often imprecise. Furthermore, the chickens were piled on top of each other as they bled to death. The consequences included poor bleeding, intense pain (due to wounds contacting other chickens), and a struggle for survival lasting several minutes.
Guided by the advice of Eyes on Animals and WACPAW (West African Centre for the Protection of Animal Welfare), “slaughter cones” have now been introduced at JFamco. When placed in the cone, chickens can be cut with greater precision, and bleeding (also aided by gravity) becomes more effective. Although it stays horrible, this alteration enables the chickens to lose consciousness more swiftly, significantly mitigating their suffering. Encouragingly, JFamco will soon also implement the use of a small handheld manual stunner to immediately render the birds unconscious before they are being cut.
